Past Continuous

Past Continuous Form

Subject + was/were + verb-ing

Examples:

You were studying when she called.
Were you studying when she called?
You were not studying when she called.

Complete List of Past Continuous Forms

USES

1. Specific Time

Something which happened at a specific time in the past.

What were you doing at 7 o' clock, yesterday?

Examples:

Yesterday at 7 o' clock, I was sitting at my desk at work.
Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.
At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.

See what the little girl was doing :

4 o'clock

4 o'clock to 5 o'clock

5 o'clock

Ann took a book (a quick action)

Ann was reading the book. (For one hour)

Ann put the book back (a quick action)

2. Interrupted Action in the Past

Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past.

Examples:

I was watching TV when she called.
When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
What were you doing when the earthquake started?

3. Parallel Actions

When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.

Examples:

I was studying while he was making dinner.
While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.
Were you listening while he was talking?
They were eating dinner, discussing their plans, and having a good time.

While vs. When

When you talk about things in the past, "when" is most often followed by the Past simple, whereas "while" is usually followed by Past Continuous. "While" expresses the idea of "during that time." Study the examples below. They have similar meanings, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.

Examples:

I was studying when she called.
While I was studying, she called.

Gifs

Grammar Genius

Online exercises

Roswel Incident

Carry on, doctor

City life