The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Past continuous

Form: past continuous

Past continuous for actions in progress at a specific point in the past

Past continuous for actions happening over a period of time in the past

Past continuous for gradual development

Past continuous for frequently repeated actions in the past

Past continuous for temporary habitual actions in the past

Form: past continuous

WAS/WERE + PRESENT PARTICIPLE (VERB-ING)

The past continuous (also called the past progressive) is formed with was/were (the past tense forms of be) + the present participle -ing form of the verb.

Affirmative

Subject

Auxiliary

Verb (present participle)

I

was

sleeping.

He/She/It

You

were

We

You

They

Negative

Subject

Auxiliary

not

Verb (present participle)

I

was

not

sleeping.

He/She/It

You

were

We

You

They

The contracted forms wasn't and weren't are often used instead of was not and were not in spoken and in informal written language.

Interrogative

(Question word)

Auxiliary

Subject

Verb (present participle)

(Where)

was

I

sleeping?

he/she/it

were

you

we

you

they

Related topics:

The forms of the participle

Subject-auxiliary inversion in questions

Past continuous for actions in progress at a specific point in the past

The past continuous tense is used to refer to actions that were in progress at or around a specific point in time in the past. This point can be implied or expressed with a time expression or a clause with a verb in the past simple tense:

At 9 o'clock, I

was sitting

on the train.

A few minutes ago, they

were

still

dancing

.

When I called her, she

was studying

.

What

were

you

doing

when you heard the explosion?

Sorry, can you repeat that? I

wasn't listening

.

(when you said that)

Related topics:

Present continuous for actions in progress at the time of speaking

Future continuous for actions in progress at a specific point in the future

Past simple to express a point in the past

Past continuous for actions happening over a period of time in the past

The past continuous is used to describe actions which continued over a period of time in the past. This period can be expressed with a time expression or a clause with a verb in the past continuous tense. In this case the two actions were happening simultaneously:

I

was looking

for you all day yesterday.

He

was staying

in Rome that summer.

Were

you

sleeping

during the speech?

My friends

were enjoying

themselves playing cards while I

was studying

in my room.

Related topics:

Future continuous for actions happening over a period of time in the future

Past continuous for gradual development

Used without a time expression, the past continuous can express change and gradual development in the past:

It

was getting

darker and darker.

Our hopes

were fading

.

Related topics:

Present continuous for gradual development

Past continuous for frequently repeated actions in the past

With time expressions such as always, constantly, continually and all the time, the past continuous can express frequently repeated past actions which annoy(ed) the speaker:

She

was always teasing

me.

They

were constantly arguing

about money.

He

was continually interrupting

the speaker.

I

was getting

into trouble

all the time

.

He

was always calling

me at night to ask me how I was.

These sentences imply that the actions happened very often, but they are not meant literally. To express the literal meaning, the past simple is used:

He always

called

me at night to ask me how I was.

(He called me every night to ask me how I was.)

Related topics:

Present continuous for frequently repeated actions in the present

Past simple for past habits and states

Past continuous for temporary habitual actions in the past

The past continuous is used to express repeated or habitual actions in the past that were temporary:

At that time, she

was meeting

him twice a week.

When I lived in London, I

was getting

up at 5 am to be able to get to work by 6.

Related topics:

Present continuous for temporary habitual actions in the present

Future continuous for temporary habitual actions in the future