1. The Past Continuous Tense
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Looking at language
The past continuous and the past simple
Use
We use the past continuous to set the scene (give an idea of the background situation)
for a story. The events of the story are described using the past simple:
I was reading a book (background situation) and a man rushed in (event).
Sometimes the events happen at the same time as the background situation:
While I was sleeping, my mother made me a meal.
Compare the past continuous with the past simple:
I read a book (Event 1) and a man rushed in(Event 2).
The past simple (read) here suggests that she read the book before the man rushed in, and that
the reading was an event.
1. In the chat show, Barbara also described how she got the idea for her Levi’s ‘501’
jeans advertisement. In this advertisement a man takes off his 501s in a launderette (a
shop where you can wash your clothes) and puts them in the washing machine.
Underline the verb which sets the scene, and circle the events.
I was sitting in a launderette when a man came in and took his clothes off, and I got
very frightened, but he just put them in the washing machine and washed them, sat
down, put them in the dryer, put them back on and went.
2. We use the past continuous when we are interested in activities going on around a
particular time, not their starting and finishing times or the order in which they
happened:
This time last year I was working for two different companies, I was studying for a
diploma and I was trying to buy a house. It was a pretty busy time!

2. Compare this with:
I worked for three months, I did a diploma and I bought a house.
The past simple here suggest a sequence (one thing after another) and complation
(each event was finished).
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Other points
The past continuous is often used with as,when, and while to set the scene.
As / when / while I was waiting for the train, the man next to me started chatting.
Notice that when can also be used to introduce the event.
I was waiting for the train when the man next to me started chatting.
Form
The past continuous is formed with the past tense of be and the –ing form of the verb.
Positive statements Negative statement Wh questions
I / She / He / It:
was working
You / we / they
were working
I was not
(wasn’t) working
You were not
(weren’t) working
Where was he working?
Why were they working?
Yes / No questions Positive short answers Negative shorts answers
Was she working?
Were you working?
Yes, she was.
Yes, we were.
No, she wasn’t
No, we weren’t

3. Past Continuous tense
The past continuous tense is most often used for actions happening at some time in
the past. It is used to express a continued or ongoing action in past, an ongoing action which
occurred in past and completed at some point in past. It expresses an ongoing nature of an
action in past. For example, “he was laughing.” This sentence shows ongoing action
(laughing) of a person which occurred in past. Past continuous tense is also called past
progressive. Rules: Auxiliary verb “was or were” is used in sentence. 1st form of verb or base
verb + ing (present participle) is used as main verb in sentence.
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 Structure of sentence
1) Positive sentences
 Subject + auxiliary verb + Main Verb (present participle) + object
 Subject + was/were + (1st form of verb or base verb +ing) +object
If the subject is “he, she, It, I, singular or proper noun” then auxiliary verb “was” is
used. If subject is “you, we, they or plural” thenauxiliary verb “were” is used.
Examples:
When you knocked the door, I was watching television.
2) Negative sentences
 Subject + auxiliary verb + NOT + Main verb (present participle) + object
 Subject + was/were + NOT + (1st form of verb or base verb +ing) +object
Rules for using auxiliary verb after subject are same as mentioned above.
Examples:
When you knocked the door, I wasn’t watching television.
3) Interrogative sentences
 Auxiliary verb + Subject + Main verb (present participle) + objec
 Was/were + Subject + (1st form of verb or base verb +ing) +object
The interrogative sentence starts with the auxiliary verb. If the subject is “he, she, It, I,
singular or proper noun” then the sentence starts with auxiliary verb “was”. If subject is
“you, we, they or plural” then the sentence starts with auxiliary verb “were”.
Examples:
When I knocked the door, what were you doing?

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A. Past continuous: Form
How to form the past continuous. For actions happening at some time in the past.
We use was/were + the -ing form of the verb.
+
I, she, he, it
you, we, they
was
were
working.
–
I, she, he, it
you, we, they
(full form)
was not
were not
working.
I, she, he, it
you, we, they
(short form)
wasn’t
weren’t
? +
Was
Were
I, she, he, it
you, we, they
working?
? –
(full form)
Was
Were
I, she, he, it
you, we, they
not
working?
(short form)
Wasn’t
Weren’t
I, she, he, it
you, we, they
We use the past continuous tense. Look at these examples:
 At this time last week I was lying on the beach in Florida
 My mother was working in the garden so she didn’t hear the telephone when I called
her yesterday.
 I had my car fixed because it wasn’t working properly.
 Sorry, I wasn’t listening. Can you say it again please?
 What were you doing at 8 o’clock yesterday?
In each of the following examples, the single event (past simple) happens in the middle of
a longer action (past continuous).
 When I went home yesterday, a cat was sitting on the roof.
 It started to rain just as we were getting ready to have our picnic.
 The boy was standing on the table when the principal came into the room.
 Many people were shopping in the market when the bomb exploded.
 I saw Noriko in town yesterday. She was wearing a pink dress and a orange hat!

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B. The Past Continuous: Used
a) For an action that was taking place in the past when a shorter action (expressed in the
simple past tense) happened.
Example:
I was camping when I got stung by a bee.
When I visited him in the hospital, he was snoring loudly.
While he was reading the newspaper, he fell asleep.
While I was talking to him, his eyes looked somewhere else.
Note: The past continuous tense and the simple past tense are used together
b) With while to describe two actions that were going on at the same time in the past.
Example:
While my brother was laughing, my sister was crying.
My father was drinking while my mother was eating.
c) For an action that was happening and not yet finished at a particular time or
throughout a period of time in the past. We do not state when the action started or
ended.
Example:
Grandma was knitting a sock at 11 o'clock last night.
They were hunting wild boars all evening.
d) To show that we were in the middle of an action.
Example:
I was collecting old newspapers. (I was in the middle of doing the collecting.)
The police sirens were wailing.
e) In Reported or Indirect Speech.
Example: "Are you catching a train to Timbuktu, Jack?" asked Jill.
Jill asked Jack if he was catching a train to Timbuktu.
f) To describe the introductory scene for a story written in the past tense.
Example: The sun was shining after weeks of rain. The flowers were waving in the breeze.

6.  We use when with the Past Continuous and Simple Past Tenses:
a) To show that an action or event described in the past continuous tense started before the
event expressed in the simple past tense.
Example: Two women were fighting in the street when the police arrived. (The fighting
started before the police arrived.)
b) To show that an action or event described in the past continuous tense was going on when
the event expressed in the simple past tense took place.
Example: They were having a barbecue when the rain started falling. (The rain fell when the
barbecue was in progress.)
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c) To show time order of events.
Example:
When I woke up, my brother was brushing his teeth. (I woke up during his brushing his
teeth.)
When I woke up, my brother brushed his teeth. (I woke up, then my brother brushed his
teeth.)
 Difference in time order between past continuous tense and simple past tense.
1. When we reached there, it rained.
2. When we reached there, it was raining.
In (1), reaching there then raining started.
In (2), reaching there when it was raining.
Note: the differences between these sentences:
Example:
He was writing a letter yesterday. (Letter was not finished yesterday.)
He wrote a letter yesterday. (Completed the letter.)
 Having the same meaning.
a) They were watching television all night. (Watching television went on throughout the
night.)
b) They watched television all night. (Watching television from the beginning to the end of
the night.)
(a) and (b) have the same meaning.
c) When she came in, I was dreaming. (She came in at the time of my dreaming.)
d) She came in while I was dreaming. (She came in during my dreaming.)
(c) and (d) have the same meaning.

7. Events happening at a particular time in the past
We generally use the past continuous to talk about actions and states in progress
(happening) around a particular time in the past. It can emphasise that the action or state
continued for a period of time in the past:
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A: Where was Donna last night?
B: I’m not sure. I think she was visiting her family. (action)
I remember that night. You were wearing that red dress. (state)
See also:
 Past continuous or past simple?
Background events
When one event is more important than another in the past, we can use the past
continuous for the background event (the less important event) and the past simple for the
main event:
[background event] Lisa was cycling to school when [main event]she saw the accident.
[background event] What were you thinking about when [main event]you won the race?
See also:
 Past continuous or past simple?
Reasons and contexts for events
We often use the past continuous to give a reason or context for an event:
A: I can’t believe you met Fran and Dave in Portugal.
B: It was funny. They were staying in the hotel next to ours. (giving a reason/context for
meeting them)
I didn’t make the meeting last week; I was travelling to Rome.
Ongoing and repeated events
We can use the past continuous to talk about repeated background events in the past.
It can suggest that the situation was temporary or subject to change:
She was feeding her neighbours’ cat every morning while they were on holiday. Then
one morning, it was gone.
The neighbours were making so much noise, night after night. We had to complain
eventually.
See also:
 Used to
Adverbs such as always, constantly, forever are used with the past continuous when we
talk about repeated, unplanned or undesired events:

8. We were always spending so much time in traffic. That’s the main reason why we decided to
move to the country and work from home.
My boss was constantly phoning me in my last job. I hated it.
She was forever losing her keys.
 The past continuous and definite time
We sometimes use the past continuous to refer to a definite period of past time. This
usually emphasises the event continuing over a period of time:
We were cooking all morning because we had 15 people coming for lunch.
Lots of us were working at the office on Saturday because we had to finish the project by
Monday.
C. Past Continuous Tense in the Form of Verbal and Nominal
a) The Past Continuous Tense in the Form of Verbal:
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(+) S + to be 2 (was/were) + V-ing + O
(-) S + to be 2 (was/were) + not + V-ing + O
(?) to be 2 (was/were) + S + V-ing + O
Example:
(+) He was confused in studying grammar yesterday in school.
(-) He was not confused in studying grammar yesterday in school.
(?) Was he confused in studying grammar yesterday in school?
b) The Past Continuous Tense in the Form of Nominal:
(+) S + to be 2 + Adj / Noun / Adverb (ANA)
(-) S + to be 2 + not + ANA
(?) to be 2 + S + ANA ?
Example:
(+) She was lazy.
(-) She was not lazy.
(?) Was she lazy?

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D. Additional points
We do not normally use some verbs with past continuous because these verbs are not normally
action verbs. These verbs include:
believe, belong, depend, hate, know, like, love, mean, need, prefer, realise, suppose, want, understand.
 Verbs not normally used in the continuous form
Example:
They knew each other very well - Correct
They were knowing each other very well - Incorrect
I forget your name. (NOT I am forgetting your name.)
I forgot your name. (NOT I was forgetting your name.)
He believes what I say. (NOT He is believing what I say.)
We understood the instructions. (NOT We were understanding the instructions.)
Do you hear that noise? (NOT: Are you hearing that noise?)
Did you hear that noise? (NOT: Were you hearing that noise?)
I understand the instructions. (NOT: I am understanding the instructions.)
 The passive form of the past continuous tense
The passive form consists of was or were + being + the past participle of the verb.
We use the passive form of the past continuous tense to express an action done to the
subject. The action must be in the past and must be unfinished at the time concerned.
Example: My house was being renovated so I stayed in a nearby hotel.
Example: They arrived while dinner was being prepared.
E. Past Continuous Related by Noun
a) Name of persons, places, things, feelings, or ideas
 Place: University, Library, Class, Garden, Mall, etc
 Things: Bolpoint, Book, Bag, Cloth, Shoes,etc
 Persons: Teacher, Lecturer, Isma, Afi, Fitri, Ade, etc
 Feeling: Hate, Delight, Clarity, Anger, Joy, Love
 Ideas: Justice, Knowledge, Attention, Chaos, Panic
Example:
- When i was singing in bathroom, Mom called me
- Anger is written in his face, when I was borrowing his phone.
- She look panic when I was telling him about her boyfriend.

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b) Noun Markers
a, an, and the
The three articles — a, an, the — are a kind of adjective. The is called the definite
article because it usually precedes a specific or previously mentioned noun; a and an are
called indefinite articles because they are used to refer to something in a less specific manner
(an unspecified count noun). These words are also listed among the noun
markers or determiners because they are almost invariably followed by a noun (or
something else acting as a noun). The is used with specific nouns. The is required when the
noun it refers to represents something that is one of a kind:
The moon circles the earth.
We use a before singular count-nouns that begin with consonants (a cow, a barn, a sheep); we
use an before singular count-nouns that begin with vowels or vowel-like sounds (an apple, an
urban blight, an open door). Words that begin with an h sound often require an a (as
in a horse, a history book, a hotel), but if an h-word begins with an actual vowel sound, use
an an (as in an hour, an honor).
c) Made Plural with es/s
Plural often used for noun. To show that more than one object, made plural by adding a final
–s and –es. Plural divided into two part of noun, namely :
 Countable nouns (objects that can be calculated)
example: friend = friends (you were going with my friends)
book = books (they were reading books)
Library = libraries (We were going to libraries)
 Uncountable noun (object can’t be calculated) not use –s and –es for final object, by
category :
Fluids : water, milk, oil soup
Gases : air, oxygen, pollution
Abstractions : help, laughter, luck, health
We can’t use –s and –es for final object like the one above

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d) Noun endings
- Ure
example: failure, picture. My designer was designing my gown according the picture.
- Ment
example: entertaiment, judgement, development
- Ance, ence, ancy, ency
she was watching my performance.
your misbehaviour was making my patience runs out.
my mother was going to the hospital to checks her pregnancy just now.
he came late because he was handling his student's deliquency.
The formation of noun from adjective with regular change
- Ness
example: goodness, happiness, sickness. I was studying in the darkness tonight.
- Ity
ex : lucidity ,disparity. My brother was looking the disparity about angiosperm and
gymnosperm.
- Ion
example: action, connection, combination. I heard he was delivering his opinion in meeting
yesterday.
E. Bibliography
1. http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/past-continuous
2. http://cepatbisainggris.com/2013/12/20/pengertian-rumus-dan-contoh-past-continuous-tense/
3. http://www.myenglishgrammar.com/past-perfect-tense.html
4. Kulliyatul-l-Mu’a llimin al-Islamiyah. ENGLISH GRAMMAR 2.