The document describes the past continuous tense in English. It provides examples of its formation in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences. It explains the uses of the past continuous tense, including to describe an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past, an action that was ongoing over a period of time, and a temporary past action. It contrasts the past continuous tense with the past simple tense, noting that the past continuous is used for longer background actions interrupted by shorter actions expressed in the past simple tense.

1. Past ContinuousPast Continuous
TenseTense

2. Form of Past Continuous Tense:Form of Past Continuous Tense:
Negative SentenceNegative Sentence
Subject + “BE” +
NOT
+
main
verb
(V+ing
) +
complement
I
was not
listening to music.
wasn't
You, We,
They
were not
dancing happily.
weren't
He, She, It
was not
reading books.
wasn't

3. Form of Past Continuous Tense:Form of Past Continuous Tense:
Yes-No QuestionYes-No Question
“BE” + Subject +
main verb
(V+ing
) +
modifier ?
Was I listening to music?
Were you, we, they watching World’s Cup last night?
Was he, she, it being lazy?

4. Form of Past Continuous Tense:Form of Past Continuous Tense:
Wh-QuestionWh-Question
Question
word
“BE” + Subject +
main verb
(V+ing) +
modifier ?
Who was I talking to when the phone rang?
Where were you, we, they watching World’s Cup last night?
Who was he, she, it doing at 11 o’clock last night?

5. Use of Past Continuous TenseUse of Past Continuous Tense
1. We use the past continuous to say that an action was in
progress at a specific time in the past.
The action had already started at this time, but had not
finished.
• At 5pm yesterday, it was raining.
•At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.
• What were you doing at midnight last night?

6. Use of Past ContinuousUse of Past Continuous
TenseTense
2. We use the past continuous to say that an action
was in progress at every moment during a period of
time.
• Yesterday she was sitting at her desk at work all day.
• You were working all day yesterday.
• Yesterday they were not playing football at 9am.
• What were you doing at 10pm last night?
• Jimmy was working at 10pm last night.
working workingworkin
g
working working working
8:00am 4: 00pm12:00pm

7. Use of Past ContinuousUse of Past Continuous
TenseTense
3. We use the past continuous to say that an action in the past was
temporary.
Sarah was waiting for her friend for 20 minutes yesterday.
•You were working in the Sales Department last month.
•They were living in Paris for a year.

8. Past Simple vs. PastPast Simple vs. Past
ContinuousContinuous
4. We use the past continuous together with the past simple.
The past continuous refers to a "longer" or "background" action
that was in progress to indicate that a longer action in the past was
interrupted.
The past simple refers to a “shorter” action that interrupted the
longer action, or happened in the middle of it.
•John’s daughter was sleeping
when he called her at 8pm.
*Remember: this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time!

9. Jimmy was taking a bath
when the phone rang.
A: What were you doing when you broke your leg?
B: I was snowboarding.

10. Past Continuous Tense &Past Continuous Tense &
Past Simple TensePast Simple Tense
We often use the past continuous tense with the simple past tense. We use
the past continuous tense to express a long action.
And we use the past simple tense to express a short action that happens
in the middle of the long action.

11. Past Continuous Tense &Past Continuous Tense &
Past Simple TensePast Simple Tense
Long action = (watching TV),
expressed with past continuous tense
Short action = (knocked),
expressed with simple past tense
I was watching TV when Jim knocked the door.

12. ‘when’ + short action (past simple tense)
‘while’ + long action (past continuous tense)
I was watching TV when Jim knocked the door.
When Jim knocked the door , I was watching TV
Jim knocked the door while I was watching TV
While I was watching TV , Jim knocked the door
I was watching TV when Jim knocked the door.