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Past Continuous Tense
 
 
 
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

Past Continuous Tense in English Grammar

What is Past Continuous Tense?

"The past continuous tense represents the action or actions that were occurring in the past."

In the English language, Past Continuous tense is used when the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past. This tense is used to talk about an action at a particular time in the past. The action began before that moment but has not finished at that moment.

Basic Structure of Past Continuous tense:

• Structure for Past Continuous •

Subject Auxiliary verb Main verb
subject be (was/were) base + ing
I was going to college.

• Structure for Negative sentence •

Subject Auxiliary verb Main verb
subject be (was/were) + not base + ing
I was not going to college.

• Structure for interrogative sentence •

Auxiliary verb Subject Main verb
be (was/were) subject base + ing
Was I going to college?

We normally use the past continuous tense for:

• action at a particular moment in the past,
• action started before that moment but has not finished,
• talking about time of action in the past.

USES OF PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
To denote an action going on at some time in the past:

The Past Continuous is used to denote an action going on at some time in the past. The time of the action may or may not be indicated.

Examples:
  • • Everyone was shouting.
  • • It was getting darker.
  • • We were listening to the radio all evening.
For persistent habits in the past:

This tenses is also used, with always, continually, etc., for persistent habits in the past.

Example:
  • • He was always grumbling.
  • • He was continually playing.
  • • They were always quarrelling.
For indicating time of action in past:

We use the past continuous tense when our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about.

Examples:
  • • I was working at 11pm last night.
  • • What were you doing when he came?
  • • She was watching TV when I called her.
  • • What were you doing at 12pm last night?
  • • Elena went home early because it was raining.
  • • We were having dinner when it started to rain.
  • • They were not playing cricket at 7am this morning.
Uses of the Past Continuous for Parallel actions in past:

The past continuous tense can also be used to describe two actions that were happening at the same time in the past.

Examples:
  • • I was studying while she was watching TV.
  • • She was reading a book while I was doing homework.
  • • They were talking on the phone while I was watching TV.
  • • She was cooking dinner while he was cleaning the room.
  • • He was playing cricket while they were walking to school.
  • • We were eating dinner while he was studying for his exams.
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE TABLE
Past Continuous Tense Table
AFFIRMATIVE
  • I was going.
  • You were going.
  • We were going.
  • He/She was going.
  • They were going.
NEGATIVE
  • I was not going.
  • You were not going.
  • We were not going.
  • He/She was not going.
  • They were not going.
INTERROGATIVE
  • Was I going?
  • Were you going?
  • Were we going?
  • Was he/she going?
  • Were they going?

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