Past continuous with Examples

What Is the Past Progressive (continuous)?

The past continuous in English is a verb tense that is used to talk about continuing actions that took place in the past. There are many situations in which the past continuous is used in a sentence.

When to Use:

1. Interruption in the Past

We use the past continuous to indicate an interruption in the past:

• I was reading a book when he called me.
• When the phone rang, we were having dinner.
• While we were playing tennis, it started to rain.
• What were you doing when the game started?

2. Specific Interruption in the Past

To indicate a specific interruption in the past:

• Last night at 2 AM, I was watching a documentary.
• At noon, we were still driving through the city.
• Yesterday at this same time, I was working on my project.

3. Multiple events in the Past

To show that two or more actions are happening at the same time in the past:

• I was cleaning while she was doing dishes.
• While the professor was lecturing, Tim was sleeping.
• Thomas was not working, and I was not studying.
• They were eating breakfast, discussing future plans, and watching the news.

4. Repetition

With repetition and word “always”:

• He was always coming to work on time.
• She was constantly nagging. She annoyed everyone.
• They were not accepted because they were always complaining.

How to Use:

The past continuous is formed using:
was/were + present participle.
The negative – simply by adding ’not’ :

To form ’yes / no’ questions, simply put ’was / were’ in front of the subject:

Discover Related Grammar