PAST CONITNUOUS

We Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was
interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember
this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.

POSiTIVE

Formed by:

Subject + (was, were) + Verb ending with –ing

I, he, she, it WAS

We, you, they Were

E.g. I was watching T.V.

They were watching T.V.

NEGATIVE

Subject + was not (wasn’t)/ were not (weren’t) +Verb-ing

Past Continuous Key Words
E.g. I wasn’t watching T.V.
They weren’t Watching T.V.
-While (used in the beginning +
past continuous)
QUESTION

Was/were + Subject + verb-ing +? -When (in the middle of the

sentence + Simple past)
E.g. Were you watching T.V.?
If there is while in the middle
Was he watching T.V.?
of a sentence its is Past
Continuous on both sides
CASES where you use the Past Continuous

1. When we know the exact time.

2. When two things are happening at the same time we use While

E.g. Jane was cooking while Peter was cleaning.

When something starts, continues and gets interrupted, the interruption is written in
the simple past.

E.g.
While I was teaching the phone rang /While I was waiting for the bus, it started
raining
(I was teaching is in Past continuous) / I was waiting is in the Past continuous
(rang is in Simple past) / started is in the simple past
Examples using the tense Past Continuous

1. The children were laughing while they were watching T.V. (Past continuous
on both sides)
2. I was reading while Susan was cleaning. . (Past continuous on both sides)
3. While Jane was making lunch, her children were playing in the garden. (Was
making – is in the past continuous)
4. She was eating her dinner when I arrived. (Simple past)
5. I arrived while she was eating her dinner.

Longer actions are in the past

continuous Shorter actions are in the
simple past