10. Past Continuous Tense

Learning Outcomes

After completing Chapter 8, students will know how to:

  • use the functions of the Past Continuous Tense.
  • form the Past Continuous Tense in affirmative statements, negative statements and questions.
  • apply the Past Continuous Tense in various situations.
  • use the correct spelling rules for continuous verbs.
  • use the Simple Past Tense with the Past Continuous Tense.

Functions of the Past Continuous Tense

The Past Continuous Tense is used for:

  1. actions happening at a specific time or during a quick action in the past.
  2. actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past.
  3. actions happening at a time in the past when another action interrupted.
  4. two actions happening at the same time.

Let us discuss these points in detail.

Actions happening at a specific time in the past:

This is a timeline. There is a black line horizontal across the page with an arrow pointing to the right with the word future underneath. On the opposite side, there is an arrow pointing left with the word past underneath. In the centre of the time line is an arrow pointing down indicating with the word now written above it. There is a vertical blue arrow pointing down onto the black horizontal line between the now arrow and the past arrow.
“The Past Continuous at a Specific Time” by Virginia McHardy, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Actions that started and were occurring at a certain point of time before now.  They started before the specific time or quick action, and continued after. Some examples are:

  • I was cleaning my house at 1:00pm yesterday.
  • They weren’t washing their dishes at noon.
  • Sarah wasn’t working at midnight.
  • It was snowing at the time of the accident.

Actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past:

This is a timeline. There is a black line horizontal across the page with an arrow pointing to the right with the word future underneath. On the opposite side, there is an arrow pointing left with the word past underneath. In the centre of the time line is an arrow pointing down indicating with the word now written above it. There is a blue line with arrows on both ends, parallel to the horizontal black line between the past arrow and the now arrow.
“The Past Continuous Tense Timeline” by Virginia McHardy, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  • I was taking Spanish lessons when I lived in Argentina.
  • She was travelling through Europe all summer.
  • The Smiths were having problems with their teenage daughter last year.
  • The company wasn’t making a lot of money in the last quarter.

Actions happening at a time in the past when another action interrupted (The Simple Past is used with “when” as the interrupting action):

This is a timeline. There is a black line horizontal across the page with an arrow pointing to the right with the word future underneath. On the opposite side, there is an arrow pointing left with the word past underneath. In the centre of the time line is an arrow pointing down indicating with the word now written above it. There are two blue line exes on the horizontal black line, between the past arrow and the now arrow. There is a semi circle above the two exes with another small arrow pointing down at the semi circle. Above the arrow it says past continuous. There is another blue arrow pointing up to the second x. It says simple past under that arrow.
“The Past Continuous Tense with Simple Past Timeline” by Virginia McHardy, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  • I was taking a bath when the telephone rang.
  • Richard was playing basketball when his mom arrived.
  • They were having breakfast when there was a knock at the door.

Two actions happening at the same time in the past  (“while” is used to connect the two actions):

This is a timeline. There is a black line horizontal across the page with an arrow pointing to the right with the word future underneath. On the opposite side, there is an arrow pointing left with the word past underneath. In the centre of the time line is an arrow pointing down indicating with the word now written above it. There is a blue line parallel above the horizontal black line. It says past continuous above the blue line. There is a green line parallel below the horizontal black line. It says past continuous below the green line.
“Two Past Actions Happening at the Same Time” by Virginia McHardy, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  • I was taking a bath while my husband was cooking dinner.
  • The dog was running around the table while they were eating breakfast

Form of The Past Continuous Tense

Let us now explore how the Past Continuous Tense is formed:

Affirmative sentences: Subject + was/were + verb + ing
Subject + + was/were + verb + ing.
I was studying.
Joe was teaching.
You were working.
Negative Sentences: Subject + was/were + not + verb +ing.
Subject + was/were + not + verb + ing
I was not* eating.
She was not playing.
The children were not * working.
You were not studying.
*was not = wasn’t
**were not = weren’t
Yes/No Questions: Was/Were + subject + verb + ing?
Was/Were + subject + verb + ing? Short Answer
Was I helping? Yes, you were./No, you weren’t.
Was he jumping? Yes, he was./No, he wasn’t.
Were you listening? Yes, I was./No, I wasn’t.
Information Questions: Wh- + was/were + subject + verb+ing?
Wh- question word+ was/were + subject +verb + ing?
What was  he doing?
Where was she sleeping?
When were you fighting?
There is a chart for spelling rules. There are two columns. The First Column is titled rule. The second column is named example. Under the rule column the first row says for most verbs just add I N G. In the first row under the example column play Arrow playing help Arrow helping think Arrow thinking. In the second row under rule, it says for verbs that end in silent E, drop the E and add I N G. In the second row under example make Arrow making hope Arrow hoping cycle Arrow cycling. Under the third row for rule, it states for verbs that end in the pattern CVC (consonant vowel consonant), double the last consonant and add I N G. Example hit Arrow hitting run arrow running get Arrow getting. In the last row under rule it says exceptions. Example visit arrow visiting panic arrow panicking tie arrow tying
“Spelling Rules for Continuous Verbs” by Virginia McHardy, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Past Continuous Function and Form Review

Watch the interactive video to review form and function of past continuous. Read the pop-ups carefully!

Past Continuous Function and Form Practice (Text Version)

Watch the video The Past Continuous | Past Progressive (5:45 minutes)

Pause at 1:20: Remember our examples from before?  I was cleaning my house at 1:00pm yesterday.  She wasn’t working at midnight.

Pause at 1:22: This might mean that the ‘specific time’ isn’t an actual time, but a quick action instead. The longer action continues before and after the quick one. For example: He was cooking dinner when the kids came home from school.  (He started cooking before, and continued to cook after the kids came home). ‘Cooking’ was in progress when another action happened, and cooking continued to happen afterwards.

Activity Source:  “Past Continuous Function and Form Practice Interactive Video” by Sari Martin, licensed under CC BY-NC SA 4.0. Video Source: First Class English. (2022, February 4 ). The past continuous | Past progressive | Free English grammar lesson 2022 [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/LH-prYzG2Ug

Past Continuous Functions Review

Past Continuous Function Practice (Text Version)

Practice the functions of Past Continuous and guess which function was used in each sentence.  The functions you can choose from are:

  • actions happening at a specific time or during quick action in the past;
  • actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past;
  • actions happening at a time in the past when another action interrupted;
  • two actions happening at the same time.
  1. Last night I was watching TV while my husband was reading.
  2. She was driving when she received a phone call. She pulled over to answer the call.
  3. His sisters were both yelling at him for breaking their favorite toy.
  4. She was backpacking through Thailand last summer.
  5. He still wasn’t sleeping at midnight.
  6. She was walking in the school yard when she slipped on a banana peel.
  7. We were watching the movie when our food was delivered.
  8. The moon was shining brightly while we were driving to the farm.
  9. She was cooking dinner when her husband came home.
  10. She was talking on the phone for hours last night.
  11. She was teaching the lesson when a student raised their hand.

Check your answers [1]

Activity source: “Present Continuous Function Practice” by Sari Martin, licensed under CC BY-NC SA 4.0.

Past Continuous Form Practice – Affirmative

Past Continuous and Simple Past Form Practice (Text Version)

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb given in the bracket in either past continuous or simple past

  1. The sun _______ [Blank 1 – shine] when Catherine _______ [Blank 2 – get] up.
  2. We _______ [Blank 1 – drive] when suddenly we _______ [Blank 2 – notice] bad weather.
  3. My parents _______ [Blank 1 – meet] while they _______ [Blank 2 – study] in college.
  4. While you _______ [Blank 1 – take] it easy, I _______ [Blank 2 – prepare] lunch for everyone.

Check your answers [2]

Activity source: “Past Continuous and Simple Past Form Practice” by Annapurna Madhuri, edited by Sari Martin, from “Simple Past and Past Continuous” In Effective English for Teachers by Annapurna Madhuri, licensed under CC BY-NC SA 4.0. / Converted to text and minor edits.

Past Continuous Form Practice – Negative

Past continuous – negative (Text Version)

Rewrite the following sentences in the negative form, as given in the example.

She was bringing ice-cream for us.

She was not bringing ice-cream for us.

  1. She was having a bath.
  2. We were running down the road.
  3. The soldiers were guarding the city.
  4. The children were watching a movie.
  5. Sharief was lying on the sofa.

Check your answers [3]

Activity source: “Past Continuous – negative” by Annapurna Madhuri, edited by Sari Martin, from “Simple Past and Past Continuous” In Effective English for Teachers by Annapurna Madhuri, licensed under CC BY-NC SA 4.0. / Converted to text, some questions removed, and other minor edits.

Past Continuous Form Practice – Interrogative

Past continuous – interrogative (Text Version)

Rewrite the following sentences in the interrogative form, as given in the example.

She was bringing ice-cream at 7.

Was she bringing ice-cream at 7?

  1. She was having a bath.
  2. They were running down the road.
  3. Yuki was eating a sandwich in her room.
  4. Hong was cooking breakfast when the door bell rang.
  5. The girls were studying for the test.
  6. The men were going to work.
  7. When the war broke out, they were living in France.

Check your answers [4]

Activity source: “Past Continuous Interrogative” by Annapurna Madhuri, edited by Sari Martin, from “Simple Past and Past Continuous” In Effective English for Teachers by Annapurna Madhuri, licensed under CC BY-NC SA 4.0. / Converted to text, some questions removed, and other minor edits.

Verb Tenses in Music

For a fun activity, search the web and find the following songs:

  • Don’t You Want Me Baby by Human League
  • Never Tear Us Apart by INXS

Can you hear the Past Continuous Tense in the lyrics?

George Washington chopped down his father's cherry tree. Why didn't his father punish him? Because he was still holding the axe!
“The Past Continuous Tense Joke” by Virginia McHardy, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, “Past Continuous Tense” by Sari Martin & Virginia McHardy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

    1. two actions happening at the same time
    2. actions happening at a time in the past when another action interrupted
    3. two actions happening at the same time
    4. actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past
    5. actions happening during a specific time or quick action in the past
    6. actions happening at a time in the past when another action interrupted
    7. actions happening at a time in the past when another action interrupted
    8. two actions happening at the same time
    9. actions happening during a specific time or quick action in the past
    10. actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past
    11. actions happening at a time in the past when another action interrupted
    ↵
    1. The sun was shining when Catherine got up.
    2. We were driving when suddenly we noticed bad weather.
    3. My parents met while they were studying in college.
    4. While you were taking it easy, I was preparing lunch for everyone.
    ↵
    1. She was not having a bath.
    2. We were not running down the road.
    3. The soldiers were not guarding the city.
    4. The children were not watching a movie.
    5. Sharief was not lying on the sofa.
    ↵
    1. Was she having a bath?
    2. Were they running down the road?
    3. Was Yuki eating a sandwich in her room?
    4. Was Hong cooking breakfast when the door bell rang?
    5. Were the girls studying for the test?
    6. Were the men going to work?
    7. Were they living in France when the war broke out?
    ↵

License

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Verb Tenses for English for Academic Purposes Copyright © 2019 by Sari Martin and Virginia McHardy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/Effective English for Teachers

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