Past Continuous Past Continuous TenseTense

Form of Past Continuous Tense:Form of Past Continuous Tense: Negative SentenceNegative Sentence

Subject + “BE” + NOT +

main verb

(V+ing) +complement

Iwas not

l istening to music.wasn't

You, We, They

were notdancing happily.

weren't

He, She, Itwas not

reading books.wasn't

Form of Past Continuous Tense:Form of Past Continuous Tense: Yes-No QuestionYes-No Question

“BE” + Subject +main verb

(V+ing) +  modifier ?

Was I l istening to music?

Were you, we, they watching World’s Cup last night?

Was he, she, it being lazy?

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?

Use of Past Continuous TenseUse of Past Continuous Tense1. We use the past continuous to say that an action was in

progress at a specif ic t ime 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?

Use of Past Continuous Use 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 sitt ing 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 workingworking

working working working

8:00am 4: 00pm12:00pm

Use of Past Continuous Use 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 l iving in Paris for a year.

Past Simple vs. Past Past 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!

Jimmy was taking a bath when the phone rang.

A: What were you doing when you broke your leg?B: I was snowboarding.

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 act ion.

Past Continuous Tense & Past Continuous Tense & Past Simple Tense Past 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.

‘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.