Tenses
Past Continuous Tense
Definition
The past continuous tense shows a continuing action or state that was happening at some point in the past. It is formed with a combination of the ‘to be’ verb (i.e., was/were) in the past tense with the main verb’s present participle ‘-ing’ word.
Examples:
- I was preparing dinner when he arrived.
- We were joking with our friends.
When is the Past Continuous Tense used?
- To show a continuous action in the past that was interrupted or stopped.
Examples:
- I was watching TV when my mother called.
- While we were enjoying the picnic, it started to rain.
- To show a continuous action in the past at a specific time.
- Last night at 10 pm, I was eating dinner.
- At midnight, we were still driving to reach home.
- To express the idea of parallel actions.
- I was cleaning utensils while he was washing clothes.
- They were having dinner and discussing their holiday trip.
Examples:
Examples:
How to Form a Past Continuous Tense?
To form the past continuous tense, follow the order:
Example :
We were painting the wall.
Now let us look at how a past continuous tense is formed in negative, affirmative and interrogative sentences.
A. | Affirmative Sentence | ||
---|---|---|---|
He | was | sleeping. | |
B. | Negative Sentence | ||
He | wasn't | sleeping. | |
C. | Interrogative Sentence | ||
Was | he | sleeping? | |
D. | Interrogative Negative Sentence | ||
Wasn't | he | sleeping? |
Common Mistakes
- Confusion on the usage of ‘while’ and ‘when’ in referring to the past.
- Using non-continuous verbs like ‘be’ in the –ing form to frame a past continuous tense. Instead, use the verb that describes the action to make a past continuous sentence.
Examples :
I was
studying when my brother called.
I was studying
while my brother called.
While I was
playing, he called.
When I was
playing, he called.
Examples :
She was
staying at my house when he arrived.
She was being at
my house when he arrived.
Instead of using past continuous, use simple past tense.
Exceptions
- When adding –ing suffix, the final consonant ‘l’ of the root word is always doubled.
- If the verb ends with the letter ‘e’, it is omitted before adding -ing.
- If the verb ends with the vowels ‘ie’, it changes to ‘y’ prior to adding the –ing suffix.
Example :
travel – travelling
Example :
come – coming but not applicable for see – seeing
Example :
die – dying