eng7-1.3· Unit 1: Tenses — Present & Past· ~12 min

Past Continuous

Actions in progress in the past — when / while.

We use the Past Continuous to talk about an action that was in progress at a certain moment in the past. We make it with was or were plus the -ing form of the verb: 'was' goes with I, he, she and it, and 'were' goes with you, we and they. For example, 'At eight o'clock last night I was doing my homework' shows the action was already happening at that time. The Past Continuous is often used together with the Past Simple to show that a short action interrupted a longer one: 'While I was reading, the phone rang.' The longer background action uses the Past Continuous and the shorter, completed action uses the Past Simple. We usually use 'when' before the Past Simple (the short action) and 'while' before the Past Continuous (the long action), as in 'When she arrived, we were having dinner' and 'While we were having dinner, she arrived.' To make negatives we add 'not' (was not / were not, or wasn't / weren't), and to make questions we put was or were before the subject, as in 'Were you sleeping at midnight?'

Key terms

Past Continuous — A past tense used for an action that was already in progress at a certain moment in the past, for example 'At eight o'clock I was doing my homework.'
was / were — The past forms of 'be' used to build the Past Continuous: 'was' goes with I, he, she and it; 'were' goes with you, we and they.
V-ing (-ing form) — The form of the main verb that follows was/were in the Past Continuous, such as watching, playing or running, as in 'The dog was running.'
Past Simple — A past tense used for a short, completed action; it often interrupts the longer Past Continuous action, as in 'the phone rang.'
while — A linking word normally used before the Past Continuous (the long background action), as in 'While I was reading, the phone rang.'
when — A linking word normally used before the Past Simple (the short, completed action), as in 'When she arrived, we were having dinner.'
Past Continuous: form
FormStructureExample
Affirmativesubject + was/were + V-ingShe was reading a book.
Negativesubject + wasn't/weren't + V-ingWe weren't sleeping when you called.
QuestionWas/Were + subject + V-ing?Were you waiting for the bus?
Past Continuous vs Past Simple
ActionTenseLinking word
Long background action in progressPast Continuous (was/were + V-ing)while
Short, completed action that interruptsPast Simple (V2)when
✎Building an interrupted-action sentence
  1. 1Long action: Choose the longer background action and put it in the Past Continuous: 'I was having dinner.'
  2. 2Short action: Choose the short action that interrupts it and put it in the Past Simple: 'the phone rang.'
  3. 3Join them: Use 'while' before the long action and 'when' before the short one: 'While I was having dinner, the phone rang.'
✎Same idea, both orders
  1. 1while + long action first: 'While we were having dinner, she arrived.' — 'while' introduces the Past Continuous.
  2. 2when + short action first: 'When she arrived, we were having dinner.' — 'when' introduces the Past Simple.
  3. 3Check the tenses: In both sentences the long action stays Past Continuous (were having) and the short action stays Past Simple (arrived).
🚫Common mistake

Match was/were to the subject: use 'was' with I, he, she and it, and 'were' with you, we and they. 'We was walking' is wrong; say 'We were walking.'

⚠️Caution

After was/were always use the -ing form, never the base verb or Past Simple: say 'was making', not 'was make' or 'was made'.

🚫Common mistake

Use 'when' + Past Simple for the short action and 'while' + Past Continuous for the long action. 'When she arrived, we were having dinner' — not 'When she was arriving.'

💡Note

Don't mix up the tenses in an interrupted sentence: the interrupted long action is Past Continuous and the interrupting short action is Past Simple, as in 'I was cooking when he called.'

Rules

  1. 1Form: was/were + verb-ing (I/he/she/it = was; you/we/they = were).
  2. 2Use the Past Continuous for an action in progress at a moment in the past.
  3. 3A long action (Past Continuous) is often interrupted by a short action (Past Simple): 'I was cooking when he called.'
  4. 4Use 'while' + Past Continuous for the long action and 'when' + Past Simple for the short action.
  5. 5Negatives: wasn't/weren't + -ing. Questions: Was/Were + subject + -ing?

Practice

10 easy · 10 medium · 10 hard

10 random questions per test

EasyMediumHardMixed