Past continuous tense



The past continuous is used to express a continued or ongoing action in past. Past continuous tense is also called past progressive.


Look at the following examples:

  1. She was sleeping.
    (This sentence shows ongoing action of a person which occured in past.)
  2. He was playing.
    (This sentence shows ongoing action of a person which occured in past.)



The past continuous tense is one of four Past tenses. They are Past simple tense, Past continuous tense, Past perfect tense and Past Perfect continuous tense.







How to make the past continuous




Positive (Past continuous)

Past continuous sentences, have the following structure :

  • Subject + auxiliary verb + main verb (Present participle) + Object.
  • Subject + was/were + Ist form of verb + ing + Object.

For examples:

  1. We were going to school.
  2. He was playing cricket.
  3. I was writing a letter.

REMEMBER

Rules:  For past continuous sentences:

  • Auxiliary verb "was or were" is used after the subject.
  • If the subject is "He, She, It,  I and any singular noun" then "was" is used after the subject.
  • If the subject is "We, You, They and any plural noun" then "were" is used after the subject.




Negative (Past continuous)

Past continuous negative sentences, have the following structure :

  • Subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb (Present participle) + Object.
  • Subject + was/were + not + Ist form of verb + ing + Object.


For examples:

  1. We were not going to school.
  2. He was not playing cricket.
  3. I was not writing a letter.

Interrogative (Past continuous)

Past continuous interrogative sentences, have the following structure :

  • Auxiliary verb + Subject + main verb (present participle)+ Object ?
  • Was/Were + Subject + Ist form of verb + ing + Object ?

For examples:

  1. Were we going to school?
  2. Was he playing cricket?
  3. Was I writing a letter?

Interrogative negative (Past continuous)

Past continuous interrogative negative sentences, have the following structure :

  • Auxiliary verb + Subject + not + main verb (present participle)+ Object ?
  • Was/Were + Subject + not + Ist form of verb + ing + Object ?

For examples:

  1. Were we not going to school?
  2. Was he not playing cricket?
  3. Was I not writing a letter?




NEXT --- Past perfect tense

PREVIOUS --- Past simple tense

For past continuous tense exercise, click here

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Related topics:


Present Tense

  1. Present simple tense
  2. Present continuous tense
  3. Present perfect tense
  4. Present Perfect continuous tense

Past Tense

  1. Past simple tense
  2. Past continuous tense
  3. Past perfect tense
  4. Past Perfect continuous tense

Future Tense

  1. Future simple tense
  2. Future continuous tense
  3. Future perfect tense
  4. Future Perfect continuous tense