Past continuous

Verb tenses

1. The past continuous

I was having a shower when the telephone rang.

While we were sailing a whale appeared.

2. Structure of past continuous 

• Affirmative form

  Subject	auxiliarY (past form)	Verb (-ING)	Examples
  I	was	sleeping	I was sleeping on the sofa.
  You	were		You were sleeping on the sofa.
  He	was		He was sleeping on the sofa.
  She			She was sleeping on the sofa.
  It			It was sleeping on the sofa.
  We	were		We were sleeping on the sofa.
  You			You were sleeping on the sofa.
  They			They were sleeping on the sofa.

  There is no contracted form of the affirmative of the verb to be.
• Negative form

  Subject	auxiliarY  (past form)	Verb (-ING)	Examples
  I	was not wasn't	sleeping	I wasn't sleeping on the sofa.
  You	were not weren't		You weren't sleeping on the sofa.
  He	was not wasn't		He wasn't sleeping on the sofa.
  She			She wasn't sleeping on the sofa.
  It			It wasn't sleeping on the sofa.
  We	were not weren't		We weren't sleeping on the sofa.
  You			You weren't sleeping on the sofa.
  They			They weren't sleeping on the sofa.

• Interrogative form

  auxiliarY	Subject	Verb (-ING)	Examples
  Was	I	sleeping?	Was I sleeping on the sofa?
  Were	you		Were you sleeping on the sofa?
  Was	he		Was he sleeping on the sofa?
  	she		Was she sleeping on the sofa?
  	it		Was it sleeping on the sofa?
  Were	we		Were we sleeping on the sofa?
  	you		Were you sleeping on the sofa?
  	they		Were they sleeping on the sofa?

  Interrogative sentences in past continuous also have their own short answers.

  Adverb	Subject	AuxiliarY
  Yes,	I	was
  	you	were
  	he	was
  	she
  	it
  	we	were
  	you
  	they

  Adverb	Subject	AuxiliarY
  No,	I	wasn't
  	you	weren't
  	he	wasn't
  	she
  	it
  	we	weren't
  	you
  	they

  

  Was she looking at me? Yes, she was.

  

  Were they partying? No, they weren't.

3. How is the past continuous used?

The continuous past is used for:

• An unfinished action that was taking place at a particular time in the past. This action began before that time and continued.
  
  

  Yesterday at 6:00 p.m. we were preparing the meal.
• Descriptions.
  

  This morning it was raining.

  

  An old lady was sitting on a bench.
• When two unfinished actions occur at the same time. These actions are usually connected by the words "while" or "when".
  
  

  While you were brushing your teeth I was sleeping.

  

  While she was calling her mum, her sister was crying.

Remember!