The past continuous tense (also called past progressive) describes an action or situation that was underway at a particular point in time. A sentence composed in this tenses consists of two components: verb “was” or “were”, and present participle (“-ing”) form of the main verb.
Grammatical rules
In the affirmative form of a sentence in the past continuous tense, the subject is followed by either “was” or “were,” depending on which verb best fits with the subject, and then finally comes the present participle of that main verb. For instance, “I was studying for my exam all afternoon” has “I” as its subject, “was” serving as an auxiliary verb, and “studying” acting as its present participle.
In the negative form of a sentence in past continuous tense, “not” is placed between an auxiliary verb and present participle. For instance, “She wasn’t paying attention during the meeting” signifies that while “she” is the subject, “was” is an auxiliary verb, “not” negates it, while “paying” is used as the present participle for main verb “pay attention.”
In an interrogative sentence in the past continuous tense, an auxiliary verb is moved to the beginning of the sentence followed by the subject and present participle. For example, “Were you sleeping when I called you?”. In this example, “you” is the subject, “were” is an auxiliary verb, and “sleeping” is the present participle of “sleep”, which itself is part of its main verb “sleep”.
10 examples of Past Continuous Tense Sentences
- As I was walking to the store, I met an old friend.
- She was singing loudly in the shower when her phone rang.
- They were playing soccer when it started raining.
- Children were laughing and playing games while adults talked.
- We were watching a movie when the power went out.
- He was working on his computer when it suddenly crashed.
- On that beautiful morning, birds were singing and the sun was shining through on those green grasses.
- She was cooking dinner while her husband set the table.
- They were discussing politics all night long.
- The students were listening intently to their teacher’s lecture in silence.
Use of Past Continuos Tense
Here are some examples of the use of the past continuous tense in bullet points:
- At some point in time in the past, an action may have been ongoing.
- An ongoing action might have been interrupted by another event that happened previously or provide background for another future action to occur.
- Descriptions of repeated actions that took place over time in the past.
- To describe an ongoing action when another event or action occurred in the past.
- To give a vivid and detailed account of an event or situation that happened long ago.
- To set the scene for a narrative or story set during that time.
- To explain an old habit or routine from days gone by.
- To describe a past action or situation that is still ongoing or relevant in the present.
- To express irritation, frustration, or irritation about such an occurrence.