The Past Continuous tense, also known as the Past Progressive tense, is a verb tense used to describe actions or events that were ongoing or in progress in the past. It is formed by using the past tense of the auxiliary verb “to be” (was/were) and the base form of the main verb with the -ing suffix (also known as the present participle).
Past continuous tense: interrogative sentences
- Was she studying for her exams when the phone rang?
- Were they playing soccer in the park at that time?
- Was he cooking dinner when you arrived home?
- Was it raining heavily when they went for a walk?
- Was I working on the project yesterday?
- Were you watching TV when the power went out?
- Were the kids playing outside because it was too cold?
- Was she singing during the concert last night?
- Were they talking to each other after the argument?
- Were the students listening to the teacher during the lecture?
More examples of Past continuous sentences
More examples:
- 10 examples of Past Continuous Tense Sentences
- Past Continuous Tense Examples
- Adverbs of past continuous tense
- Past continuous tense examples
- Past continuous tense verbs
Questions in the past continuous tense (interrogative sentences)
To form a question in the past continuous tense, we have to put the verb „was/were“ at the beginning of the sentence, in front of the subject. The rest of the sentence is similar to affirmative sentences. We are still using the verb in its base form in combination with the suffix –ing.
The complete sentence would be as follows:
Was / Were + subject + (verb in a base form + -ing) + object?
When we use interrogative sentences in the past continuous tense (questions)
Interrogative sentences in the past continuous tense are used to ask questions about actions or events that were ongoing or in progress at a specific time in the past. We use the past continuous tense in questions to inquire about what someone was doing or what was happening at a particular moment in the past.
Interrogative sentences in the past continuous tense are formed by starting the sentence with the auxiliary verb “was” for singular subjects or “were” for plural subjects, followed by the subject, and then the base form of the main verb with the -ing suffix.
Here are some examples of when we use interrogative sentences in the past continuous tense:
- Asking about ongoing actions:
- Was she studying when you called her?
- Were they playing games at that time?
- Was he working on the project yesterday?
- Asking about simultaneous actions:
- Were they talking while watching TV?
- Was she cooking dinner while we were setting the table?
- Were the kids playing outside when it started raining?
- Asking about background information:
- Were you sleeping when the phone rang?
- Was the wind blowing strongly during your walk?
- Were they laughing at the joke?
- Asking about specific moments in the past:
- Were you listening to music at 8 PM yesterday?
- Was he driving home when the accident happened?
- Were they studying in the library when it closed?
Interrogative sentences in the past continuous tense help us gather information about ongoing actions or events that were happening in the past and allow for more detailed and specific descriptions of past situations or activities.