Past continuous

VERB TENSES

Past simple describes an unfinished action that was in progress at specific time/point in the past. This point can be expressed with time adverb or with a clause in the past simple tense.

Yesterday at 8 in the evening, the whole family was watching TV.
When she arrived, we were drinking and dancing.
I was sitting on a bench, when two cars collided.
She wasn’t listening when the referee announced the winner.

Key Words

while, when, AT THIS TIME yesterday/last summer, THE WHOLE day, week

Forms of Past Continuous

Affirmative
I was waiting.
You were waiting.
He/she/it waiting.
We were waiting.
They were waiting.

Negative
I wasn’t waiting.
You weren’t waiting.
He/she/it wasn’t waiting.
We weren’t waiting.
They weren’t waiting.

Question
Was I waiting?
Were you waiting?
Was he/she/it waiting?
Were we waiting?
Were they waiting?

USE OF PAST CONTINUOUS

1

for unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action

Everybody was sleeping when the thieves broke into the house.
We were sitting in the park when a squirrel jumped onto my shoulder.
I was doing 100km/h in the city, when the police made me pull over.
You were not looking at me when I took a photo of you.

2

for two actions that were taking place at the same time

I was doing the homework with the kids while my wife was preparing dinner.
She was staring at me with an empty look while I was trying to explain her the fundamentals of economy.

3

for unfinished actions that was happening at specific time in the past

Yesterday at this time, I was preparing for my final exam.
At midnight we were still sitting locked in my car.
At 6AM she was sleeping in the hotel room.

4

for describing background events or the atmosphere in stories

It was an easy day at the office. No one was working. Megan was making coffee, Liz was playing on her phone, Josh was trying to make fool of his colleague and Chris, as usual, was telling jokes. Everybody was doing fine, until the moment when the boss, out of the blue, got back to the office.

5

for emphasizing the length of an action (with time phrases ’the whole day, all day yesterday etc.)

It was raining all day yesterday.
They were shouting at each other the whole day.
She was writing her essay the whole weekend.
I was preparing for the marathon the whole summer.

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GRAMMAR

Tenses
Passive
Conditionals
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions

VOCABULARY

Collocations
Word Bank
Phrases
Idioms
Syllable Stress
Common Mistakes

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