Past Continuous – rules of use and examples of sentence construction

The Past Continuous is a tense that indicates a certain action in the past during a certain period.

In this article, we will take a look at the rules of the Past Continuous and compare it with other tenses in English. And at the end of the lesson you will be able to do a little exercise to consolidate the rules.

Contents

1. Past Continuous – rules of usage
2. Past Continuous – rules of construction
3. Comparison table
4. Time markers
5. Exercises to reinforce the rules

Past Continuous – rules of usage

1. Two parallel actions taking place in the past
2. When one long action is interrupted by another, more spontaneous and shorter one
3. A specific action that took place at a specific time
4. Creating an atmosphere in fiction
5. A description of certain actions that annoyed a person
6. Describing certain planned actions that did not take place

Let's take a look at the examples of when we will use this tense.

1. Two parallel actions taking place in the past:

• I was trying to understand a new task, when my friends were swimming in the sea all day long.
• While Alice was having some meetings one after another, her colleagues were drinking coffee in the garden.

2. When one long action is interrupted by another, more spontaneous and shorter one:

• My sister was writing an essay when someone knocked the door.
• Lola was eating in the kitchen when suddenly the window in her bedroom opened.

3. A specific action that took place at a specific time:

• What were you doing at the same time yesterday? Were you learning new rules by heart? 
• Yesterday at 10 a.m. we were working in the garden; we were planting new flowers.

4. Creating an atmosphere in fiction:

• When Harrold woke up in the morning, the sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing, some of his neighbors were practicing yoga in their gardens and the other ones were drinking coffee and having breakfast. 

5. A description of certain actions that annoyed a person:

• Mary was coming to the office later than all of her coworkers and this fact irritated everyone.
• When we used to live together, Dan was talking to everyone when he had some free time, it drove me crazy. 

6. Describing certain planned actions that did not take place:

• We were hoping to get married, but suddenly Mary broke my heart. 
• My boss was thinking of laying me off some weeks ago, but anyway I'm still here.

Past Continuous – rules of construction

To form an affirmative sentence, you need to use the verb “to be” in the second form (was / were), and add the ending -ing to the main verb, which indicates the continuation of a certain action.

To form a negative sentence, you need to add the negative particle “not” to the verb “was” / “were” and the ending -ing to the main verb.

To form a question, you need to use the verb “was” / “were” first, then use the subject and add the ending -ing to the main verb.

Comparison table

Time markers

1. While
2. When
3. At that time, at the same time
4. At that moment
5. The whole day (morning, evening, night, week, etc.)
6. At 5 a.m. 
7. From Monday till Sunday (from June till July, etc.)

Just like every other tense in English, the Past Continuous uses marker words to indicate that it is the tense you want to use in your sentence and to help you avoid getting confused with all the other tenses. Look at the examples to get a better understanding:

Exercises to reinforce the rules

To help you consolidate what you have read, you can do a simple exercise. Open the parentheses in the sentences by putting the verbs in the correct order according to the rules of the Past Continuous. To see the correct answer to a sentence, just click on it.

1. While Sandy ___ (to watch) TV, Jimmy ___ (to read) a new detective story.

   was watching, was reading

2. I ___ (to have) breakfast at the yard, when suddenly two policemen ___ (to knock) the door. I was shocked and disappointed!

   was having, knocked

3. Yesterday from 7 till 9 p.m. my folks and I ___ (to celebrate) our colleague Diana`s birthday.

   were celebrating

4. At the same time one month ago my family ___ (to relax) on the sandy Maldives beaches.

   was relaxing

5. What __ you ___ (to do) the whole day yesterday?

   were you doing

You can complete more activities on our Smarte interactive platform for free! The activities are divided into English levels, so choose yours. Have fun with your practice!