Past Continuous Tense

Part of a series by EngVid to help learners with English verb tenses.

Introduction

• Past Continuous Tense is also known as Past Progressive Tense.
• It is used frequently in English.
• Comparison with Past Simple tense:
  • Past Simple: Refers to specific points in time (e.g., "I worked.").
  • Past Continuous: Refers to actions that continued over a period of time (e.g., "I was working.").

Usage

• Expresses ongoing actions in the past.
• Emphasis on duration and continuity.
• Examples:
  • "I was working from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm."
  • "Sarah was studying all day."
  • "At 11:00 pm, I was sleeping."
  • "They were having dinner when we arrived."

Other Use Cases

• Planned actions in the past:
  • "I was planning to call John."
• Polite requests:
  • "I was wondering if you could help me."

Formation

• Structure: Subject + past tense of the verb "to be" + main verb + -ing.
• Examples:
  • I was working.
  • He/She/It was working.
  • You/We/They were working.

Positive, Negative, and Question Forms

• Positive: "I was working."
• Negative: Add "not" (e.g., "I was not working.").
• Questions: Invert the subject and verb (e.g., "Was I working?").
• How-To for forming questions:
  • "Where was he working?"
  • "How long was he working?"

Contractions

• Used mostly in negative forms.
  • "I was not" becomes "I wasn't."
  • "You were not" becomes "You weren't."
• Practice pronunciation to ensure clarity.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

• Avoid using past continuous with stative verbs (e.g., "know," "hate," "own").
• Correct Forms:
  • I knew him for many years.
  • She hated spiders.
  • They owned a big house.

Verb "to have"

• Stative: Can't use with continuous tenses (e.g., "He had a computer.").
• Dynamic: Can be used (e.g., "He was having a party.").

Spelling Changes

• Add -ing to most verbs: talk → talking.
• Drop 'e' and add -ing: make → making.
• Change 'ie' to 'y' and add -ing: lie → lying.
• Double the final consonant for C-V-C pattern: jog → jogging.

Short Answers and Politeness

• Common short responses:
  • "Was he playing video games?" → "Yes, he was." / "No, he wasn't."
  • "Were they studying?" → "Yes, they were." / "No, they weren't."

Exceptions for "you"

• "Were you managing a team?" → "Yes, I was." / "No, I wasn't."

Examples and Practice

• From present continuous to past continuous:

  • "I am learning." → "I was learning."
  • "We are waiting." → "We were waiting."

• Changing positive past continuous to negative:

  • "Ruby was teaching." → "Ruby was not teaching." / "Ruby wasn't teaching."
  • "We were driving." → "We weren’t driving."

• Forming questions:

  • "Steven was going to the conference." → "Where was Steven going?"
  • "She was doing her homework." → "What was she doing?"

Addressing Common Mistakes

• Wrong tense: "I am studying when you called." → "I was studying when you called."
• Mistakes with "to be": "We was relaxing." → "We were relaxing."
• Spelling: "She was bakeing a cake." → "She was baking a cake."
• Word order: "When you were going to call?" → "When were you going to call?"
• Missing words: "You waiting a long time?" → "Were you waiting a long time?"
• Missing helping verb: "He talking to a client." → "He was talking to a client."
• Stative verbs: "I was believing you." → "I believed you."

Conclusion

• Have learned when and how to use past continuous tense.
• Practice writing about your day using this tense.
• Next in series: Future Simple Tense.
• Further practice: www.engvid.com for quizzes and exercises.