English Past Continuous Tense: Meaning, Examples, Preparation Tips, Practice Exercise with Answers

The Past Continuous Verb Tense, also known as the past progressive, describes ongoing actions in the past. The Past Continuous Tense helps in expressing an action that was ongoing at a specified time. It emphasizes the duration of something that occurred in the past and establishes context for something else in the past.

It is one of the important verb tenses in English as it allows us to say what we were doing at a particular moment in the past. For example:

• I was watching a movie when the power went out.
• They were working in the office.
• Mary was sleeping when her parents came home.

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As stated in the Cambridge dictionary, Past Continuous Tense is the grammatical form used for an action that someone was doing or an event that was happening at a particular time. It is made with "was" or "were" and the -ing form of a verb.

According to Collins dictionary, the past continuous tense is a verb form that uses "was/were" + the -ing form of a verb to indicate an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past. It emphasizes the duration of an action that was happening at that time.

It is pronounced as /ˌpɑːst kənˈtɪn.ju.əs/ us  /ˌpæst kənˈtɪn.ju.əs/.

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As mentioned above, the Past Continuous Tense can be categorized in different types on the basis of their use cases. Let’s take a look at them in detail with more examples:

Use case of Past Continuous Tense	Description	Example
Ongoing Action Interrupted	Describes an action that was happening when another action interrupted it.	·       I was writing a letter when the phone rang. ·       I was eating my food when the guests came.
Simultaneous Actions	Describes two or more actions happening at the same time in the past.	·       While I was cooking dinner, my daughter was watching TV. ·       While I was driving, she was finishing her project in the car.
Duration of an Action	Emphasizes how long an action was in progress.	·       They were living in London for many years. ·       I was working in the company for five years.
Habitual Actions	Describes actions that were happening regularly or habitually in the past.	·       She was always working towards becoming a doctor. ·       She was always complaining about her job.
Establishing Context/ Background events	Provides background information about what was happening.	·       I was walking towards the house, when I met my old friend. ·       I was planning to go to Delhi, when the train got missed.
To express hopes and suggestions	Expresses hope of doing something; suggests of an action	·       I was thinking we could watch a movie. ·       I was wondering if you could help me with the project.

                                                                                                               

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The past continuous tense is formed using the past tense of the verb "to be" (was/were) followed by the main verb's present participle (verb + -ing).

The structure is:

Subject + was/were + verb + -ing

.Examples:

• She was reading a book.
• They were playing
• Were you having your meal?
• We were not studying.

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While most of the verbs (action words) can be used to form Past Continuous Tense in English language, there are few verbs that cannot change their forms to form Past Continuous Tense sentences. Let’s take a look at them in detail:

Stative Verbs 

Also known as state-of-being verbs, these verbs cannot be used in any continuous tense, including the past continuous. This is because Stative verbs describe feelings that can’t be directly observed or measured in terms of progress. Many stative verbs describe states of mind, such as opinions, needs, and awareness.

Stative verbs include: know, love, believe, hate, like, prefer, want, wish, understand, seem, feel, smell, sound, taste, dislike, involve, need, realise, own

Examples:

• Incorrect: "I was knowing him."
• Correct: "I knew him."

 

• Incorrect: "He was owning a house."
• Correct: "He owned a house."

 

• Incorrect: "They were believing in miracles."
• Correct: "They believed in miracles."

 

• Incorrect: I was wishing him all the best.
• Correct: I wished him the best.

 

• Incorrect: They were loving each other.
• Correct: They loved each other.

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Students should focus on key aspects like formation and usage to effectively use the past continuous tense in English language. Let’s take a look at few tips that can help students to master the concept of Past Continuous Tense:

1. Students must be clear that the past continuous tense is formed using the simple past tense of "to be" (was/were) + the present participle (verb + -ing). Example:

• "I was playing" (singular)
• "They were eating" (plural).

 

2. Create your own sentences, write questions, with the past continuous. This will help students lessen the error areas.

• Focus on the "was/were". Make sure, you use ‘was’ with singular subjects (I, he, she, it) and "were" with plural subjects (we, you, they). For example:
• I was sitting in my class.
• She was playing chess with her brother.
• They were travelling to Delhi last Sunday.
• Were you eating the pasta?

 

3. Read and write more and more books and articles and identify sentences using the past continuous.

 

4. Study a variety of examples to see how the past continuous is used in different contexts paying attention to the expressions in different use cases.

 

5. Use audio and visual online resources to practice the concept of the tense.

 

6. Think about real time and day-to-day situations in your life where you could use the past continuous to describe ongoing actions or interrupted events.

 

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Students can follow the below mentioned steps to identify Past Continuous Tense in English Sentence:

• Look for "was" or "were". These past forms of the verb "to be" are essential for forming the past continuous. For example: She was reading a book when the doorbell rang.
• Check for the "-ing" form. The main verb (action word) will always be in its present participle form, ending in "-ing". For example: She was reading a book when the doorbell rang.
• The sentence should describe an action that was happening at a particular moment in the past. For example: She was sleeping when it started raining.