What is Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense, also known as the past progressive tense, is used to indicate that an action was in progress at a specific point in the past. It is formed by using the past tense of the verb “to be” (was/were) + the present participle of the main verb (verb + -ing). It can also indicate the background of a shorter action in the past simple. The past continuous tense is used to indicate that an action was ongoing at a specific point in the past. It is often used to describe a longer action that was in progress while a shorter action occurred. The shorter action is typically in the past simple tense.
It can also be used to indicate a background activity “I was studying when my friend called.” In this sentence, the action of studying is the background activity and is in progress at the time that the phone call from my friend happened.
It can be employed to describe two parallel actions happening in past. “He was sleeping while she was working” In this sentence both sleeping and working are parallel actions happening in past and which are giving an idea of what both the person are doing simultaneously.
It’s important to note that the past continuous tense is not used to describe a finished action or a state. In such cases, the past simple tense is used.
When to use past continuous tense
The past continuous tense is used to indicate that an action was in progress at a specific point in the past. Here are a few situations where the past continuous tense is typically used:
To describe a longer action that was in progress while a shorter action occurred:
“I was cleaning the house when the power went out.”
To describe a background activity:
“I was studying when my cousin called.”
To describe two parallel actions happening in the past:
“He was walking the dog while she was working.”
Also, past continuous is used in reported speech when the person reporting the event is not present at the moment of the original event.
“He said he was not well”
Remember that to form the past continuous tense, you need to use the past tense of the verb “to be” (was/were) + the present participle of the main verb (verb + -ing).
Past continuous vs. past perfect continuous tense
The past continuous tense and the past perfect continuous tense are both used to describe actions that were in progress in the past. However, the two tenses are used in different situations to convey different meanings.
The past continuous tense (also known as the past progressive) is used to describe an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past. It is formed using the past tense of the verb “to be” (was/were) + the present participle of the main verb (verb + -ing). For example: “I was walking to the gym when I saw my aunt.”
On the other hand, the past perfect continuous (also known as past perfect progressive) is used to describe an action that had been in progress before another action in the past. It’s formed with had + been + present participle (verb+ -ing) For example: “I had been walking for an hour when I saw my relative.”
In this example “had been walking” is in past perfect continuous and “saw” is in past simple. It implies that the action of walking had started before seeing the relative and was still ongoing.
In summary, the main difference between past continuous and past perfect continuous is that the past continuous is used to describe an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past, while the past perfect continuous is used to describe an action that had been in progress before another action in the past.
Verbs that can’t be used in the past continuous tense
Some verbs cannot be used in the past continuous tense because they describe a state rather than an action. These verbs are often referred to as “stative verbs” or “non-progressive verbs.” Examples of stative verbs include:
- Verbs of mental states (believe, know, understand, remember, forget)
- Verbs of possession (have, belong, own)
- Verbs of opinions and emotions (like, love, hate, need, want)
- Verbs of measurement and weight (be, weigh, measure)
Here is an example of a sentence using these types of verbs in the past continuous, which is incorrect: “I was knowing the answer” instead of “I knew the answer”.
It’s necessary to understand that some verbs can be both stative and non-stative depending on the context. For example, consider the verbs “to have” or “to feel”, which are stative verbs in one context, but they can be used as action verbs in another: “I was playing with my office workers at the playground” This is a correct sentence because the context describes an act of having something, a good time.
“I was feeling the texture of the fabric”. It is also a correct sentence because the context describes the action of feeling something, the texture of the fabric.
It is vital to be aware of these types of verbs and to use them in the appropriate tense to avoid errors in English grammar.
Format of the Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense is formed using the past tense of the verb “to be” (was/were) + the present participle of the main verb (verb + -ing).
The format for constructing the past continuous tense is:
Subject + was/were + present participle (verb + -ing)
For example, with the verb “walk”:
“I was walking”
“She was walking”
“It was walking”
“We were walking”
“They were walking”
The subject of the sentence will determine which form of “to be” is used, with “was” being used for singular subjects and “were” for plural subjects and the third person singular.
Here are a few examples of sentences in the past continuous tense:
“I was studying for the exam.”
“He was working on his project.”
“We were having a meeting.”
It’s also worth knowing that the past continuous tense can be used in both affirmative and negative forms.
To form the negative, you need to add ‘not’ after the form of ‘to be.
For example,
“I was not studying.”
“He was not working on his project.”
Also, you can use this tense in questions by interchanging the order of the subject and form of ‘to be.
For example,
“Was I studying for the exam?”
“Were they playing football in the park?”
“Was he working on his project?”