Past Continuous

Form

The past continuous (also called the past progressive) describes an action that was in progress at a moment in the past. It is formed with was or were plus the present participle of the main verb (verb + -ing): I was reading, they were waiting. Use was with I/he/she/it and were with you/we/they. For negatives add not (she wasn't listening), and for questions move was or were before the subject (Were you sleeping?).

When to Use It

• An action in progress at a specific past time: "At 8 p.m. I was cooking dinner."
• A longer background action interrupted by a shorter one: "She was driving home when her phone rang."
• Two actions happening at the same time in the past: "He was studying while his roommate was playing music."
• Setting the scene or background in a story: "The rain was falling and the wind was howling."
• Describing a temporary or repeated past action, sometimes with annoyance: "He was always losing his keys."

Signal Words

Common Mistakes

• Using the wrong auxiliary: say "they were playing," not "they was playing."
• Using the past continuous for short completed actions: prefer "the phone rang," not "the phone was ringing" for the brief interrupting event.
• Forgetting the -ing form: it is "I was watching," not "I was watch."
• Using stative verbs in the continuous: say "I knew the answer," not "I was knowing the answer."