Functions of the past continuous
The past continuous tense portrays actions or occurrences that were ongoing in the past and were still in progress when another event took place.
It is used:
-
Frequently, when narrating a story in the past tense, the background is depicted, as exemplified by sentences like “The sun was shining and the birds were singing when the elephant emerged from the jungle. The remaining animals sought shelter under the trees, while the elephant hurriedly searched for her baby. Unaware, she continued on her quest, completely unaware of the hunter observing her through his binoculars. Suddenly, a gunshot echoed as she dashed towards the river…”
- to describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action, e.g. “I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang.”
- to express a change of mind: e.g. “I was going to spend the day at the beach but I’ve decided to get my homework done instead.”
- with ‘wonder’, to make a very polite request: e.g. “I was wondering if you could baby-sit for me tonight.”
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Examples
- They were waiting for the bus when the accident happened.
- Caroline was skiing when she broke her leg.
- When we arrived he was having a bath.
- When the fire started I was watching television.
Note: with verbs not normally used in the continuous form, the simple past is used.
Forming the past continuous
The past continuous of any verb is composed of two parts : the past tense of the verb “to be” (was/were), and the base of the main verb +ing.
| Subject | +was/were | +base + ing |
|---|---|---|
| They | were | watching |
| Affirmative | ||
| She | was | reading |
| Negative | ||
| She | wasn’t | reading |
| Interrogative | ||
| Was | she | reading? |
| Interrogative negative | ||
| Wasn’t | she | reading? |
To play, past continuous
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
|---|---|---|
| I was playing | I was not playing | Was I playing? |
| You were playing | You were not playing | Were you playing? |
| He was playing | He wasn’t playing | Was he playing? |
| We were playing | We weren’t playing | Were we playing? |
| They were playing | They weren’t playing | Were they playing? |
