Past Continuous Tense
the past continuous (past progressive) shows an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. It uses the auxiliary verbs was or were plus the present participle (verb + ing). Think background action, interrupted actions, or two things happening at the same
When to Use It:
• Interrupted Actions: Use it when one action was interrupted by another, e.g., “I was walking when the rain started”.
• Simultaneous Actions: Use it for two actions happening at the same time, e.g., “While Sara was writing, Ali was listening”.
• Background Description: Use it to set the scene in storytelling, e.g., “The sun was shining when Catherine got up”.
Examples:
• I was reading when the phone rang (interrupted past action).
• They were playing football at five o’clock (action in progress at a specific past time).
• While Maria was cooking, Sam was setting the table (simultaneous actions in the past)   .
Formula and the four structures
There are 4 sentence structures affirmative, negative, interrogative, and interrogative negative.
Affirmative: subject + was/were + verb + ing
Example form:
I was working, They were playing. This uses was were + verb ing.
Negative: subject + was/were + not + verb + ing (or contraction: wasn’t, weren’t)
Example form: She was not listening or She wasn’t listening.
They were not watching match.
Interrogative: Was/Were + subject + verb + ing?
Example form: Were you sleeping?
Was he cleaning car?
Negative interrogative: Wasn’t/Weren’t + subject + verb + ing? (used for surprise, confirmation, or polite correction)
Example form: Wasn’t he studying?
Were they not doing their homework?
Quick tips and common mistakes
Past simple vs past continuous: past simple for completed actions, past continuous for the ongoing background action. Remember the auxiliary verb was or were plus the present participle. Common mistakes are forgetting the ing or mixing was with plural subjects. Contractions like wasn’t and weren’t are natural in speech.