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Past Continuous (Past Progressive)

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Past Continuous: Uses
Other Uses of the Past Continuous
Past Continuous: Affirmative Form
Past Continuous: Negative Form
Past Continuous: Question Form

Past Continuous: Uses
Past Continuous: Affirmative Form
Past Continuous: Negative Form
Past Continuous: Question Form

Past Continuous: Uses

Rules

Past Continuous: Uses

The past continuous tense (also called past progressive) expresses:

An ongoing action at a specific time in the past.

An ongoing action interrupted by another action in the past.

Ongoing simultaneous actions in the past.

Examples

An ongoing action at a specific time in the past

Yesterday at 8:00 am, Tom was walking to his favourite spot.

An ongoing action interrupted by another action in the past

He was sleeping when a loud noise woke him up.

Ongoing simultaneous actions in the past

Nadia was running away while Tom was panicking in front of the destroyed house.

Other Uses of the Past Continuous

For Advanced Users

Past Continuous: Affirmative Form

Rules

Points to remember when forming past continuous affirmative sentences:

Use the auxiliary verb to be (was/were).
Use the base form of the verb + ing.

Past continuous affirmative sentences’ structure

Examples

In 2003, Tom was studying chemistry in university.

They were researching new chemical elements.

Tip

When vs While

The words when and while are often used in past continuous sentences.

Use when for interrupted actions

Use while for simultaneous actions

Past continuous affirmative sentence using “when”.

He was pouring a liquid into a beaker when it exploded.

Past continuous affirmative sentence using “while”.

While Tom was cleaning the mess after the explosion, Nadia was beginning a new experiment.

The verb after when is usually in the simple past. It represents the action that interrupts the one in progress.

The verbs after while are in the past continuous. While shows the action is in progress.

Past Continuous: Negative Form

Rules

Points to remember when forming negative past continuous sentences:

Use the auxiliary verb to be (was/were).
Place the function word not after the auxiliary to be.
Use the base form of the verb + ing.

Past continuous negative sentences’ structure

Examples

They were not joking anymore after the accident.

Tom was not paying attention when Nadia clapped her hands.

Contractions are often used in the negative form.

Past Continuous: Question Form

Yes/No Questions

answered by yes or no

Information Questions

answered with information
never answered by yes or no
use question words

Rules

Points to remember when forming questions in the past continuous:

Place the auxiliary verb to be (was/were) before the subject.
Use the base form of the verb + ing.

For information questions only:
Place a question word at the beginning

Examples

Yes/no questions

Was/were	subject	verb + ing	object*?
Was	Tom	studying	chemistry?
Were	they	causing	explosions?

Information questions

Question word	was/were	subject	verb + ing	object*?
What	was	Nadia	testing?
Why	were	they	mixing	chemicals?

*The object is used only when necessary.

Past Continuous (Past Progressive)

Past Continuous: Uses

Past Continuous: Uses

Other Uses of the Past Continuous

For Advanced Users

Past Continuous: Affirmative Form

When vs While

Past Continuous: Negative Form

Past Continuous: Question Form

Yes/No Questions

Information Questions

See Also

Reçois toutes les infos et astuces d’Alloprof par courriel.