Past continuous / past progressive

Past continuous / past progressive

Past continuous or past progressive is one of the tenses we are going to study this year. The following chart summarises the most important aspects you'll have to learn:

Form:

• First, the right form of be is placed after the subject: am, is or are.
• Then the -ing form of the verb is needed, but remember the rules to form the gerund.
• A time reference is often included at the end of the sentence.
• My friends were talking to the director.
• I was waiting for the bus when I saw a taxi.
• Sean wasn’t having breakfast at 8 am; he was reading.
• He wasn't doing his homework at half past six.
• Were you playing tennis? I can't believe it.

Uses:

• Talking about what was happening at a specific time in the past (talking about memories...)
• We were watching the film at lunch time.
• Talking about something that happened at one point (in the past simple) while a longer action was taking place (in the past continuous). In this use, the clause referring to the longer action, is often introduced by while or as; or, alternatively, the shorter action clauses is introduced by when:
• We weren't watching the film when my sister rang.
• They found the lost key as they were having a walk along the river.
• Myrtle broke here leg while she was exercising in the park.