Learn Past Continuous Tense | Basic English Grammar Course

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Hi, everybody. I'm Esther.

In this video. I will introduce the past continuous tense.

This tense can be used to describe an action that was ongoing in the past.

It can also be used to describe two actions happening at the same time in the past.

There's a lot to learn so let's get started.

Let's take a look at the first usage of the past continuous tense.

This tense can be used to describe an action that was ongoing in the past.

Let's take a look at these examples.

‘I was walking in the park in the evening.’

So first we start with the subject, ‘I’.

For I, he, she, and it, we follow withwas’. ‘I was

And then we add anINGto the end of the verb.

‘I was walking

Now take a look at the whole sentence.

‘I was walking in the park in the evening.’

You can see that this was an ongoing action and it happened in the past.

Let's look at the next example.

She was living here last year.’

Here, the subject isshe’.

So again we usewasand thenverb-ing’.

Here we have another expression that shows that this action was happening in the past.

The dog,’ orit’, ‘was eating dinner five minutes ago.’

The subject here isthe dogwhich can be replaced by the pronounit’.

And so we follow withwas’.

And finally, ‘Andy and Jim,’ we can replace this withthey’.

Foryou’, ‘weandthey’, we usewere’.

They were’, orAndy and Jim were working at 9:00 p.m.’

Let's move on.

The past continuous tense is also used to describe an ongoing

action in the past that was interrupted by another action.

This interrupting action is used in the past simple tense with the wordwhen’.

Let's take a look at this example.

‘I was playing cards when you called.’

Again we start with the subjectwasorwere’,

and thenverb-ing’,

so this is the action that was ongoing in the past,

‘I was playing cards

The interrupting action in this sentence isyou called’.

You'll notice I use the wordwhento show the interrupting action

And I used it in the past simple tense, ‘called’.

Let's take a look at the next sentence.

The cat' or 'it' was eating when Eric came home.’

Again the action in progress isthe cat was eating’.

AndEric came home’, you'll notice the past simple tense.

This is the interrupting action used with the wordwhen’.

We were sleeping when Anne arrived.’

Again we have the ongoing action in the past.

The subject here iswe’. And so we usedwereand thenverb-ing’.

When Anne arrivedis the interrupting action.

And finally, ‘Alicia and I’, orWe' were walking when we saw Mark.’

When we saw Markis the interrupting action that interrupted the ongoingAlicia and I were walking’.

It's also important to note that we can also switch the order of the sentence around and say,

When you called, I was playing cards,’

orWhen Eric came home, the cat was eating.’

Let's move on.

Another usage for the past continuous tense is to talk about two actions that were

happening at the same time in the past.

We use the past continuous tense for both actions with the wordwhile’.

Let's take a look at some examples.

The first sentence says, ‘While I was playing soccer, she was watching me.’

You'll notice that both actions are in the past continuous tense.

‘I was playing soccerandShe was watching me’.

The wordwhileat the beginning shows that these actions were happening at the sametime.

While you were reading, I was preparing dinner.’

Again both actions are expressed in the past continuous tense.

The wordwhileshows that they were happening at the same time.

While Her husbandorhe’, ‘was driving she was taking pictures.’

Both actions are in the past continuous tense.

And finally,

While we were eating, the music was playing.’

Both actions were happening at the same time.

Now, you'll notice that in my examples the wordwhilecomes at the beginning,

however, it's important to note that you can move the wordwhilearound in several ways.

For example, instead of saying this,

While I was playing soccer, she was watching me.’

I can movewhileto the middle of the sentence.

‘I was playing soccer while she was watching me.’

I can put thewhilebetween the two actions.

Or I can also change the sentence around and say,

While she was watching me, I was playing soccer.’

So it doesn't matter which action comes first with thewhileif you put it in the beginning.

Let's move on.

Now let's talk about the negative form of the past continuous tense.

Here are some examples.

She was not reading last night.’

The subject issheand so we usewas’.

However, before theverb-ing’, we addnot’.

She was not reading last night.’

I can use a contraction and say,

She wasn't reading last night.’

We were not listening to music this morning.’

In this case, the subject isweand so we usewere’.

Againnotcomes before theverb-ing’.

We were not listening to music this morning.’

Again I can use a contraction and say,

We weren't listening to music this morning.’

And the next one says, ‘He wasn't watching TV when his dad came home.’

In this example, the contraction is already there for you,

He wasn't watching TV’.

You'll notice the wordwhen’.

Rememberwhen’ + ‘a past simple tense verbshows an interrupting action,

so, ‘When his dad came home he wasn't watching TV.’

He was doing something else.

And finally,

They weren't talking while the game was playing.’

The wordwhileis in this sentence.

Remember that shows 2 past ongoing actions happening at the same time,

soWhile the game was playing they weren't talking’.

They were doing something else.

Let's move on now.

Let's talk about how to formbeverb questions for the past continuous tense.

Take a look at the first statement.

It says,

It was raining this morning.’

In order to turn this into a question, it's quite easy,

all we have to do is change the order of the first two words.

Instead ofIt was’, I now sayWas itto make it a question.

You'll notice that the rest of the words stay in the same place.

Was it raining this morning?’

You can answer by saying, ‘Yes, it was.’ orNo, it wasn't.’

The next statement says,

They were living there when the fire happened.’

To turn this into a big question, again we just switched the order of the first two words.

Instead ofThey were’, we sayWere they’.

And again, the rest of the words can stay in the same place.

Were they living there when the fire happened?’

And you can answer by saying,

Yes, they wereorNo, they weren't.’

Let's continue on.

Now I'll go into how to make WH questions for the past continuous tense.

You'll notice that the examples here all begin with some WH words.

For example, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘why’, andwho’.

Let's take a look at the first question.

What were they doing last night?”

The subject of this sentence isthey’.

So what you do is after the WH word you put the properbeverb.

In this case, ‘were’.

What were they doing last night?’

You'll notice that after the subject comes theverb-ing’.

What were they doing last night?’

I can answer by saying, ‘They were playing gamesor

They were reading a book’.

The next question says,

Where was he working last week?’

In this case the subject isheand so the be verb to use iswas’.

Where was he working last week?’

I can say, ‘He was working in Canada.’

Why was she crying when she finished the book?’

In this case, the subject issheand so I putwasafterwhy’.

Why was she crying when she finished the book?’

I can say, ‘She was crying because the ending was sad.’

And finally,

Who were the children staying with while their mom was working?’

In this case, ‘the childrenis athey

so we follow 'who' withwere’.

Who were theyor

Who were the children staying with while their mom was working?’

To answer, I can say, ‘The childrenor

They were staying with their dad.’

Let's move on.

Good job, everybody in learning the past continuous tense.

This tense can be a little difficult and a little tricky.

Especially, when it comes to thewhenandwhileusage.

It'll take some practice to really master it, but I know you can do it.

Keep studying English and I'll see you in the next video.