Past Continuous Tense. Past Continuous - past long time: everything you need to know
You are probably already familiar with Time Present Continuous, which helps us describe a long-term action (process) that is happening at the moment. But what if you need to talk about a process that lasted in the past?
In Russian, various prefixes come to our aid, which help to distinguish between verbs that answer the questions “what did you do?” and “what did you do?”. In English, in such cases, a time called Past continuous Tense.
What is Past Continuous
Past continuous(also called Past Progressive) is the past long time. In other words, this is a time that indicates a process that lasted at a certain moment or period in the past.
For understanding: For example, if you ran into the store yesterday for five minutes to buy the essentials, then you will simply say: "I went to the store." If you got involved in a long and tedious shopping process in order to find a gift for your beloved granny, then the wording “I walked along shopping center as much as 4 hours, during which time spring has changed into summer, a year next year, I got old, the children grew up, and humanity conquered Mars, but I still didn’t find anything, perhaps I’ll make a postcard with my own hands.
This example clearly demonstrates the difference between Past Simple and Past Continuous.
How is the Past Continuous Formed?
The Past Continuous education scheme is simple, logical and similar to the formation of Present Continuous. This subject+ auxiliary verb was/were + semantic verb with the ending "- ing". For clarity, let's take a closer look at how statements, denials and questions are formed in this tense.
Spoiler: the formation of negatives and questions does not differ in structure from other English tenses.
Keep in mind that in colloquial speech, negations tend to be abbreviated, so was not and were not take the forms wasn't and weren't, respectively.
Marker words Past Continuous
To determine that the Past Continuous should be used in this sentence, the following marker words will help you:
- at 7 a.m.- at 7 am (instead of 7 a.m. you can substitute any other time, it is important to indicate a specific period of time);
- all day/night(long) - all day / all night (all the way through);
- all the time- all the time;
- at that moment- at that moment;
- while- while;
- when- When.
| Marker | Example | Translation |
| at 5 o'clock | Yesterday at 5 o'clock I was having a date with my boss' wife. | Yesterday, at 5 o'clock, I was on a date with my boss's wife. |
| all night long | I was partying all night long, dudes. It was saving! | I've been partying all night long, dudes. It was awesome! |
| all the time | Rick was crafting something in his lab all the time, but nobody knew what it was. | Rick was making things in his lab all the time, but no one knew exactly what. |
| at that moment | I was teaching my pigeon to fly at that moment the day before yesterday. | I taught my pigeon to fly at the same time the day before yesterday. |
| while | Clyde was drinking whiskey at the bar, while Bonnie was stealing a car. | Clyde was drinking whiskey at a bar while Bonnie was stealing a car. |
| when | I was trying to sell my little brother in the Internet when my parents came back. | I was trying to sell my little brother online when my parents came back. |
Cases of using Past Continuous
So, in fact, for the sake of what all this was started: in what cases do we use the Past Continuous?
- The simplest and most common to describe actions, that lasted for a specific period or a specific point in time in the past.
Last night at 6 p.m., I was eating dinner. - I had dinner at 6 pm yesterday.
At midnight, we were still driving through the desert. At midnight we were still driving through the desert.
Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work. - Yesterday, at the same time, I was sitting at my desk.
She was walking her dog in the afternoon. - She walked the dog during the day.
It is important to remember that if a period is specified, then it must be completed. Those. if we say that she walked the dog during the day, then this means that the day has already ended.
- One of the most typical use cases is interrupted action in the past. This is where the union comes to the rescue. when».
I was watching TV when she called. I was watching TV when she called.
When the phone rank, she was writing a letter. When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
While we were having the picnic, it started to rain. While we were at the picnic, it started to rain.
What were you doing when the earthquake started? What were you doing when the earthquake started?
I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm. I was listening to my iPod so I didn't hear the fire alarm.
You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off. - You didn't listen to me when I asked you to turn off the oven.
Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane. Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
A:What were you doing when you broke your leg? What were you doing when you broke your leg?
B: I was snowboarding. - Snowboarding.
- Another characteristic case is long-term actions, that happened at the same time in the past. In this case, the union helps us " while' and sometimes just ' and».
I was studying while he was making dinner. I was studying while he was cooking dinner.
While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television. While Helen was reading, Tim was watching TV.
Were you listening while he was talking? Did you listen while he spoke?
I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made several mistakes. - I wrote the letter inattentively, so I made a few mistakes.
What were you doing while you were waiting? What were you doing while you were waiting?
Thomas wasn't working, and I wasn't working either. Thomas didn't work, and I didn't work either.
They were eating dinner, discussing their plans and having a good time They had dinner, discussed plans and just had a good time.
- A slightly rarer and more specific case is the use of the Past Continuous to describe the atmosphere and setting in stories and stories.
When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss was giving orders, and customers were waiting to be served. one customer was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service. - When I entered the office, several people were busily typing, someone was talking on the phone, the boss was giving instructions, and the customers were waiting to be served. One client yelled at the secretary and waved his arms. Others complained to each other about poor service.
- And finally - a case for the advanced: we use the Past Continuous to describe repetitive actions or habits, that annoyed us in the past. It looks like using used to", but with a negative connotation. This is where the words " always" And " constantly».
She was always coming to class late. She was always late for class.
He was constantly talking. It announced everyone. - He was constantly talking. It annoyed everyone.
I didn't like them because they were always complaining. I didn't like them because they complained all the time.
Nota Bene: do not forget that the so-called " state verbs» (state verbs) we are in Continuous tenses do not use.
Education Past Continuous Passive
Like most other tenses, the Past Continuous can be used in passive bail .
Statement: subject + was/were + being + V3
The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. - The seller helped the buyer when the thief entered the store.
Negation: subject + was/were + not + being + V3
The TV was not being watched when electricity went off. Nobody was watching TV when the power went out.
Question: was/were + subject + being + V3?
Was he being listened to by anyone when Linda arrived? - Was anyone listening to him when Linda came?
Differences from Past Simple
We hope that by reading up to this point, you have already understood how Past Continuous differs from Past Simple, but just in case, let's clarify.
past simple is a short, completed action in the past, while Past continuous is a process, a long-term action that took place over a period of time in the past.
That, in general, is all you need to know in order to distinguish between these times. Easy peasy.
He came home at 7 p.m. - He returned home at 7 pm.
He was coming home at 7 p.m. - He returned home at 7 pm.
She said said when I saw her.
She was saying something when I saw her. - She's something spoke when I saw her.
Working with Past Continuous is simple and pleasant (compared to the same Present Perfect, for example), and in order to thoroughly understand it and learn everything to the smallest detail, we recommend you to exercise on our online simulator.
Conclusion
So, today we have carefully and in detail analyzed the Past Continuous Tense. We hope that this article was useful for you, and you will handle this time as cleverly as any native, and will be able to tell everyone long stories about your exciting pastime over the past weekend.
We offer you to get acquainted with other tenses of the English language
past simple- grammatical tense, which is used to indicate a completed action in the past. This is usually indicated by hint words. For example He finished school in 2002. He finished school in 2002. Thus, the indication 2002 is a hint word requiring the use of Past Simple.
Past continuous- in this grammatical tense, we are primarily interested in the continuous nature of a specific action in the past. Often this time is accompanied by hints in their own words. For example, He was drinking tea with his friends yesterday at 5. That is, we are interested in a specific moment in the past, and special words indicate this.
Clues
Let us dwell a little more on the clue words of these two tenses.
past simple- yesterday, ago, last, the day before yesterday, in ... (date), on ... (day). As a rule, all of the above clue words are used at the end of a sentence. However, speeches may use these words at the beginning of a sentence.
Past continuous- at ... (indication of time), all day long (all day), from ... till ... (from ... to ...). As in the Past Simple, hint words are placed at the end of the sentence, but they can also be used at the beginning of the sentence.
How Past Simple and Past Continuous are Formed
past simple
affirmative sentences- I started to work at shool in 2001. The subject is put in the first place, then the predicate in the second form (the ending ed is added to the regular verbs, the second form is learned from the wrong ones).
Interrogative sentences - Did you start to work at school in 2001? The auxiliary verb Did, which is not translated in any way, is put in the first place, then the subject and predicate in the FIRST (initial) form.
Negative sentences- I did not (didn't) start to work at school in 2001. (The subject is followed by did not + the verb in the initial form)
Past continuous
affirmative sentences- We were having breakfast yesterday at 5. The subject is put in the first place, then to be in the past form (was / were - depending on the number of the subject. In the singular - was, in the plural - were.) + verb with the ending ...ing .
Interrogative sentences— Were you having breakfast yesterday at 5? The verb to be and the subject change places.
Negative sentences- We were not (weren't) having breakfast at 5. The particle not (not) is placed after the verb to be.
Sharing two tenses in one sentence
Often past simple And Past continuous are used side by side in the same sentence. The most important thing in this case is to correctly determine which time to use in which case. Consider an example: Sally came when I was having breakfast. Sally came in while I was having breakfast. Let's compare two actions. One of them has a long character - to have breakfast, the other one-time, quick character - to come. Thus, when two past actions collide in one sentence, you need to choose, arguing about which action lasted longer and which happened quickly. In such cases, two sentences are usually connected using conjunctions. when(when and while(while)
Examples from fiction
A chill wind was blowing that nipped him sharply and bit with especial venom into his wounded shoulder. // Jack London "The Call Of The Wild"
She was trying to see it in a mirror behind the counter without letting the truck driver know, and so she pretended to push a bit of hair to neatness. // John Steinbeck "The Grapes Of Wrath"
The man was limping on towards this latter, as if he were the pirate come to life, and come down, and going back to hook himself up again. // Charles Dickens "Great Expectations"
Exercises for Past Simple / Past Continuous (test)
Past continuous is the long past tense of English. Used to indicate a process that took place some time in the past, while the exact time when the action took place must be indicated or it must be clear from the context of the sentence. Below are the rules for the formation of the Past Continuous in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences, auxiliary words and examples of its use.
Education Past Continuous
Past Continuous in the affirmative sentence is formed with the help of the auxiliary verb was / were (this is the verb to be in the 2nd form) and the verbs in the first form with the addition of the ending -ing to it. The auxiliary verb was is used only with the 1st and 3rd person singular, in other cases were is used. Formula:
Noun + was / were + verb in form 1 with -ing added to it
An example of a declarative sentence:
When you called I was taking a shower. I was taking a shower when you called.
I was watching TV at 5 o'clock yesterday. I was watching TV at five o'clock yesterday.
In the negative sentence, the auxiliary verb was / were is also used, but the share not is added to them at the end. Education rule:
Noun + was / were + not + verb in form 1 with -ing added to it
At the same time, was / were can merge with the not share and form was not / were not. Objection examples:
In the evening I was not watching TV. — I didn’t watch TV in the evening.
I was not walking on the street when you called me. I wasn't walking outside when you called me.
To create an interrogative sentence in the Past Continuous, the auxiliary verbs was and were are placed at the beginning of the sentence. rule:
Was / Were + noun + verb in 1 form with the addition of the ending -ing to it
Examples of interrogative sentences:
Were you sitting here at 8 o'clock in the morning? — Were you sitting here at 8:00 in the morning?
Was he doing his homework when I came? - He did homework when I came?
Auxiliary words Past Continuous
In Past Continuous, unlike Past Simple, there are no pronounced auxiliary words. In fact, there are only three words and phrases that always use the past long.
cases, VwhichusedPast continuous
The following are cases in which the use of the Past Continuous is appropriate. There are five in total in English.
I use case: interrupted action in the past
Interrupted Action in the Past
The Past Continuous is used to indicate long-term actions in the past that were interrupted. To indicate a short duration of action, Past Simple is used. IN this case a lengthy break can be valid or only as a time break. examples:
I was watching TV when she called. I was watching TV when she called.
I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm. — I listened to the iPod, and did not hear the fire alarm.
You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off. You didn't listen to me when I told you to turn off the stove.
II use case: action in the past, which is tied to time
Specific Time as an Interruption
In this case, the Past Continuous is used to indicate an action, it is tied to any time in the past. examples:
Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner. I had dinner yesterday at 6:00 pm.
At midnight, we were still driving through the desert. At midnight we were still driving through the desert.
Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work. Yesterday at the same time I was sitting at my desk at work.
Use Case III: Parallel Actions in the Past
Parallel Actions
The Past Continuous can be used to refer to two continuous actions in the past happening at the same time. Actions are parallel, and while is often used to link them. examples:
I was studying while he was making dinner. I was studying while he was cooking dinner.
Were you listening while he was talking? Did you listen when he spoke?
Thomas was not working, and I was not working either. Thomas didn't work and I didn't work either.
IV use case: atmosphere transfer
In rare cases, Past Continuous is used to convey the atmosphere of what action. Eg:
When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss was yelling directions, and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service. — When I entered the office, several people were busy typing, some were talking on the phone, the boss was yelling at everyone, and customers were waiting for help. One client yelled at the secretary and waved his arms. Others complained to each other about poor service.
Use Case V: Transferring Repetitive Actions and Annoyance
Repetition and Irritation with Always
Past Continuous can be used with the words always or constantly to convey your irritation with actions that often happened in the past. Similar to used to, but with a very negative connotation. The words always and constantly must always be placed between the auxiliary verb and the -ing verb. examples:
She was always coming to class late. She was always late for lessons.
He was constantly talking. He announced everyone. “He kept talking. It annoyed everyone.
I didn't like them because they were always complaining. I didn't like them because they always complained
The word Past is translated as "past" and shows us that the action happened sometime in the past. If you read the last article, you already know that Continuous is translated as “long / continued”. In the past tense, this tells us that the action began sometime, lasted for some time, and ended by now.
We use the Past Continuous to emphasize the duration of an action that happened in the past. Unlike the Past Simple tense, which we use when we simply talk about something as if it happened in the past.
Let's look at two examples:
1.Past Simple:
I talked to her.
I talked to her.
2. Past Continuous:
I was talking to her for 2 hours.
I spoke to her for two hours.
The first example just says fact. We can use it, for example, when we describe a series of actions: woke up, took a shower, ate, called, talked to her.
The second example says that it was process and it lasted for some time (2 hours). That is, we focus on the duration of this action. Emotion is also invested in the sentence, and not just a set of facts: I talked with her for 2 hours and didn’t manage to do anything.
Now let's look at the use of the past continuous tense.
Using the Past Continuous Tense
This time is used in the following cases:
1. When we talk about an action in the past that took place over a period of time.
Example: I was cleaning my apartment all day yesterday.
2.When we want to emphasize the duration of the process and give an emotional coloring.
Example: me I baked this cake for two hours.
Affirmative sentences Past Continuous Tense
An affirmative sentence is formed with the past tense auxiliary verb to be (was, were) and the ending "-ing" added to the action verb. The educational scheme will be as follows:
the one about whom in question+ was/were + verb + -ing
| I | was | |
| You | ||
| We | were | playing |
| They | swimming | |
| She | cooking | |
| He | was | |
| It |
For example:
They were watch ing TV for 2 hours.
They watched TV for two hours.
I was sleep ing whole day.
I slept all day.
He was drive ing a car.
He was driving.
Rules for adding an ending -ing we have considered in this article. In it, we also talked about verbs that are never used in continuous tenses, since they do not know how to last. Be sure to look.
Words are indicators of time
Very often, the following words are used with the Past Continuous:
- all day long - all day
- all the time - all the time
- all day yesterday - all day yesterday
- the whole morning - the whole morning
- from 5 to 7 p.m. - from 5 to 7
They will help you understand that this is the continuous past tense. Let's look at examples:
He was working the whole morning.
He worked all morning.
They were reading from 6
till 8
p.
m.
They read from six to eight in the evening.
I was painting all day yesterday.
I painted all day yesterday.
Negative Past Continuous Tense
The negative sentence in this tense is formed in the same way as the affirmative sentence, but the negative particle not is added to our verb to be.
the one in question + was/were+ not + verb + -ing
| I | was | ||
| You | |||
| We | were | playing | |
| They | not | cooking | |
| She | swimming | ||
| He | was | ||
| It |
They were not play ing all day long.
They didn't play all day.
I was not study ing.
I didn't study.
She was not clear ing her room.
She didn't clean the room.
Interrogative form Past continuous tense
If you want to ask if someone did a long action in the past, then we move the verb to be to the first place in the sentence. The question structure looks like this:
was/were + the one in question + verb + -ing
| was | I | |
| you | ||
| Were | we | playing? |
| they | cooking? | |
| she | swimming? | |
| was | he | |
| it |
Statement:
I was doing my homework.
I did my homework.
They were swimming in a sea.
They swam in the sea.
She was playing a piano.
She played the piano.
A question and a positive answer (our "yes") would look like this:
| Question | Short answer (contains the verb to be) | Full answer (built as an affirmative sentence) |
| was
I do ing my homework? Did I do my homework? |
Yes, I was. |
Yes, I was do ing my homework. Yes I did homework. |
| Were they swim ing in a sea? Did they swim in the sea? |
Yes, they were. |
Yes, they were swimm ing in a sea. |
| was
she play ing a piano? Did she play the piano? |
Yes, she was. |
Yes, she was play ing a piano. Yes she played the piano. |
Negative answers (our "no") would look like this:
| Question | Short answer (contains the verb to be + not) | Full answer (formed as a negative sentence) |
| was
I do ing my homework? Did I do my homework? |
no, I wasnot. |
no, I was not do ing my homework. No I didn't do my homework |
| Were
they swim ing
in a sea? Did they swim in the sea? |
No, you werenot. |
No, they were not swimm ing in a sea. No, they did not swim in the sea. |
| was
she play ing a piano? Did she play the piano? |
No, she wasnot. |
No, she was not play ing a piano. No, she didn't play the piano |
Were they talking to her?
Did they talk to her?
Yes, they were.
Yes, they talked.
Were they talking to her?
Did they talk to her?
No, they were not.
No, they didn't talk.
was he washing his car?
Did he wash his car?
Yes, he was washing his car.
Yes, he washed his car
was he washing his car?
Did he wash his car?
No, he was not washing his car.
No, he didn't wash his car.
Special questions
When, we ask a question with the following question words:
- What - what
- Where - where
- Who - who
- Which - which
- Why - why
question word + was/were + person in question + verb + -ing
| was | I | ||
| you | |||
| What | were | they | reading? |
| Where | we |
