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Verb Tenses - Lesson 105

Past Continuous Tense

Lesson 105 - learn the English past continuous tense: how to form it, when to use it, common mistakes, examples and a short video.

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How to form the past continuous tense

How To Form The Past Continuous:

Take a subject (I, the children etc) then put the past simple in the appropriate form of the verb to be (was, were) and finally to this add the gerund( compliment plus ...ing) of the verb you wish to use (learning). I was learning. To make negative phrases add the word not after the auxiliary verb to be. This gives: I was not learning. This can be shortened to I wasn't learning. To make interrogatives swap the position of the subject and the auxiliary verb to be. This gives us: Was I learning? The table set out below shows how it works:

Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I was learning I was not learning Was I learning?
You were learning You were not learning Were you learning?
He was learning He was not learning Was he learning?
She was learning She was not learning Was she learning?
It was learning It was not learning Was it learning?
We were learning We were not learning Were we learning?
You were learning You were not learning Were you learning?
They were learning They were not learning Were they learning?

The following video explains how to form the past continuous:

When to use it

  • An action in progress at a past moment. At eight o'clock I was having dinner.
  • A longer action interrupted by a shorter one (with the past simple). I was reading when the phone rang.
  • Two actions happening in parallel. While she was cooking, he was laying the table.
  • Background description in a story. The sun was shining and the birds were singing.

Signal words & time expressions: while, when, as, at that moment, at 8pm yesterday, all day

Watch the video lesson

Video transcript

The past continuous, how to form it. OK? Take a subject I. Then use the auxiliary verb to be in the past simple. I was. Then take your verb in the infinitive without to, the compliment, for example learn and add ...ing to make your present participle or gerund, learning. So put that together, I was learning. That was first person. To make the second person, you were learning. He was learning. She was learning.It was learning. We were learning.You were learning.They were learning. To make negatives put not after the auxiliary be. I was not learning, or I wasn't learning. You were not learning. You weren't learning. He was not learning. She wasn't learning. It wasn't learning. We were not learning. You weren't learning. They weren't learning. To make questions change the position of the subject and the auxiliary verb to be. So. Was I learning? Were you learning? Was he learning? Were we learning? Were you learning? Were they learning? So that's how to make the past continuous. In the next video I'll explain when to use it. The function of the past continuous. Thanks for watching.

Common mistakes to avoid

Not quite…Better
When it rained, I watched TV.When it happened / for the longer action: I was watching TV when it started to rain.
I was knowing him well.I knew him well. — stative verbs stay in the simple form.

Frequently asked questions

‘When’ or ‘while’?

Use while + the longer (continuous) action and when + the shorter (simple) action: While I was sleeping, the storm began. The storm began when I was sleeping.

Past simple or past continuous?

The past continuous sets the scene (action in progress); the past simple is the completed event that happens within or interrupts it.

Continue the course

This lesson is part of our free English Verb Tenses course — work through it in order or jump to what you need next.

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