Grammar: Past Continuous
B1 Lesson 18: Painting a Picture in the Past
When to Use the Past Continuous
Think of the Past Continuous tense as a movie camera for the past. We use it to describe actions that were in progress or happening at a specific time, which helps us tell better stories.
🎬 Setting the Scene
To describe multiple background actions that were happening at the same time.
Example: The sun was setting, and a warm breeze was blowing.
💥 Interrupted Actions
To show a long action (Past Continuous) that was interrupted by a short action (Past Simple).
Example: I was walking home when it started to rain.
The Grammar Rule 📖
How to Form the Past Continuous
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive (+) | I/He/She/It + was + Verb-ing You/We/They + were + Verb-ing |
She was reading. They were playing. |
| Negative (-) | I/He/She/It + wasn't + Verb-ing You/We/They + weren't + Verb-ing |
He wasn't sleeping. We weren't waiting. |
| Question (?) | Was + I/he/she/it + Verb-ing? Were + you/we/they + Verb-ing? |
Was she working? Were you listening? |
In Conversation
This tense is perfect for telling a short story about what happened.
Dara: What happened to you yesterday? I called you.
Sophea: Oh, sorry! I was riding my moto home from Battambang when my phone suddenly died.
Dara: Oh no! What did you do?
Sophea: It's okay. While I was waiting for my friend, I saw a beautiful sunset over the rice fields. It was amazing!
Practice Your Grammar 🎯
Exercise: Choose the Correct Tense
Complete the sentences with the correct Past Simple or Past Continuous form of the verb in brackets.
- He _______ (break) his leg while he _______ (play) football.
→ broke / was playing - When the teacher _______ (enter) the room, the students _______ (work) quietly.
→ entered / were working - What _______ you _______ (do) at 8 PM last night?
→ were you doing - The phone _______ (ring) while I _______ (cook) dinner.
→ rang / was cooking
Your Grammar Mission ⭐
Finish the Story
Complete these sentences with your own ideas, using the Past Simple tense to create an interruption.
- I was riding my bicycle through the countryside when...
- While the teacher was explaining the lesson, a student...
- The power went out while we...
Key Vocabulary
- Continuous Happening without stopping; in progress.
- Interrupt To stop an action or process for a short time.
- Narrative A story or a description of a series of events.
- Scene A description of a place and the things that are happening there.