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Past Continuous Tense

Uses

We use the past continuous tense to talk about

1. an unfinished action that was interrupted by another action. For example,

y I was having dinner when the phone rang.
y Jagriti was sleeping when the guests arrived.
2. actions that lasted for a while. For example,

y I was mowing the lawn all evening.
y Meghna was working all night.
3. the background in a story. For example,

y It was raining heavily. The birds were resting in their nests. The cows were
relaxing in the shade of the trees. The children were playing indoors.

4. actions that were happening again and again. For example,

y They were constantly fighting.
y Manyata and Kabir were always arguing.
5. two actions that were happening at the same time. For example,

y Alan was cleaning the rooms while Alice was washing the clothes.
y The boys were watching television while the girls were studying.
6. an action that was in progress at a stated
time in the past. We don’t know when the Remember
action started or finished. For example, Time expressions used with past

y The children were sleeping in the continuous tense include while,
afternoon today. when, as, the moment that.

Structure

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I was speaking. I was not speaking. Was I speaking?

You were speaking. You were not speaking. Were you speaking?

He was speaking. He was not speaking. Was he speaking?

She was speaking. She was not speaking. Was she speaking?

It was speaking. It was not speaking. Was it speaking?

We were speaking. We were not speaking. Were we speaking?

They were speaking. They were not speaking. Were they speaking?

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