One of the difficulties of the English language is how to use tenses properly. In this lesson, we’re going to focus on the Past Continuous tense in English.
A Video Summary About Past Continuous in English
A few explanations about Past Continuous
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
A Video Summary About the Past Continuous in English
A few explanations about Past Continuous
How do you form the past continuous?
The past continuous is formed using the past of the verb BE as an auxiliary, and the -ing form of the main verb.
e.g., I was eating a sandwich
e.g., I wasn’t eating a sandwich
e.g., When were you eating a sandwich?
The structure is the same as the present continuous except the verb BE is in the past.
When do we use the past continuous?
It is used to refer to a continuing action or state that was occurring at a specific time in the past.
It is often used to refer to what was happening before another event happened.
e.g., I was eating my lunch when the fire alarm went off.
It can also be used to show something happened again and again
e.g., They were meeting secretly after school
Like a lot of tenses, the past continuous tends to be used with certain time expressions such as,
– When
– While
– All last week
– Yesterday
– Last week/ night/month
– From 2 o’clock to four
Exercises about the Past Continuous
Exercise 1 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets. Don’t forget the auxiliary verb
Back to the top
Exercise 2 Yesterday at 8 pm Matthew’s family were doing different things. Write positive sentences in the past continuous
Back to the top
Exercise 3 Decide if the following sentences are correct or incorrect. For the incorrect sentences write the correct version
Back to the top
Fast-track your English with these English grammar reviews from Live-English!