Past Continuous Tense

The Past Continuous Tense is formed by combining an auxiliary verb (was/were) with a present participle (= a verb ending in ‘ing’).

Auxiliary Verb (was/were) + Present Participle = Past Continuous Tense

Examples:

was + talking = was talking

were + singing = were singing


We use the past continuous tense to:

(i) talk about an action that was going on at a given time or period of time in the past.

Examples:

Lina was reading at eight o’clock last evening.

Richard was doing his history assignment all yesterday afternoon.

We were cycling in the park at ten this morning.

The brothers were painting the house all last Saturday.




(ii) talk about two actions that were going on at the same time in the past.

Examples:

While Steven was playing the violin, his sister was dancing.

While I was sweeping the floor, my mother was cooking.

While they were having their dinner, we were jogging along the beach.

While you were talking over the phone, Jane and Amy were reading n the study.


(ii) show that an ongoing or longer past action was interrupted by a shorter action. The ongoing action is expressed in the past continuous tense, while the shorter action is expressed in the simple past tense.

Examples:

While Sarah was cooking in the kitchen, the telephone rang.

(In the example given above, the longer action (Sarah was cooking) is in the past continuous tense while the shorter action (the telephone rang) is in the simple past.)

Jonathan was drawing when his friends arrived.

While the children were building sandcastles, their parents called out to them.

I was watching television when someone knocked on the door.


Exercises

Choose the correct answers.

1. While you ( was mopping, were mopping ) the floor, I ( was dusting, dusted ) the living room.

2. I ( was riding, were riding ) a motorcycle when two traffic cops ( stopped, were stopping ) me.

3. Yvonne ( was ironing, ironed ) her clothes at 2 p.m. yesterday.

4. While the students ( was drawing, were drawing ) pictures, they ( were hearing, heard ) a scream.

5. While the boys ( was flying, were flying ) kites in the field, the girls ( played, were playing ) with their dolls under a tree.

6. Brandon ( was building, built ) a kennel for his pet puppy all this morning.

7. While the milkmaid ( milked, was milking ) the cow, it ( were mooing, mooed ).

8. While Albert ( fished, was fishing ) by the river, Tony ( dug, was digging ) for earthworms.

9. Amanda ( prepared, was preparing ) for her final examination all last week.

10. Jason ( watered, was watering) the plants when a bee ( was stinging, stung ) him.

11. While he ( sketched, was sketching ) the scenery, I ( took, was taking ) photographs.

12. ( Was, Were ) my uncles ( chopped, chopping ) firewood at five yesterday evening?

13. We ( looked, were looking ) out of the window when a stewardess ( spoke, was speaking ) to us.

14. While my mother ( scaled, was scaling ) a fish, my sister ( boiled, was boiling ) a few eggs.

15. My classmates ( discussed, were discussing ) the Christmas party all yesterday afternoon.


Answers

A.

1. were mopping, was dusting

2. was riding, stopped

3. was ironing

4. were drawing, heard

5. were flying, were playing

6. was building

7. was milking, mooed

8. was fishing, was digging

9. was preparing

10. was watering, stung

11. was sketching, was taking

12. were, chopping

13. were looking, spoke

14. was scaling, was boiling

15. were discussing