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PAST CONTINUOUS FORM AND USE

Form of Past Continuous tense:

Past Continuous is formed with the help of second form of verb “to be” –
WAS/WERE depending on pronoun standing before and verb with ending -ING.

I
WAS
He

She WORKING
WATCHING
It
You

We WERE
They

FOR EXAMPLE: I WAS listening to music.

You WERE watching TV.
We WERE dancing.
They WERE talking.
She WAS learning.
He WAS walking.
It WAS raining.

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To form a Negative form, we need to add to auxiliary verb WAS/WERE particle

“not” + verb ING

I
WAS
He

She WORKING

It
You

We WERE
They
FOR EXAMPLE: I WAS NOT listening to music.
You WERE NOT working.
We WERE NOT doing the homework.
They WERE NOT practicing.
She WAS NOT working out.
He WAS NOT dancing.
It WAS NOT raining.

Auxiliary verb WAS/WERE has short form negative form:

NEGATIVE FORMS: I WASN’T listening to music.

You WEREN’T dancing.
We WEREN’T practicing.
They WEREN’T talking.
She WASN’T learning.
He WASN’T watching.
It WASN’T watching.

A Question form of Past Continuous:

1. General or Yes/No Questions:

WAS I working? – Yes, I WAS. / No, I WAS NOT.

she dancing? – Yes, sheWAS. / No, she WASN’T.

WERE they learning? – Yes, they WERE. / No, they WEREN’T.

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 2. Special Questions / WH-Questions:

WHAT
WHERE

?
WAS I WORKING
WHEN WERE He/She/It DANCING
WHY You/We/They FINISHING
HOW

Common USE of Past Continuous tense:

1. Action which was in progress at a stated time in the past.– it doesn’t matter when the
action started or finished. (time expressions: all morning/day/week, at 3 o’clock)

FOR EXAMPLE: I was watching TV yesterday at 5 o’clock

We were drawing all day last Friday.

2. Action which was in a progress when another action interrupted it – Past Continuous
is used for an action in progress and Past Simple is used for an action that interrupted it
(time expressions: while, when).

FOR EXAMPLE: I was cooking a dinner while the phone rang.

3. Two or more simultaneous actions in the past – two or more actions that are in a
progress happening at the same time in the past.

FOR EXAMPLE: I was cooking a dinner while my mother was watching a film.

4. To describe an atmosphere or to give a background information to a story.

FOR EXAMPLE: The wind was blowing, the dog was howling…

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