Past Continuous

Salgamos de dudas de una vez por todas

01 ¿Qué es el Past
Continuous?
¿Qué es el Past Continuous?
En español equivaldría a...

Yo estaba comiendo
Nosotros estábamos viendo
Vosotros estuvisteis andando

✌ Pretty easy, right?

02 ¿Cómo se forma?
You’ll be surprised!✌
¿Cómo formo el Past Continuous?
Entender nuestro propio idioma es clave para entender cómo funciona el inglés:

Ella estaba cocinando en la cocina

She was cooking in the kitchen

Pablo no estaba prestando atención en clase

Pablo wasn’t paying attention in class
 ¿Cómo formo el Past Continuous?
AFIRMATIVA sujeto was/were verbo ing

NEGATIVA sujeto wasn’t/weren’t verbo ing

INTERROGATIVA was/were sujeto verbo ing?

They were driving around the block.

We were trying to decide which way to go.
Luke was singing the whole morning.
I wasn’t eating lunch when she arrived.
They weren’t cooking dinner.
Layla wasn’t writing the book.
Were they travelling to London?
Were you playing cards when the phone rang?
Was she waiting for the bus?
 🔎 Some examples...
Let’s dig in...

Was Peter listening to Adele?

No, he wasn’t.

Were the students practicing the lesson?

Yes, they were.

What was Daniel doing at the store?

He was buying food for the whole week.

Where was Angela living before?

She was living in Portugal.

Why were they working on Sunday?

They were working because they needed the extra money.
03 ¿Cuándo uso el Past
Continuous?
Let’s get to business ✌
¿Cuándo uso el Past Continuous?
● Cuando hablamos de una acción en el pasado que fue interrumpida por otra. Aquí
usamos while y when.
Joe twisted his ankle while I was coming in home.
We did some revision while we were travelling.
When we were queuing for the cinema, we saw a famous footballer.
Were you playing cards when the phone rang?
Jose called while I was watching the news.
Was it raining when you left?
He was walking to work when he fell.

● Cuando hablamos de algo que tuvo lugar durante un tiempo determinado en el

pasado.
You were working hard until the office closed.
They were dancing the whole night.
Paula wasn’t living in Spain in 2005.
We were still working at 10 o’clock last night.
¿Cuándo uso el Past Continuous?
● Cuando hablamos de dos acciones que ocurrieron al mismo tiempo.

My son was reading while I was cooking.

They were talking very loudly while we were trying to watch the movie.
I was waiting for Luke while he was buying fruits.
My daughter was taking a nap while I was watching a TV series.
He was buying a burger and all the crowds were walking past.

🚨 En este tipo de casos, también podríamos usar el past simple. ¡Cómo en

español!

My son was reading while I was cooking. = My son read while I cooked.
I was listening to music while I was driving here. = I listened to music while I drove here.
¿Cuándo uso el Past Continuous?
● Con adverbios como always o continually, estamos dando a entender que la acción
nos molesta.
She was always worrying about her homework.
They were always talking nonsense.
Luke was continually trying to get his way.

✌Mini Truquito
Con verbos como plan o hope, podemos usar este tiempo verbal para añadir un matiz de
que algo no ha salido como esperábamos.

I was hoping to see Rachel, but it didn’t end up happening.

I was hoping to buy a new jacket.
I was planning to go to the Maldives and then covid came around.
¿Cuándo uso el Past Continuous?
✌Mini Truquito 2
Con el verbo want, (aunque normalmente no se pueda usar en un tiempo
continuo), lo podemos decir para pedir algo de forma más polite.

Karen, were you wanting to say something?

Mr. Garcia, were you wanting to make any remarks?