In English we often use the past continuous for telling stories. With a few exceptions, it is used to describe a continuing situation or an action in progress before or during another past moment. For example:
Peter was looking for rare birds and he found an ivory-billed woodpecker!
I was working all day yesterday, so I couldn’t come to the party.
We danced while our friend was singing on stage.
In this post, we’ll take a look at:
How the past continuous is formed
When we use the past continuous in English
Ready to tell your story? Let’s make it really interesting by learning to use the past continuous!
To form the past continuous, follow this rule:
root-ing
I was watching TV.
Mary was cooking dinner.
They were studying in class.
Just like the English present continuous, the auxiliary verb is be and the main verb is in its present participle form (root + -ing). But because this is the past continuous, we use the past tense of be, which is was or were, depending on the subject of the sentence:
person | be past simple form |
I / he / she / it | was |
you / we / they | were |
All present participles follow the rule root + -ing, but there are a few spelling rules to learn. For example:
run → ✅ running ❌ runing
Have a look at this chart of how to spell English present participles to learn more. Luckily these rules do not affect pronunciation at all!
Follow these rules to form affirmative sentences, questions, and negative sentences in the present continuous.
Affirmative sentences:
subject
root-ing
You were watching the game.
Patty was eating sushi.
Negative sentences:
subject
root-ing
You were not watching the game.
Patty wasn't eating sushi.
Questions:
subject
root-ing
Were you watching the game?
What was Patty eating?
There are no contractions between a pronoun + was/were. Just use the full pronoun and the full verb.
There are no surprises in the past continuous! Sentences, questions, and negatives work just like you would expect.
There are three rules that apply to all uses of the past continuous in English. Let’s go through those rules, and then we’ll talk about when you can use this tense.
Past continuous is only for an action that continues or repeats
When we use the past continuous, we always understand that we are discussing an action or event that continues for some time.
This means that when you use the past continuous for actions that are usually accomplished “in a moment,” for example, arrive, jump, pick up, hit, break, or fall, you are saying that the action lasted for an unusual amount of time. Usually because it is repeated, but sometimes because it happens gradually:
Kira was jumping yesterday.
The guests were arriving.
The vase was breaking.
A past continuous action is always finished
Even though the past continuous describes an action that continues for some time, it is always over at the moment of speech. Compare:
Past Continuous | Present Perfect |
I was working there for two months. → Now I do not work there. | I have worked there for two months. → Now I still work there. |
Past continuous is never for stative verbs
There are certain verbs, called “stative verbs” that we do not use in any of the continuous tenses, including the past continuous.
Stative verbs describe states or ways of being, including certain feelings. Some common stative verbs are: be, know, have, believe, cost, etc. Usually, we just use these verbs in the simple past instead.
❌ I was being a fireman.
✅ I was a fireman.
❌ We were knowing how to speak English.
✅ We knew how to speak English.
❌ He was having a dog.
✅ He had a dog.
Most stative verbs have many different meanings and not all of their meanings are not stative, and so they can be used in continuous tenses.
✅ I was being naughty. → be = behave
✅ I was having a drink. → have = consume food or drinks
Have a look at this list of stative verbs in English for more verbs that change their meaning when used in continuous tenses.
Now that we know that the past continuous is always for finished past actions that continued or repeated, let’s go through the main circumstances when you might want to use the past continuous in English:
For an interrupted past action
We most often use the past continuous for an event that was interrupted by a past action or moment. For example:
I was playing soccer when my mother came home.
I was playing soccer at 6pm.
Note that just because we call it an “interruption” does not mean the action stops:
I was playing soccer at 6pm,
✅ ...and then I stopped to go eat dinner.
✅ ...and I continued to play until dark.
Here are the most basic sentence structures that are used to describe an interrupted action using the past continuous:
past continuous
at+ time noun
The sun was shining at the beginning of the day.
At the beginning of the day, the sun was shining .
past continuous
past simple
I was reading a book when the doorbell rang.
When the doorbell rang, I was reading a book.
But you can also use other sentence structures for this. Notice the event that interrupts is always in the past simple!
I was cooking dinner before my guests arrived.
While she was eating lunch, the phone rang.
The baby was crying until Nina picked her up.
The sun was shining, so I decided to go outside.
The temperature was rising in the morning, but it didn't get above 80 degrees.
That's funny, it wasn't raining before!
It is very important to use the past continuous for interrupted events! Using another past tense here usually results in a very different meaning. For example:
I was playing soccer when my mom got home.
I played soccer when my mom got home.
To “set the scene”
In longer stories, we often use the past continuous for a whole set of sentences that set the scene for the real beginning of a story. The past continuous tells us everything about the situation before the story starts. For example:
The sun was shining on Oak Street. Mark was washing the dishes in the kitchen and Jessica was playing with the kids in the front yard.
Nextdoor, Mr. Park was raking his leaves and chatting with Mrs. Conner over the fence, where she was weeding her garden.
Everyone was having a lovely afternoon.
But that all changed when the aliens landed!
Do you see how the past continuous is used to describe the situation on Oak Street before the moment when the aliens landed? This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of written stories, particularly in novels.
In conversation, English speakers sometimes use the past continuous “set the scene” for an action they don’t even mention! Have a look at these examples of advanced conversational uses of the past continuous to learn more.
For an action that took place during another past action
Use the past continuous after the word while to to discuss an action that continued during another long past action or situation:
long action
past continuous
She watched TV while I was doing the dishes.
She was watching TV while I was doing the dishes.
In a sentence like this, we assume that both actions happened at the same time and for the same amount of time.
Occasionally the word while can be replaced by a similar word or phrase like:
at the same time as...
during the time that...
when...
There is usually no significant difference in meaning between while + past continuous and while + past simple:
She watched TV...
...while I was doing the dishes. = ...while I did the dishes.
For an action that continued for a specific amount of time
You can use the past continuous to say how long something lasted in the past, usually using one of the sentence structures below:
all + time noun
My baby was crying all afternoon.
from + time + to time
My baby was crying from 7pm to 9pm.
for + amount of time
My baby was crying for 2 hours.
You can use other past tenses with phrases like this, but using the past continuous sounds like you are telling just a piece of a longer story. Compare:
Past Simple | Past Continuous |
|---|---|
I traveled all night. → This sentence gives information about how long I traveled or what I did last night. | I was traveling all night. → This sentence stands for a story or is part of a larger story. Often this is followed by “and then…” or “and so…” |
To see an in-depth explanation of the difference between these two, check out these examples of how to use past continuous in conversation!
For a past bad habit
You can use the past continuous to discuss past bad habits with the following structure:
was/were + always + past participle
When she was little, my daughter was always breaking her toys.
In this case, you are discussing an action that often happened during some time in the past. Usually the action is something you think was annoying, naughty, or unhelpful.
There you have it!
You’ve seen how to make the past continuous: was/were + root-ing
You’ve also read about the three universal rules for the past continuous:
Only for an action that continued or repeated
Always for a finished action
Never for a stative verb
And we’ve gone through some of the main times when you’ll use the past continuous in English.
For an interrupted past action
To set the scene
for an action that continued during another past event (after while)
For an action that continued for a specific amount of time
For past bad habits (with always)
Now, go use what you’ve learned to tell a friend an interesting story! Or, if you want to practice the past continuous a little more, why not check out these English past continuous activities?
