Past Continuous in English
Grammar

The past continuous indicates that something was happening in the past. The past continuous is formed with was or were and the present participle form (the verb form ending in -ing).

I was studying.

The Past Continuous in English
Past Continuous
I was studying. He wasn't studying. She It	Was he studying? Yes, he was. No, he wasn't.
You were studying. They weren't studying. We	Were they studying? Yes, they were. No, they weren't.

Negative in red text.

Exercise - Past Continuous

Read the table below about Herb's schedule yesterday and write sentences about what he was doing at each hour. Make sure you use correct capitalization and include a period at the end of each sentence.

Herb's Schedule

8:00 AM Meet with Mr. Jones
10:00 AM Work on the computer
12:00 PM Eat lunch
1:00 PM Meet with the accounting department
3:00 PM Make phone calls
6:00 PM Close the office

example
What was Herb doing at 8:00 AM?

Exercise - Past Continuous Affirmative and Negative

What were you doing at this time? Write affirmative or negative sentences depending on what is true for you.

8:00 AM - eat breakfast

Possible Answers:

- or -

(The answer depends on what you were doing at that time.)

The Past Continuous and the Simple Past

We use the past continuous with the simple past in a sentence to indicate that something was happening when another activity occurred.

I was walking to school when it started raining.

Exercise - Sentences with the past continuous and the simple past

Write sentences about the following events.

example
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM She/clean house
9:35 AM the telephone rang

Find the Mistake

Instructions
Identify the error in the following sentences and write the corrected version.

example
He are a teacher. → He is a teacher.

Writing

What were you doing yesterday at 8 am? What were you doing at noon? What were you doing at 6 pm? Write sentences in the past continuous tense.

Example:
I was eating breakfast at 8 am.

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