Past Continuous

Today's lesson is...

PAST CONTINUOUS

Past Continuous

Yesterday Carl and Tim watched a movie. They began at 10 o’clock and finished at noon. So, at 11 o’clock they were watching a movie. They were watching a movie = they were in the middle of watching a movie. They had not finished watching the movie. Was/were + -ing is the past continuous.

I/she/he/it we/you/they

was were

watching, eating, sleeping

Past Continuous

I was doing something = I was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time, but had not finished.

• This time last year they were living in Spain
• What were you doing last weekend?
• I was sleeping when you called last night.

I started doing I was doing I finished doing

past past now

Past Continuous

Compare the past continuous (I was doing) and the past simple (I did)

PAST CONTINUOUS(in the middle of an action): He was driving home when it started raining I was listening to the song when they called.

PAST SIMPLE(complete action): He drove home last night I listened to that song yesterday.

VS

Past Continuous

We often use the past simple and the past continuous together to say that something happened in the middle of something else:

• Chris arrived while we were sleeping.
• It was raining when we got to the park.
• I saw her at school yesterday, she was helping a friend with their homework.

But we use the past simple to say that one thing happened after another:

• Sarah was walking home when I saw her. So, she stopped and we talked for a bit.

Compare:

• When we arrived there, they were leaving. (= they had already started to leave before we arrived)
• We arrived there, and they left. (= we arrived and then they left)

Past Continuous

Some verbs (for example know and want) are not normally used in the continuous:

• We knew she wasn’t telling the truth. (not we were knowing)
• She wanted to buy a new dress. (not was wanting)