Past Continuous

PAST CONTINUOUS VS. SIMPLE PAST

  • We use simple past to talk about actions or events that started and finished in the past.
    • Fred left home at 8:00 this morning.
  • We use present continuous to talk about an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past.
    • Fred was leaving home at 8:00 this morning.
  • We often use present continuous with simple past to talk about two actions in the past.
    • Fred was leaving home when I woke up.
  • Past continuous refers to an action that was happening when something else happened.

PAST CONTINUOUS FORM

POSITIVE

(I / She / He / It) was sleeping.

(We / You / They) were sleeping.

NEGATIVE

(I / She / He / It) was not sleeping.

(We / You / They) were not sleeping.

QUESTION

Was (I / she / he / it) sleeping?

Were (we / you / they) sleeping?

WHEN, WHILE AND AS SOON AS

  • When, when and as soon as are time adverbials.
  • While refers to an action in progress. It means ‘during the time’.
    • While I was cooking dinner, Lisa came home.
  • When refers to a completed actions. It means ‘at that time’.
    • When Lisa left the house, I was still sleeping.
  • As soon as refers to a completed action. It means ‘immediately after’.
    • As soon as we won the race, we started to celebrate.