Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to correctly form the past continuous tense and use it together with the simple past to describe an interrupted action.
Lesson Explanation
The past continuous describes an action that was ongoing at a specific point in the past. It is formed with was/were + -ing:
I was reading. They were watching TV.
A genuinely common, useful pattern combines past continuous with simple past (Part 3, Lesson 3): the past continuous sets up an ongoing background action, and the simple past marks a specific event that interrupted it:
I was reading when the phone rang. Here, was reading (past continuous) is the ongoing background; rang (simple past) is the specific interrupting event.
Practice Questions
1. How is past continuous formed?
View Answer
was/were + verb-ing
2. Complete: “I ___ (read) when the phone rang.”
View Answer
was reading
3. In “I was reading when the phone rang,” which part is the ongoing background action?
View Answer
was reading
4. In “I was reading when the phone rang,” which part is the specific interrupting event?
View Answer
rang
5. What does past continuous describe?
View Answer
An action that was ongoing at a specific point in the past.
6. Complete: “They ___ (watch) TV when I arrived.”
View Answer
were watching
7. Which auxiliary goes with “they”: “was” or “were”?
View Answer
were
8. Which auxiliary goes with “I”: “was” or “were”?
View Answer
was
9. Complete: “She ___ (cook) dinner when he called.”
View Answer
was cooking
10. What tense is typically used for the interrupting event in this combined pattern?
View Answer
Simple past.
11. What tense is typically used for the ongoing background in this combined pattern?
View Answer
Past continuous.
12. Write a sentence combining past continuous and simple past, using “sleep” and “wake up.”
View Answer
I was sleeping when I woke up. (or similar correct combination)