Form
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I / He / She / It was working.
I / He / She / It was not working.
Was I / He / She / It working?
You / we / they were working.
You / we / they were not working.
Were you / we / they working?
Note: The past continuous is created by using the appropriate conjugation of the verb “to be” in
the past simple tense plus the past participle of the main verb.
Uses
Emphasising the duration or continuity of a past event
- He was working on the report all day long.
- During the 1990’s computer scientists were trying to deal with the millennium bug.
Describing a background event
We use the past continuous to describe an event which was in progress when it was interrupted
by another one. The second, shorter event, is in the past simple:
- I was leaving the office when he arrived.
- We were talking about safety procedures when the fire alarm rang.
For repeated events
- He was visiting clients last weekend. (a number of different clients)
- Last month we were having problems with the production line. (a number of different
problems)
However, the past continuous is not normally used for the same action which is repeated, or for
habitual past actions. For these circumstances we use the past simple.
- The production line stopped five times yesterday. (NOT was stopping)
- When I was at business school, we often worked on case studies. (NOT was being or were working on)
For events planned in the past which did not take place
- I was planning to visit the exhibition, but I went to the football match instead.
- She was thinking about phoning her mother yesterday, but she didn’t have the time.
Making polite requests - NO CONCEPT OF TIME!
- I was wondering if you could give me a ride to the train station.
There is no concept of past time here. The past continuous form is a polite formula and makes
the request less direct. When using the past continuous to make a polite request, the verb form
acts as in a similar way as a modal verb.
Negative form
- He was not working on the report.
- The computer scientists were not trying to deal with the millennium bug.
Interrogative form
- Was he working on the report all day long?
- Were the computer scientists trying to deal with the millennium bug?
Examples:
He was playing tennis for an hour.
While she was making dinner, he was doing the ironing.
When I was eating lunch, the doorbell rang.
I was watching TV when my sister phoned.
What were you doing on Sunday?
Were you listening to what I was saying?
Someone stole John's car while he was sleeping.
Last week, I was lying on the beach in Marbella.
At midnight, we were driving home.
What were you doing while you were waiting for the bus?
We scrapped the project because funds were running out.
They evacuated the building because the fire bell was ringing.
He sold his shares quickly because their value was plummeting.
He didn’t wish to interrupt because the president was speaking.
I cut down on drinking because my work was suffering.
We were forced to withdraw the model because customers were complaining.
