What is Past Continuous Tense with examples? Past Continuous Tense is used to express an action that was happening in the past. It expresses a continued or ongoing action that may or may not be completed in the past. Past Continuous Tense is also called past progressive tense. For example if a person says,” Mark was working in the office”. It means that mark was working in the past (what is Simple past tense?)and he may or may not be still working in the office. This kind of actions happens in the past time and thus expressed by past continuous tense.
Also Read: Past continuous tense rules with examples?
What is Present Continuous Tense?
Past Continuous Tense is made up of two main parts auxiliary verb was/were and base form+ ing. According to the grammar rule of English, past continuous tense can be formulated as.
Past Continuous Tense=Subject + was/were (Helping Verb) +1ST Verb+ Ing+ Object
Was –> (I, He, She, It, any Name, Singular noun)
Were –> (We, They, You, Plural Noun)
Structure of Past Continuous Tense
Positive Sentence
In positive sentences, we simply make the sentences (What is a sentence?) according to Past Continuous Tense rules.
For Example
- We all were wondering by his performance.
- Steve was doing a great job in the company.
- You were playing cricket in the morning.
- She was teaching English to everyone.
- Jack was reading a newspaper.
- He was eating his food.
Also Read: What is a Pronoun with examples?
Negative Sentences in the past continuous tense
When we make negative sentences, we normally use not after auxiliary verb.
Negative past continuous tense = Subject+ were+ not + 1st Verb+ ing +Object
For example
- He was not playing basketball.
- She was not coming with us in the picnic.
- Mark was not working hard for his competition
- They were telling lie to me.
- You were using me as your weapon.
Yes/No Questions in the past continuous tense
When you make any question that can be answered as yes or no, then you should start it with auxiliary verb followed by the subject and the base verb +ing.
Yes/No Sentences = Was/were + Subject + 1st Verb+ing +Object ?
For example
- Was she washing her hands?
- Were you making fool of her?
- Was she running so fast in the ground?
- Were they taking their breakfast?
- Was she missing me so badly?
Also Read: What is Preposition, its rules with examples?
Wh- Questions in the past continuous tense
When you make any question that starts with wh word, then you should start it from wh word and then add auxiliary verb, after that Subject followed by base form + ing.
Wh words are when, why, who, where, whom, how, what, how much, how many.
WH Sentences = Wh word + was/were + Subject + 1st Verb + ing +Object?
For example
- Who were you looking at?
- Where was he living in America?
- Why were you playing inside the house?
- When was Steve coming back from England?
- What were you doing for the whole day?
Also Read: What is future continuous tense, its rules with examples?
Tag Questions in the past continuous tense
Tag questions are those questions which are answered at the end of the sentence. They can be simply made by adding auxiliary verbs.
For examples
- I was going to the market, weren’t you?
- She was very sweat, wasn’t she?
- You can also use tag questions in positive sentences
- She was not reading news paper, was she?
- Those girls were not playing basketball, were they?
More Examples to unfold some other aspects of Past Continuous Tense
- Why were you not doing anything?
- I was not working in the company at that time.
- Why were you not studying in the class?
- Was I not looking gorgeous that day?
- Was she not laughing at me?
- Were you all boys not leaving that ground?
I hope you have enjoyed this article and get what you wanted. So this was all about what is past continuous tense with examples. If you feel any problem regarding this topic then comment below so that we can solve out your problems.
Also Read
