Past Continuous Tense

In the Past Continuous tense, the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past. This tense is used to talk about an action at a particular time in the past.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WAS / WERE	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
You	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
He	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
Mohan	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The boy	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
She	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
Pooja	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The girl	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
We	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
You	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
They	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The children	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.

For making positive statements in the past continuous tense, notice how we use

‘was’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

And the verb +ing all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WAS NOT/ WERE NOT	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
You	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
He	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Mohan	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The boy	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
She	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Pooja	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The girl	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
We	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
You	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
They	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The men	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.

For making negative statements in the past continuous tense, notice how we use

‘was not’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were not’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

And the verb +ing all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

WAS / WERE	SUBJECT	VERB (in base form)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Was	I	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	you	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	he	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	Mohan	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	the boy	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	she	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	Pooja	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	the girl	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	we	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	you	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	they	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	the men	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?

For asking questions in the past continuous tense, notice how we use

‘was ’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were ’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

And the verb +ing all subjects.

Past Continuous Tense

In the Past Continuous tense, the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past. This tense is used to talk about an action at a particular time in the past. A study of other tenses can be found in the Educational blog at https://westwoodcollegevirginia.com/blog for students.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WAS / WERE	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
You	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
He	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
Mohan	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The boy	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
She	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
Pooja	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The girl	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
We	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
You	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
They	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The children	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.

For making positive statements in the past continuous tense, notice how we use

‘was’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

And the verb +ing all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WAS NOT/ WERE NOT	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
You	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
He	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Mohan	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The boy	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
She	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Pooja	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The girl	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
We	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
You	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
They	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The men	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.

For making negative statements in the past continuous tense, notice how we use

‘was not’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were not’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

And the verb +ing all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

WAS / WERE	SUBJECT	VERB (in base form)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Was	I	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	you	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	he	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	Mohan	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	the boy	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	she	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	Pooja	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	the girl	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	we	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	you	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	they	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	the men	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?

For asking questions in the past continuous tense, notice how we use

‘was ’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were ’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

And the verb +ing all subjects.

Past Continuous Tense

Related Pages

Past Continuous Tense

Related Pages