Explanation
The Past Continuous Tense is used to describe actions or events having an on-going nature. These are the events or actions which began in the past and are still going on at the time of speaking. To put it simply, this tense expresses an unfinished or incomplete action in the past.
E.g.:
Jane was waiting for the train when the accident happened.
Cassie was riding the bike when she broke her leg.
The general structure of the past continuous tense is as below
Subject + auxiliary be + main verb
The auxiliary verb (be) is conjugated in the Past Simple-was, were
The main verb is invariable in present participle form: -ing
In case of negative sentences, we insert ‘not’ between the auxiliary verb and the main verb while forming Past Continuous Tense.
For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the auxiliary verb while forming Past Continuous Tense.
Sentence patterns for Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous of any verb is generally composed of 2 parts-
The past tense of the verb "to be" (was/were)
The base of the main verb +ing.
Subject was/were base + ing
Affirmative Sentence
e.g.:
Subject was/were base + ing
She was playing
Negative Sentences
e.g.:
Subject wasn’t /weren’t base + ing
She wasn’t playing
Interrogative Sentences
e.g.:
Was/ were Subject base + ing
Was she playing?
a) It is used to describe the background in a story written in the past tense
E.g.:
The sun was shining and the birds were chirping as the lion came out of the jungle.
b) It is used to describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action
E.g.:
Joe was having dinner when the doorbell rang
c) It is used to express a change of mind
E.g.:
I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to watch a movie instead
d) It is used with 'wonder', to make a very polite request
E.g.:
I was wondering if you could finish the task for me today
e) It is used for something that happened before and after a particular time
E.g.:
It was eight o’clock. I was writing a letter.
It is used to show that something continued for some time
E.g.:
My head was aching.
