Past Tenses 1 – Past Continuous

2. Past Continuous

• Form:
  • Affirmative Form: was/were + verb + -ing
  • Negative Form: was/were not + verb + -ing
  • Question Form: was/were + … + verb + -ing?
• Examples:
  • She was watching the news.
  • They weren’t watching the news.
  • Were you watching the news?
• The past continuous tense is used:
  • To set the background scene for a past simple action/event, using words like “when,” “while,” “as.”:
    • Example: It happened at 5 pm while she was watching the news.
  • When multiple background scenes occurred simultaneously:
    • Example: He was listening to music and working on his computer.
  • To emphasize the ongoing nature of an activity without focusing on its completion.
• Compare with past simple for completion emphasis:
  • Past Simple: Last year, I worked at the cinema, studied, and wrote a newspaper column.
    (It is clear that the person has completed working at the cinema, studying, and writing a newspaper column.)
  • Past Continuous: When I was working at the cinema, I bought a car.
    (It is not emphasized the completion of the activity of working at the cinema.)