Past continuous tense

Form

Affirmative

I was writing.
She was writing.
You were writing.

Negative

I was not writing.
She was not writing.
You were not writing.

Question

Was I writing?
Was she writing?
Were you writing?

use

to talk about past events in progress

The past progressive is used to talk about events that were in progress around a particular past time.

'What were you doing yesterday evening?'
'I was watching TV.'
At 7 am this morning, I was doing my homework.

The past progressive is also used to stress that an activity was in progress at every moment during a period of time.

I was resting all day yesterday.

past progressive and simple past

We often use the past progressive together with a simple past tense. The past progressive refers to a longer background action or situation; the simple past refers to a shorter action or event that happened in the middle of the longer action.

I was having a bath when the telephone rang.
As I was driving down the street, I saw Peter.
They were sleeping when the thieves broke in.

past progressive and simple past: differences

Duration

The past progressive is used to talk about temporary actions or situations. For longer, more permanent situations we use the simple past.

It happened while I was living in Mumbai last year.
I lived in Chennai for ten years while I was a child.

repeated actions

We do not normally use the past progressive to talk about repeated or habitual past actions. The simple past is used with this meaning.

I phoned him four times. (NOT I was phoning four times.)
I rang the bell seven times. (NOT I was ringing the bell seven times.)

However, the past progressive can be used with always, continually and similar words to talk about things that happened repeatedly and unexpectedly.

He was always bringing us nice gifts.
I didn't like him - he was continually making troubles.

More CBSE English Grammar worksheets

Passive voice worksheet | Simple past tense
Passive voice worksheet | Past continuous tense
Passive voice worksheet | Simple future tense
Passive voice worksheet | Future perfect tense