Past Continuous Tense:
|
Affirmative |
subject + was/were +V4+object |
James was eating rice. |
|
Negative |
subject + was/ were+ not
+V4+object |
James was not eating rice. |
|
Interrogative |
Was/Were+subject+V4+object?
Wh+was/were+subject+V4+object? |
Was James eating rice?
What was James eating? |
|
Passive |
object
+ was/were +being+V3+ by + subject |
Rice
was being eaten by James. |
Past Continuous Tense is used:
(a) What was happening at a particular time in the past:
ü Yesterday
at this time, I was sitting in the park.
ü What
were you doing when the doorbell rang?
ü We
were watching TV at 3 o'clock yesterday.
ü This
time yesterday, I was reading a book.
(b) Description and background to an event in the past:
ü When
he got home, his sister was watching TV.
ü I
was eating dinner when there was a knock at the door.
(c) Interrupted action in the past:
ü I
was watching TV when she called.
ü I
was just joking when I said that.
ü John
was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
ü While we were having a picnic it started to rain.
(d) Two actions in the same sentence that expresses the idea that both actions at the same time. The actions are parallel:
ü While
I was reading, she was watching television.
ü Were
you listening while she was talking?
ü What
were you doing while you were waiting?
(e) It is used 'all + past time':
ü They
were watching a movie all last Sunday.
ü It
was raining all day yesterday.
Note: It often occurs with all day yesterday, all last
night/ Sunday /week/month /year etc.
(f) With while clause (before circumstances)
He fell down
while he was painting the ceiling
While I was
writing on the board, the marker fell down.