Level: beginner
The past continuous is made from the past tense of the verb be and the –ing form of a verb:
|
I was |
working etc. |
We use the past continuous to talk about the past:
-
for something which happened before and after another action:
The children were doing their homework when I got home.
Compare: The children did their homework when (= after) I got home.
This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:
The other day I was waiting for a bus when …
Last week, as I was driving to work, …
- for something that happened before and after a specific time:
It was eight o'clock. I was writing a letter.
Compare: At eight o'clock I wrote (= started writing) some letters.
- to show that something continued for some time:
My head was aching.
Everyone was shouting.
- for something that happened again and again:
I was practising every day, three times a day.
They were meeting secretly after school.
They were always quarrelling.
- with verbs which show change or growth:
The children were growing up quickly.
Her English was improving.
My hair was going grey.
The town was changing quickly.
We do not normally use the past continuous with stative verbs. We use the past simple instead:
When I got home, I really needed (NOT
was needing) a shower.
- Past continuous
- Past continuous and past simple
Level: intermediate
Past continuous and hypotheses
We can also use the past continuous to refer to the present or future in hypotheses (when we imagine something). See these pages:
Comments
it is, thank you very much
Hello The LearnEnglish Team,
From the examples above I realized that we can use while/when to subordinate sentences but I'm not sure we can use all with the same meaning. So, I studied in other sites and found that we use WHEN to introduce the sentence that describes the shorter sentence and WHILE to introduce the sentence that describes the longer one or two sentences that describes simultaneous actions. Is that correct? I'd really apreciatte further explanations about this subject.
Thanks!
Carlos.
shorter action and longer action**
Sir explain to me about past participles, also I want to know difference amongst be,been,being,to be,be to..
Hello uthirapathi,
You might find something to help you on the introductory page of the Verbs section of our Grammar Reference. If not, could you please ask a more specific question? We're happy to help, but we get dozens of questions every day and such a broad question requires a lengthy response that is not directly related to any page on our site.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
hey there! ^_^ please help me out with this dilemma . which of the two sentences is correct? thanks!! <3
1. Was I sleeping when you left?
2. Was I sleeping when you went?
Hello I.R.,
Both sentences are correct, though of course the meanings are slightly different due to the use of 'leave' in 1 and 'go' in 2. You might want to look up these two words in the Cambridge Dictionaries Online search box on the right.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you, Sir! ^_^
Hi Sir,
I have been preparing to IELTS exam, because I want to got it next several times, So, till now I can't use grammar very well, I wrote this message while I was reading your explanation for past tense and also present tense, I have been feeling embarrassed when use grammar, and that is a big deal when I have been dealing with them especially in writing they would taken more time when think what I want to use.
And as you know, the timing is very important there, in other side I tried to use grammar in my writing here, to show you if I wrote in correct way.
Thus, and after that can you help me and tell me the easy way to understand to use grammar, I asked more than one, but unfortunately I have been problem.
Thank you.
Maisa Omar.
Hi Maisa,
I think our dedicated IELTS preparation site, TakeIELTS, will be very useful for you. You can find tips and suggestions, information about the exam, practice exercises and mock papers there.
As far as improving grammar goes, there are several tools you can use to check things. You can use the search facility which you can see on the right of each page. You can use the index of our grammar pages, where you will see links to various sections. We can also explain things for you in the comments sections (this answer and your question are both in the comment section for this page), as far as time allows.
A good tip for improving grammar is to keep a record of mistakes you make. When you do an exercise on a given area (for example, the present perfect), make a note of how you do, and what kind of problems you have. Then you'll have a guide as to what to study in order to improve. Also, read in English as much as possible. You'll pick up a lot of correct phrases and structures and develop a feel for when to use them and, though it won't feel like you're learning grammar, it will make a big difference. Try to spend a certain amount of time every day reading a couple of articles from English-language sources (newspapers, blogs etc) on the internet.
I hope those suggestions are helpful.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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