A: I called you last night, but you didn't answer.
B: Oh really? What time did you call?
A: At around 11 o'clock.
B: Oh, that's the problem. I was sleeping at 11 o'clock.
Form
The past continuous can be made with be and a verb in its "~ing" form:
Positive & Negative Sentences
| I He She It |
was wasn’t |
crying. eating. sleeping. |
| We You They |
were weren’t |
Yes or No Questions
| Was | I he she it |
crying eating sleeping |
? |
| Were | we you they |
Short Answers
Were you sleeping?
- Yes, I was.
- No, I wasn't.
Was it raining?
- Yes, it was.
- No, it wasn't.
Were they eating?
- Yes, they were.
- No, they weren't.
Was Amanda working?
- Yes, she was.
- No, she wasn't.
Questions with Question Words
| What | was | I he she it |
doing | ? |
| were | you we they |
Spelling of Verb~ing (from Unit Two)
Usually, we add ing to a verb:
- snow → snowing
- ring → ringing
- watch → watching
If a verb ends in e, remove it and add ing:
- make → making
- close → closing
- write → writing
Double the consonant and add ing if the verb ends with one stressed vowel and a consonant:
Consonant Letters:
- b
- c
- d
- f
- g
- h
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- v
- w
- x
- y
- z
Vowel Letters:
- a
- e
- i
- o
- u
- run → running
- stop → stopping
- swim → swimming
If the vowel is not stressed, or there is more than one vowel, do not double the consonant:
- open → opening
- meet → meeting
Use
The past continuous describes an activity that was in progress at a time in the past. This means the activity started before the past time. Also, at the time, the activity was unfinished:
It was raining at 9:30 AM.
At 3 AM last night, I was sleeping.
We were studying at 3 PM.
We often use a past continuous clause with a clause in the past simple:
Mike was cooking dinner when I got home.
They were studying when I called.
We were watching TV when you arrived.
Remember, the past simple describes finished past actions. The past continuous describes actions in progress:
We ate a wonderful dinner last night.
We were eating a wonderful dinner when you called.
I slept for a long time last night.
I was sleeping at 3 AM.
It rained every day last week.
It was raining when school finished yesterday.
Like we studied in Unit Two, the verbs below are not usually used in the continuous:
- believe
- forget
- hate
- like
- love
- know
- mean
- need
- prefer
- remember
- understand
- want
When I went to England, I wasn't knowing didn't know any English.
After work I was really hungry. I was wanting wanted to eat something.
When he was a child, he was loving loved to play basketball.
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.