Past Continuous · ProfeNórdico

The problem: two kinds of past

In chapter III you saw that the past simple does a lot of work: worked is a finished action, and it is also a habit you had in the past. Nearly always, that is all you need. This chapter is about the nearly.

Look at these two sentences. Both are about playing football in the past, but the verb is different:

Sentence	What it tells you
As a child I played* football.*	A habit: you did it many times.
I was playing* football when you called.*	Something in progress at one moment: you were in the middle of a game when the phone rang.

For the habit, English uses the past simple you already know. For what was in progress, it uses a new tense, the past continuous.

The main idea: the box and the slice

The difference between the two pasts is not when something happened, but how you are looking at it.

Past simple — the box

You see the action whole and closed, from start to finish — or repeated many times, as a habit. “I played football every Saturday.” It started, it finished, full stop.

Past continuous — the slice

You cut the action through the middle and look at that instant. “At 9 p.m. I was playing football.” It was in progress. Whether it finished or not doesn’t matter — it isn’t what you are interested in.

That is why the past continuous nearly always needs a specific moment to point at: at 9 p.m., at midnight, when you called, at this time yesterday.

exact moment

At 9 p.m. yesterday, I was studying.

when you called

I was cooking when you called.

habit

I studied every night.

Look at the third one: studying every night lasted a long time too, but every night makes it a habit. “I used to study every night” fits, so it is the box.

At 8 p.m. yesterday I ___ dinner.When I was a child I ___ football every Saturday.At 7 a.m. the children ___ to school.She ___ three emails yesterday.I ___ for two hours and then I went to bed.It ___ when I left the house.We ___ a new car.My grandmother ___ bread every Sunday.At midnight they ___ in the street.

How it's built

Three pieces, and none of them can be missing: the subject, was or were, and the verb with -ing.

Subjectwas / wereverb -ing

Subject	Auxiliary	Example
I / he / she / it	was	At 9 p.m. I was studying.
you / we / they	were	At midnight we were dancing.

It is the same split you already know from be in the past: was for one person or thing, were for you and for the plural.

For negatives and questions there is no did to learn: the auxiliary is already in the sentence. was and were do all the work on their own.

Form	How it’s made	Example
Positive	subject + `was / were` + `-ing`	They were listening.
Negative	`was / were` + not	They weren’t listening.
Question	the auxiliary moves to the front	Were they listening?

It is the same mechanism as in the present simple and the past simple: the auxiliary moves to the front to make a question. The difference is that here the auxiliary was already in the sentence.

Common mistake

I working when you called.

I was working when you called.

The -ing on its own carries no tense: it is was that puts the sentence in the past. Without was, the sentence doesn’t say when.

Common mistake

Did you sleeping at midnight?

Were you sleeping at midnight?

did belongs to the past simple. Here the auxiliary is was / were, and that is what moves to the front.

They ___ watching TV.I ___ reading a book.It ___ raining all morning.Which one is right?She was ___ dinner.We ___ listening.___ you sleeping?What ___ you doing at midnight?He wasn't ___ to me.

The star pattern: the interruption

This is the use you will need most, and the box and the slice explain it on their own.

When a long action is interrupted by a short one, each takes its own tense:

long action = continuousshort action = simple

“I was cooking dinner when the phone rang.”

Cooking is the slice: it was in progress. The call is the box: one whole event that breaks into something that was already happening. The test agrees: “I was in the middle of cooking” fits; “the phone was in the middle of ringing” is not what you mean.

1while + long action

While I was cooking dinner, the phone rang.

whilelong

2when takes the long one too

The phone rang when I was cooking dinner.

whenlong

The two sentences mean the same thing; only the focus changes. Whatever comes first is what you are highlighting.

And if both actions are long, both go in the continuous, joined by while: “While she was reading, he was washing the dishes.” Nobody interrupts anybody: they are two slices of the same moment.

An action in progress: the oar is already in the water, and it hasn't arrived yet.

___ the phone rang, I was cooking.She was reading ___ he was washing the dishes.They ___ when it started to rain.He ___ the news when I came in.It ___ to rain while we were walking.I was having a shower when you ___.While I ___, I saw an accident.We ___ dinner when the lights went out.

Practice the interruption

Past simple or past continuous? Careful: not all of them are a long action interrupted by a short one.

Answer first, then tap "Show answer".

I dinner when the phone .(cook / ring)
Show answer
I was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
While she , he the dishes.(read / wash)
Show answer
While she was reading, he was washing the dishes. (Both are long.)
They when it to rain.(walk / start)
Show answer
They were walking when it started to rain.
At 9 p.m. yesterday I for the exam.(study)
Show answer
At 9 p.m. yesterday I was studying for the exam. (No interruption here: just the slice.)
When I was a child, we to the beach every December.(go)
Show answer
When I was a child, we went to the beach every December. (A habit: the box.)
He his leg while he football.(break / play)
Show answer
He broke his leg while he was playing football.

Two more uses: the scene and the change

Both come from the same idea: something in progress, not closed.

Setting the scene

To open a story by describing the background before anything happens. Everything is in progress; the story starts when something cuts into it.

“The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a man was walking down the street. Suddenly, he stopped.”

Gradual changes

Something that was changing little by little, with no moment when it closed.

“The weather was getting worse.” · “It was getting dark.”

Notice that setting the scene is the interruption on a bigger scale: several slices for the background, and one past simple — he stopped — for what happens.

It was a cold night. The wind ___.The baby ___, so I closed the door quietly.People ___ in the square when the music stopped.When I opened the window, it ___.The children were playing. Suddenly, a dog ___ into the park.Everyone ___ when the teacher came in.

Common mistakes

Most of them come from the same place: using the continuous for anything that lasted a while in the past.

Common mistake

When I was a child, I was playing football every Saturday.

When I was a child, I played football every Saturday.

This is the mistake. Playing football lasted a long time, which pushes you towards the continuous, but every Saturday gives it away as a habit, not something in progress.

Do the test: “I used to play football every Saturday” fits. It is the box.

Common mistake

I was knowing the answer.

I knew the answer.

Know is a state, and a state can’t be cut through the middle.

Common mistake

While the phone rang, I was cooking.

When the phone rang, I was cooking.

while needs a long action. The phone ringing is one sudden event: it goes with when.

And a pair where both sentences are right, but they say different things:

Question	What it asks
What were* you doing at 8?*	What were you in the middle of at eight? — the slice
What did* you do at 8?*	What did you do at eight? — something that started then: the box

Every summer we ___ to the coast.I ___ what he meant.I met Lucy ___ I was walking home.You arrived at 8, and I had already started dinner.Ask what someone was in the middle of at midnight.She ___ a lot of money when she was young.

Check you understood

Don’t look back up. Answer out loud, then tap the question.

Check

Tap a question to see its answer.

What test tells you whether the past needs played or was playing?
Try "in the middle of" and "used to". If "in the middle of" fits, it is was playing; if "used to" fits because it was a habit, it is played.
In "I was cooking when the phone rang", why is each verb in a different tense?
Cooking is the long action, in progress (continuous), and the call is the short one that interrupts it (simple). The short one breaks into the long one.
Complete: "___ I was walking home, it started to rain."
While: it goes with the long action. (When also works here.)
"As a child I ___ in Rome" — lived or was living?
Lived. It is a whole stage of your life, not something in progress at one specific moment. "I used to live in Rome" fits; "I was in the middle of living in Rome" doesn't.
What is missing from "I working when you called"?
The auxiliary: "I was working". The -ing on its own carries no tense; was puts it in the past.
Why can't you say "I was needing money"?
Need is a state verb, and in English states don't go in the continuous: I needed money.

Practice

Out loud

Turn each note into a full sentence. For each one, decide: past simple, past continuous, or both?

Icookwhenthe phonering
at 9shestudy
whileIdrivehesleep
as childrenwelivein Rome
theynotlisten
?yousleepat midnight
itstartto rainwhilewewalk
whileshereadhecook
Inotworkat three yesterday
?whatyoudoat eight
the sunshineandthe birdssing
shereadwhenIarrive
every SaturdayIplayfootball
Inotknowthe answer

Show answers

I was cooking when the phone rang.
At 9 she was studying.
While I was driving, he was sleeping.
When we were children, we lived in Rome.
They weren't listening.
Were you sleeping at midnight?
It started to rain while we were walking.
While she was reading, he was cooking.
I wasn't working at three yesterday.
What were you doing at eight?
The sun was shining and the birds were singing.
She was reading when I arrived.
Every Saturday I played football.
I didn't know the answer.

Write it

A full sentence for each situation, with no hints. For each verb, do the test first: does “in the middle of” fit, or “used to”?

Answer first, then tap "Show answer".

You were busy with your work, and then your friend phoned you. →
Show answer
I was working when you called.
As a girl, every Saturday she helped her dad at his work. →
Show answer
As a child she worked with her dad on Saturdays.
Ask your friend what they were busy with at ten o'clock. →
Show answer
What were you doing at ten?
The rain had already started before you and your family left the house. →
Show answer
It was raining when we left.
Your parents were talking, but you and your brother had your minds on something else. →
Show answer
We weren't listening.
You drove for hours, and your son slept in the back the whole time. →
Show answer
While I was driving, my son was sleeping.
You and your family couldn't do it alone. →
Show answer
We needed help.