How do you form the past continuous tense?

The past continuous is formed with: subject + was/were + verb-ing. Use "was" with I/he/she/it (I was working, She was reading) and "were" with you/we/they (They were playing). For negatives, add "not" after was/were. For questions, invert the subject and was/were.

What are state verbs and can they use past continuous?

State verbs describe states not actions, so they usually use past simple, not past continuous. Common state verbs include: know, believe, understand, want, need, love, hate, belong, own. Say "I knew the answer" NOT "I was knowing the answer". Exception: some state verbs have action meanings that allow continuous (e.g., "I was having dinner" where "have" means "eat").

What are the spelling rules for -ing verbs?

Key spelling rules: 1) Most verbs: add -ing (work→working), 2) Verbs ending in -e: drop the e, add -ing (dance→dancing), 3) Short verbs with CVC pattern: double the final consonant (sit→sitting, run→running), 4) Verbs ending in -ie: change ie to y, add -ing (lie→lying, die→dying).

How do you use "while" and "when" with past continuous?

"While" typically introduces the longer, ongoing action and often takes past continuous: "While I was cooking, the phone rang." "When" typically introduces the shorter, interrupting action and often takes past simple: "When the phone rang, I was cooking." Both structures describe interrupted actions but from different perspectives.

Past Continuous Exercises

Master the past continuous tense with 15 progressive exercises and 300 practice questions

Exercises

300

Questions

~4.5h

Total Time

0/15

Completed

Overall Progress0%

Start with Positive Form Take Final Test

All 15 Exercises

Positive Statements

easy

Master the basic positive form with was/were + verb-ing

20 questions - 10 min

Start Exercise

Negative Statements

easy

Practice wasn't/weren't + verb-ing patterns

20 questions - 10 min

Start Exercise

Questions

easy

Form Yes/No and Wh- questions correctly

20 questions - 12 min

Start Exercise

Spelling Rules

easy

Learn doubling, drop -e, and -ie to -y spelling rules

20 questions - 12 min

Start Exercise

Time Expressions

medium

Practice with at 8pm, while, when, as, all day

20 questions - 12 min

Start Exercise

Interrupted Actions

medium

Use 'when' + past simple to interrupt ongoing actions

20 questions - 15 min

Start Exercise

Parallel Actions

medium

Practice 'while' clauses with simultaneous actions

20 questions - 15 min

Start Exercise

Background Descriptions

medium

Set scenes and describe atmosphere in narratives

20 questions - 15 min

Start Exercise

State Verbs

hard

Know which verbs cannot use past continuous

20 questions - 18 min

Start Exercise

Past Simple vs Past Continuous (Part 1)

hard

Learn when to use completed vs ongoing actions

20 questions - 18 min

Start Exercise

Past Simple vs Past Continuous (Part 2)

hard

Practice more challenging comparison contexts

20 questions - 18 min

Start Exercise

Past Simple vs Past Continuous (Part 3)

hard

Master advanced narrative and formal contexts

20 questions - 20 min

Start Exercise

Mixed Practice (Easy)

medium

Review all concepts at A2-B1 level

20 questions - 15 min

Start Exercise

Mixed Practice (Intermediate)

hard

Challenge yourself with B1-B2 level contexts

20 questions - 18 min

Start Exercise

Final Test

hard

Comprehensive assessment of all past continuous skills

20 questions - 25 min

Start Exercise

What is the past continuous tense?

The past continuous (also called past progressive) is formed with was/were + verb-ing. It describes actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past. Corpus research shows past continuous accounts for approximately 3-4% of all verb forms in English, making it essential for storytelling, describing interrupted actions, and setting narrative scenes.

With I / He / She / It

was + verb-ing

"She was working late."

With You / We / They

were + verb-ing

"They were playing football."

Download Infographic

When do you use the past continuous?

Use past continuous to describe actions in progress at a specific past time, interrupted actions, parallel actions, and background descriptions. Research from the Cambridge English Corpus shows the "interrupted action" pattern (past continuous + when + past simple) is the most common use in everyday English.

1. Actions at a Specific Time

Describing what was happening at a particular moment.

"At 8pm yesterday, I was watching TV."

2. Interrupted Actions

A longer action interrupted by a shorter one (when + past simple).

"I was cooking when the phone rang."

3. Parallel Actions

Two or more actions happening at the same time (while).

"While I was reading, she was sleeping."

4. Background Descriptions

Setting the scene in stories and narratives.

"The sun was shining and birds were singing."

5. Polite/Tentative Requests

Making polite requests or expressing wishes.

"I was wondering if you could help me."

6. Annoying Habits (with "always")

Expressing irritation about repeated past behaviour.

"He was always complaining about the food."

Past Continuous Uses - 6 main uses with examples

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How do you form past continuous sentences?

Form past continuous with subject + was/were + verb-ing. Use "was" with I/he/she/it and "were" with you/we/they. For negatives, add "not" after was/were. For questions, invert the subject and was/were.

Type	Formula	Example
Positive	Subject + was/were + verb-ing	She was working.
Negative	Subject + wasn't/weren't + verb-ing	She wasn't working.
Yes/No Question	Was/Were + subject + verb-ing?	Was she working?
WH-Question	WH-word + was/were + subject + verb-ing?	What was she doing?

Common contractions: was not = wasn't, were not = weren't. These are used in both spoken and informal written English.

What is the difference between past simple and past continuous?

The key difference is completion vs progress. Past simple describes completed actions ("I watched a movie"). Past continuous describes actions in progress ("I was watching when you called"). Cambridge Grammar research shows learners often confuse these when the context doesn't clearly signal one or the other.

Past Simple	Past Continuous
"I watched TV yesterday." (Completed)	"I was watching TV at 8pm." (In progress)
"She cooked dinner." (Finished)	"She was cooking when I arrived." (Ongoing)
"The phone rang." (Short action)	"I was sleeping when it rang." (Long action)

Key pattern: Past continuous (background/longer action) + when + Past simple (interruption/shorter action)

"I was walking home when I saw an old friend."

Past Continuous vs Past Simple Comparison

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What are the spelling rules for adding -ing?

Most verbs simply add -ing, but some require spelling changes. The main rules cover verbs ending in silent -e (drop it), short CVC verbs (double the consonant), and verbs ending in -ie (change to -y). Studies show spelling errors account for 15-20% of past continuous mistakes among learners.

1. Most verbs: Just add -ing

play → playing, work → working, sleep → sleeping

2. Verbs ending in -e: Drop the e

make → making, write → writing, dance → dancing

3. Short CVC verbs: Double consonant

sit → sitting, run → running, stop → stopping

4. Verbs ending in -ie: Change to -y

die → dying, lie → lying, tie → tying

CVC = Consonant + Vowel + Consonant (like s-i-t, r-u-n). Only double when the verb is one syllable or stressed on the last syllable: "begin" → "beginning" but "open" → "opening" (stress on first syllable).

Spelling Rules for -ING - Complete guide

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Which verbs cannot use past continuous?

State verbs describe states, not actions, so they usually use past simple, not past continuous. However, some verbs can be both state and action verbs with different meanings: "I was thinking about you" (action: mental process) vs "I thought it was a good idea" (state: opinion).

know

believe

want

need

love

hate

understand

belong

✗

"I was knowing the answer."

"She was wanting to leave."

✓

"I knew the answer."

"She wanted to leave."

What are the most common past continuous mistakes?

Error analysis from learner corpora shows the most frequent mistakes are: forgetting the auxiliary verb (was/were), using the wrong auxiliary with the subject, confusing past simple and past continuous, and using continuous with state verbs.

Missing auxiliary verb

✗ "I cooking dinner."→✓ "I was cooking dinner."

Wrong was/were choice

✗ "They was playing."→✓ "They were playing."

Using "did" in questions

✗ "Did she working?"→✓ "Was she working?"

Forgetting -ing ending

✗ "I was work yesterday."→✓ "I was working yesterday."

Which time expressions are used with past continuous?

Past continuous often appears with specific time markers that signal "at that moment." The most common are "when" (for interruptions), "while" and "as" (for parallel actions), and specific time phrases like "at 8pm" or "all day."

when

while

at + time

all day

all morning

at that time

still

When (interruption): "I was sleeping when you called."

While (parallel): "While I was cooking, she was reading."

At + time (specific moment): "At 9pm, I was watching TV."

All day (duration): "It was raining all day yesterday."

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Statistics and research cited on this page:

•
Biber et al. (1999) - Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Corpus analysis showing past continuous accounts for 3-4% of all finite verb phrases in English, with higher frequency in fiction (5.2%) than academic writing (1.8%).Pearson
•
Leech et al. (2009) - Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study. Research showing past progressive usage has increased by 28% since 1961 in British English, reflecting a shift toward more vivid narrative styles.Cambridge University Press
•
Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002) - Huddleston & Pullum. Reference work establishing the six primary uses of past progressive: actions in progress, interrupted actions, parallel actions, background descriptions, temporary situations, and polite/tentative expressions.Cambridge University Press
•
COCA Corpus Analysis (2020) - Corpus of Contemporary American English data showing "while" and "when" are the most frequent time markers with past continuous, appearing in 67% of past continuous sentences with explicit time reference.COCA
•
Swan (2016) - Practical English Usage, 4th Edition. Reference for stative verbs that typically avoid continuous forms, with corpus evidence showing some stative verbs (think, have, see) are increasingly used in progressive forms in informal speech.Oxford University Press
•
Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999) - The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course. Pedagogical research on common learner errors with past continuous, particularly the overuse in contexts requiring past simple.

Past Continuous Exercises

All 15 Exercises

Positive Statements

Negative Statements

Questions

Spelling Rules

Time Expressions

Interrupted Actions

Parallel Actions

Background Descriptions

State Verbs

Past Simple vs Past Continuous (Part 1)

Past Simple vs Past Continuous (Part 2)

Past Simple vs Past Continuous (Part 3)

Mixed Practice (Easy)

Mixed Practice (Intermediate)

Final Test

What is the past continuous tense?

With I / He / She / It

With You / We / They

When do you use the past continuous?

1. Actions at a Specific Time

2. Interrupted Actions

3. Parallel Actions

4. Background Descriptions

5. Polite/Tentative Requests

6. Annoying Habits (with "always")

How do you form past continuous sentences?

What is the difference between past simple and past continuous?

What are the spelling rules for adding -ing?

1. Most verbs: Just add -ing

2. Verbs ending in -e: Drop the e

3. Short CVC verbs: Double consonant

4. Verbs ending in -ie: Change to -y

Which verbs cannot use past continuous?

What are the most common past continuous mistakes?

Which time expressions are used with past continuous?

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Discussion Questions

Tips for Discussion

Free Downloads

Past Continuous Infographics (4 Charts)