Verbs have different forms, called tenses. The tense of a verb tells us when the action happens. The past continuous tense indicates an action that took place continuously in the past. It is usually used with the past tense.

In these lessons, we will learn

• Forms of Past Continuous Tense
• When we can use the Past Continuous Tense
• Negative Forms of Past Continuous Tense

The following table gives some examples of past continuous tense. Scroll down the page for more examples of when and how to use the past continuous tense.

Forms of Past Continuous Tense

was + present participle = past continuous

were + present participle = past continuous

Examples:

She was cleaning the room.
I was stacking the chairs.
They were waiting for the bus.
We were listening to the music.

Past Continuous Tense

The Past Continuous/Progressive Tense

The past continuous / progressive tense describes continuous events that happened in the past. We can form the past continuous/progressive tense with was/were + -ing.

Uses

• The past continuous/progressive tense is used to signify an action going on at some time in the past. The time of the action may or may not be indicated. 
  Examples:
  We were listening to the radio all evening.
  It was getting darker.
• The past continuous tense/progressive tense is used when one action is interrupted by another action in the past. In such cases, the shorter action is expressed in simple past tense, and the longer action is expressed in the past continuous tense. 
  Examples:
  I was reading when the doorbell rang.
  When I saw him, John was playing chess.
• The past continuous/progressive tense is used to signify persistent and usually annoying actions in the past. It is often used with words such as always, continually etc.
  Examples:
  He was always gambling.
  Nick was always watching TV.
• The past continuous/ progressive tense is used to give background information, or to give atmosphere to a story.
  Example:
  It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in the cafes, people were laughing and chatting.
• The past continuous/ progressive tense is used to signify two continuous actions that happened at the same time in the past:
  Example:
  I was watching TV and he was repairing the lawn mower.

• Tense
  What is Tense? Type of tense Table of English Tenses	Tense at a glance Structure of All Tense
  Present Tense
  What Is the Present Tense? Simple Present Tense Present Continuous Tense	Present Perfect Tense Present perfect continuous tense Present Conditional Tense
  Past Tense
  What Is the Past Tense? Simple Past Tense Past Continuous Tense	Past Perfect Tense Past Perfect Continuous Tense
  Future Tense
  Future Tense Simple Future Tense Future Continuous Tense	Future Perfect Tense Future Perfect Continuous Tense Conditional Sentences