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Past Continuous Tense

Past continuous tense is also known as past progressive tense.

This tense is used to express a continued action of the past. Such past action occurred in a way that it continued for some time in the past. This tense basically expresses the continued nature of the past actions.

Structure of Sentence:

Main verb: 1st form of verb + ing. e.g., sleeping, waiting, raining.
Helping verbs: Was / Were

If the subject of the sentence is I, he, she, it, or a singular noun, then ‘was’ is used.
If the subject is we, you, they or a plural noun, then ‘were’ is used.

   POSITIVE SENTENCES:

 Subject + helping verb + main verb + object.
 Subject + was/were + (1st form of verb + ing) + object.

Examples:
I was waiting for you.
He was writing a letter.
She was decorating her room.
He was making preparation for his exam.
They were laughing at the joker.
We were playing football.
A dog was barking in the street.
I was searching for a job.
He was reading poems.
They were eating their meal.
He was earning a lot of money.
They were living in America.
Someone was knocking at the door.
She was wearing a nice dress.
He was shouting for help.
It was raining.

   NEGATIVE SENTENCES:

In negative sentence, the word ‘not’ is added after was/were.

 Subject + helping verb + not + main verb + object
 Subject + was/were + not + (1st form of verb + ing) + object

Examples:
He was not driving carefully.
She was not washing her clothes.
The kids were not playing with the toys.
I was not expecting such foolish behaviour from him.
She was not taking her medicine.
He was not giving me his camera.
They were not doing their work.
He was not replying to me.
We were not enjoying the music.
They were not wasting time.

   INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES:

The question sentence starts with ‘was’ or ‘were’.

 Helping verb + subject + main verb + object.
 Was/were + subject + (1st form of verb + ing) + object.

Examples:
Was he going to school?
Was she singing a song?
Was he working in a factory?
Was she teaching the students?
Was he eating the meal?

Were they playing cricket?
Was I answering correctly?
Were we playing well?
Were you asking for help?
Was the kid crying?
Was the snake coming towards you?
Was he apologizing for his mistake?