Past Continuous Tense in English
Past Continuous Tense indicates an action which started in the past and continued in a certain time period. The point to be taken into consideration is that the action started in the past and the continuity of the action was also in the past, so it does not continue at this moment.
The verb ‘to be ( am, is, are )’ has two forms in the past; was and were.
| Present | Past |
| am, is | was |
| are | were |
We use “was” for I, he she, it.
We use “were” for you,we,you,they.
POSITIVE FORM (+) :
Subject + BE ( was / were ) + Verb-ING
NEGATIVE FORM (-) :
Subject + BE ( was / were ) + NOT + Verb-ING
QUESTION FORM (?) :
BE ( was / were ) + Subject + Verb-ING
NEGATIVE QUESTION FORM (?):
BE ( was / were ) + NOT + Subject + Verb-ING
SHORT ANSWER FORMS ( + / – ) :
YES + Subject + BE ( was / were )
NO + Subject + BE ( was / were ) + NOT
| POSITIVE(+) | NEGATIVE(-) | POSITIVE QUESTION (?) | NEGATIVE QUESTION (?) |
|---|---|---|---|
| He was staying | He was not (wasn’t) staying | Was he staying? | Wasn’t he staying? |
| She was staying | She was not (wasn’t) staying | Was she staying? | Wasn’t she staying? |
| It was staying | It was not (wasn’t) staying | Was it staying? | Wasn’t it staying? |
| I was staying | I was not (wasn’t) staying | Was I staying? | Wasn’t I staying? |
| You were staying | You were not (weren’t) staying | Were you staying? | Weren’t you staying? |
| We were staying | We were not (weren’t) staying | Were we staying? | Weren’t we staying? |
| They were staying | They were not (weren’t) staying | Were they staying? | Weren’t they staying? |
