PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

 

A. Affirmative: Subject + was/were + ing with 1st form of Verb + object. B. Negative: Subject + was/were +not + ing with 1st form of Verb + object. C. Interrogative: Was/Were + subject + ing with 1st form of Verb + object?

Conditions involving this tense:-

1.  It is used for an action going on at a point of time in the past:

a.  He was sleeping when I called on him.

b.  It was raining when we reached the station.

2.  To denote that continuous action which fully relates to past:

a.  The children were playing all the afternoon.

b.  We were shopping all this morning.

3.  To indicate two or more actions or conditions which were going on at the same time:

a.  He was not listening while I was talking.

b.  While I was listening to the radio, Harry was painting a picture and Sheila was ironing the clothes.

4.  To denote intention with ‘Going to’, ‘planning to’, or ‘intending to’:

a.  I was going to inform you, but I forgot.

b.  They were intending to buy a house when the prices rose.