Past Continuous Tense

Pay attention to bold words in the sentences below!

1. I was drinking my coffee when the doorbell rang.

2. He was walking on the pavement when I called him.

3. Harry was having lunch at one o’clock yesterday.

4. I was talking a bath in the bathroom when you came.

The sentences in the dialogue above constitute the use of past continuous tense.

Past continuous tense is used to:

· express the activity which was still going on in a certain time in the past

· express the activity that is being done when another activity is happened, both are in the past.

Study the patterns below!

Affirmative (+) : S + was/were + V-ing + …

Negative (-)   : S + was/were + not + V-ing + …

Interrogative (?) : Was/were + S + V-ing + …?

Study these example!

1. I was taking a nap at 2. p.m. yesterday.

2. She was study English from 07.00 to 08.00 last night.

3. The thief broke into our house when we were sleeping.

4. She was singing a song while her sister was dancing.

5. The villagers was sleeping when the volcano erupted.