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We Use The Past Continuous Tense To Describe A Past Action Over A Period of Time

The past continuous tense is used to describe actions that were ongoing or in progress over a period of time in the past. It uses the structure "was/were + present participle" and can indicate that a longer past action was interrupted by a shorter action in the simple past. The past perfect continuous tense uses the structure "had been + present participle" and expresses how long something had been ongoing before something important happened in the past, placing emphasis on the duration of a past activity. Both tenses can be used to talk about past actions or situations that were ongoing at a certain point in time but the past perfect continuous additionally stresses the length of time the activity had already been occurring.

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577 views

We Use The Past Continuous Tense To Describe A Past Action Over A Period of Time

The past continuous tense is used to describe actions that were ongoing or in progress over a period of time in the past. It uses the structure "was/were + present participle" and can indicate that a longer past action was interrupted by a shorter action in the simple past. The past perfect continuous tense uses the structure "had been + present participle" and expresses how long something had been ongoing before something important happened in the past, placing emphasis on the duration of a past activity. Both tenses can be used to talk about past actions or situations that were ongoing at a certain point in time but the past perfect continuous additionally stresses the length of time the activity had already been occurring.

Uploaded by

Jayanth Samavedam
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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We use the past continuous tense to describe a past action over a period of time.

FORM: [was/were + present participle] Examples: You were studying when she called. Were you studying when she called? You were not studying when she called. Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time. Examples: I was watching TV when she called. When the phone rang, she was writing a letter. While we were having the picnic, it started to rain. What were you doing when the earthquake started? I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm. You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off. While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car. Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane. While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off. A: What were you doing when you broke your leg? B: I was snowboarding. The past perfect continuous is used to express how long something had been going on before something important happened in the past. FORM: [had been + present participle]

Examples: You had been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived. Had you been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived? You had not been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.

We use the Past Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. "For five minutes" and "for two weeks" are both durations which can be used with the Past Perfect Continuous.

Examples: They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived. She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business. How long had you been waiting to get on the bus? Mike wanted to sit down because he had been standing all day at work. James had been teaching at the university for more than a year before he left for Asia. A: How long had you been studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara? B: I had not been studying Turkish very long.

Both past continuous and past perfect continuous tenses can be used to talk about actions or situations that were in progress at a certain point of time in the past. While the past continuous merely shows continuity, the past perfect continuous tense also puts an emphasis on the idea of duration. It is mainly used to indicate the duration of a past activity or state.

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