Past continuous

Past Continuous Tense

• The past continuous tense, also known as the past progressive tense, refers to a continuing action or state that was happening at some point in the past.
• The past continuous tense is formed by combining the past tense of to be (i.e., was/were) with the verb’s present participle (-ing word).
• We use the Past Continuous Tense in two situations:
• The Past Continuous is used to denote an action going on at some time in the past. The time of the action may or may not be indicated.
• This tense is also used with always, continually, etc. for persistent habits in the past

Examples:

• We were watching TV all evening.
• It was getting darker.

• The light went out while I was reading.  

• When I saw him, he was playing chess.  

• He was always bullying other people.