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B1 · IntermediateLesson 3 of 4

Past Continuous

See how English past continuous contrasts with past simple, showing an action that was in progress rather than one that was completed, at B1 level.

By the flumi team About 8 min read Grammar learning path: Past tenses and storytelling
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In the past, we often contrast completed actions (past simple) with actions in progress (past continuous).

This lesson focuses on how past continuous is used.

In other words, it helps you show what was happening in the background and what was the main event.

  • Background = a situation or action already in progress (often longer).
  • Main event = the action the speaker wants to highlight (often shorter) that happens during or after the background and moves the story forward.

Choosing the tense helps the listener see whether an action was background, temporary, ongoing, or complete.

Form and spelling

The basic form is was/were + verb-ing; the negative is wasn’t/weren’t + verb-ing; the question is Was/Were + subject + verb-ing?

Form I / he / she / it we / you / they
affirmative I was working They were working
negative I wasn’t working They weren’t working
question Was she working? Were they working?

For short answers, repeat was or were instead of the full verb phrase: “Was she working?” — “Yes, she was. / No, she wasn’t.”

When you add -ing, watch these common spelling changes:

  • double the final consonant after a short stressed vowel: stop → stopping; with travel, British English usually has travelling, while American English has traveling
  • remove a silent -e: make → making, write → writing
  • change -ie to -y: lie → lying, die → dying
  • add -k- after verbs ending in -c: panic → panicking, picnic → picnicking
  • do not remove -e from see → seeing or agree → agreeing; compare dye → dyeing with die → dying

Most stative verbs describe a state rather than an action and are not normally used in the continuous form. Common examples include know, believe, understand, want, need, like, own, and belong.

  • ✓ “I knew the answer.” / ✗ “I was knowing the answer.”
  • ✓ “She wanted a new phone.” / ✗ “She was wanting a new phone.”

Some verbs can be continuous when they have an action meaning: “I was thinking about the problem.” Compare “I have a car” with “I was having lunch”, or “The soup tastes good” with “She was tasting the soup.”

An action at a specific past time

Use the past continuous to say what was in progress at a particular time in the past. The time can be a clock time, a date, or a period such as all morning.

  • “At 7 p.m., I was having dinner.”
  • “This time yesterday, we were travelling home.”
  • “At that moment, she was talking to her manager.”
  • “They were working all morning.”

Longer actions in the past (background action)

The past continuous is often used for an action in progress (background) when another, shorter event happens in the past.

Examples

  • “People were waiting outside when the shop finally opened.”
  • “I was walking home when I saw an old friend.”
  • “The children were playing in the garden when it started to rain.”
  • “What were you doing when the lights went out?”

Here:

  • were waiting → background/context

  • opened → main event (what happened next)

  • The longer action gives context.

  • The shorter action is the main event.

While and When

Use while + past continuous for a longer background action and when + past simple for a short event. Both can come first:

  • “While I was cooking, the phone rang.” / “The phone rang while I was cooking.”
  • “When the phone rang, I was cooking.” / “I was cooking when the phone rang.”

Use as in the same way as while: “As I was leaving, I saw Maya.”

While can also introduce a past-simple situation that lasted for a period of time: “While I lived in Rome, I studied art.”

Temporary situations

The past continuous is commonly used for situations that were temporary or unfinished at that time, especially when the speaker wants to show that the situation was not permanent.

Examples

  • “At that time, I was living with my parents.”
  • “She was working during the summer.”

Compare:

  • “I lived with my parents for years.” (a completed period)
  • “At that time, I was living with my parents.” (a temporary situation at that past time)

The emphasis is on the fact that this was true for a limited period, not forever.

Two actions happening at the same time

We often use the past continuous to describe two actions in progress at the same time in the past, especially with ‘while’.

Example

  • “While I was preparing the presentation, my colleague was checking the data.”

Both actions were in progress. There is no interruption; the focus is on simultaneous activity.
This use helps the listener understand how events were connected in time.

Quick check

Try one question now.

1
While we on the sand, a seagull stole our sandwiches.

Check your answer when you are ready. No sign-in needed.

Past continuous focuses on the process (not the result)

We use the past continuous to emphasize that an action was in progress at a past moment. It does not say whether the action was finished; that information comes from the rest of the sentence or the wider story.

Example

  • “I was writing an email, but I never sent it.”
  • “They were planning a trip, but it was cancelled.”

The past continuous highlights the process, not the result.

If the main point is a completed result, use the past simple instead:

  • Process focus: “I was writing emails all afternoon.” (focuses on the activity.)
  • Completed result: “I wrote three emails yesterday.” (all three were completed.)

Completion can still be shown by what follows:

  • “I was writing an email, and I sent it a few minutes later.”

Repeated actions that annoyed the speaker

We can use the past continuous with always, constantly, or forever for repeated past behaviour that annoyed or surprised the speaker. It describes a repeated pattern, not one uninterrupted action.

  • “She was always losing her keys.”
  • “They were constantly interrupting me.”

Compare these two sentences:

  • “She always lost her keys.” — a neutral statement about a past habit.
  • “She was always losing her keys.” — the speaker sounds annoyed.

Constantly and forever can add the same emotional colouring.

Setting a scene in a narrative

The past continuous can set the background at the start of a story, before the main events happen.

  • “It was raining, and people were hurrying home.”
  • “The children were playing in the garden when the lights went out.”

“I was wondering if ...” is a fixed expression that makes a present request sound less direct and more polite. It does not usually describe past time: “I was wondering if you could help me.”

Past continuous in reported speech

When we report what someone said in the past, a present continuous form often changes to past continuous.

  • Direct speech: “I am working.”
  • Reported speech: She said (that) she was working.

Summary: past simple vs past continuous

Past Simple is used when the speaker focuses on:

  • completed actions
  • results
  • key events that move the story forward

Past Continuous is used when the speaker focuses on:

  • actions in progress at a past moment
  • background situations
  • temporary or unfinished actions
  • what was happening when something else occurred

A simple way to think about it:

  • Past simple tells the listener what happened.
  • Past continuous shows the listener what was going on at the time.

Choosing between them also guides the listener’s attention:

  • “I spoke to him yesterday.” (a completed action)
  • “I was speaking to him when the connection cut out.” (an action in progress that gives the context for the interruption)

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Last updated October 14, 2026