Past Continuous – Active, Passive, Examples & Exercises

When we delve into the world of tenses, we step into the realm of time, where language rules and structures guide us in navigating past, present, and future events. Among these tenses, the past continuous acts as a bridge between what was and what was ongoing. In this article, we’ll explore this tense’s grammatical structure along with numerous examples and exercises.

Definition: Past continuous

The past continuous tense, also known as the past progressive, is a verb tense used to describe actions and situations that were in progress at a specific time frame in the past. It is formed by using auxiliary verbs and participles and gives us a way to discuss the background of past events and continuous actions, adding depth and context to descriptions of situations. Unlike past simple, past continuous typically conveys a sense of something ongoing that was either disrupted or that two events were happening simultaneously. Below, you can find three example sentences using the past continuous form.

Formula of past continuous active voice

The past continuous tense in the active voice is formed by combining the past tense of “to be” with the present participle (the “-ing” form) of the main verb. Subject-verb agreement is vital when forming this tense, as it utilizes “was/were” depending on the specific subject or pronoun.

Active question form of past continuous

To form a question in the past continuous tense, you adjust the sentence structure by inverting the subject and the auxiliary verb. As with the present continuous, the verb form remains the same in the active question.

Questions with question words

When forming questions with question words in the past continuous tense, the question word is placed at the beginning, followed by “was/were,” the subject, and then the present participle of the verb.

Negative question form of past continuous

Similarly to other tenses, such as the present perfect, contractions, or inversion of the subject of an active sentence and adding “not” before the verb, can be used when forming negative questions in the past continuous.

Negative questions with question words

Negative questions with question words in the past continuous follow a similar structure, with the question word at the beginning.

The image below depicts all structures of the past continuous tense in active voice.

Practice worksheet

Before we get into the formulas for the past continuous passive voice, let’s solve a quick practice test. The answers for this test can be found in the second tab.

Formula of past continuous passive voice

In the passive voice, the focus shifts from the doer of the action to the action itself or the receiver of the action. The structure uses an appropriate form of “was/were being” with the past participle (3^rd past form) of the main verb. The “by” agent is used before the object to indicate the doer of the action.

The illustration below indicates all passive structures for the past continuous tense.

Indicators and usage of past continuous

Besides a general ongoing action, the past progressive can also be used in other situations. In this paragraph, we will elaborate on its usage and key indicators, along with examples that demonstrate the range of this tense.

Common time expressions used with the past continuous include:

• While
• When
• At (time)
• All day/night
• As

While vs. when

Both “while” and “when” are used as coordinating conjunctions to describe past actions, but there are subtle differences, as they are used differently with the past continuous and past simple tense.

While

Typically used with the past continuous to indicate that one action was in progress when another occurred, or that two actions were happening simultaneously. This tense uses continuous verbs, as not all types of verbs can be used for the past continuous.

When

“When” is often used with the past simple to indicate that one shorter action happened, causing an interruption or marking a specific point in time. This tense regularly features stative verbs (or non-continuous verbs), that describe a state instead of an action.

Short answers in the past continuous

Short answers are commonly used to respond quickly to yes/no questions without repeating the entire sentences. The structure of the short answers reflects the subject and whether the answer is of an affirmative or negative nature.

Active voice

Passive voice

Past continuous vs. past perfect continuous

Past perfect continuous is used to describe an action that had been ongoing before another action. The major difference between these two tenses is that with the past continuous (orange), the action or event continues after the interruption, while with the past perfect continuous (purple), the action stops.

Practice exercise

Here are 10 final practice sentences in both active and passive voice, covering interrogative, negative, and affirmative forms. Answers can be found in the second tab. Have fun!