Past Continous

Past Continous

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.

We use the past continuous to talk about the past.

for something which happened before and after another action:

The children were doing their homework when I got home.

The children did their homework when (= after) I got home.

for something that happened before and after a specific time:

It was eight o'clock. I was writing a letter.

Compare: At eight o'clock I wrote (= started writing) some letters.

to show that something continued for some time:

My head was aching.

Everyone was shouting.

for something that happened again and again:

I was practising every day, three times a day.

They were meeting secretly after school.



They were always quarrelling.

with verbs which show change or growth:

The children were growing up quickly.

Her English was improving.

My hair was going grey.

The town was changing quickly.

Be careful !

We do not normally use the past continuous with stative verbs. We use the past simple instead:

When I got home, I really needed (NOT was needing) a shower.

The past simple shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present.

( przeszłość zamknięta, dokonana)

The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in the past.

( Czynność zamknięta, niedokonana)

Past continuous and past simple. When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action happened in the middle of the past continuous action, while it was in progress.

While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.

We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.

I broke my leg when I was skiing.

As I was going to work, I saw an old friend.

We were watching television when the power went off.

Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?

When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.

When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.

In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that because it uses the past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived first and then Jane started cooking.