We make the past continuous with subject + was/were + verb+ing.
Here is the positive structure.
| I He she it | was | doing playing watching swimming living etc |
|---|---|---|
| we you they | were | doing playing watching swimming living etc |
Here is the negative structure.
| I he she it | was not (wasn't) | doing watching playing swimming living |
|---|---|---|
| we you they | were not (weren't) | doing watching playing swimming living |
Here is the question form.
Was | I he she it | doing watching playing swimming living |
|---|---|---|
were | we you they | doing watching playing swimming living |
We can also put a question word at the top of the sentence to create a new question.
- Where was I living (last year)?
- What was he playing?
- Why were you doing that?
- What were you watching last night when I called?
Past Continuous in Action
- What were you doing last night when I called? I was reading a book.
- It was raining heavily last night.
- In 2020 we were living in the same house as today.
- Yesterday I was working. Today I’m resting.
To practise using past continuous, click below.
To read about when to use the past continuous tense, click here.
