The grammar of the past continuous tense is as follows:
- Subject + was/were + present participle
For example:
- I was becoming more and more tired as the day went on.
- The plants were growing very quickly in the warm weather.
- Something strange was happening in the forest.
The past continuous tense is used to describe actions or states that were in progress at a particular time in the past. It can also be used to show that an event was happening in the background to the main event.
The past tense of the verb “to be” is used in the past continuous tense, followed by the present participle of the verb. The present participle is a form of a verb that ends in the suffix -ing.
For example, the present participle of the verb “to become” is “becoming”, the present participle of the verb “to grow” is “growing”, and the present participle of the verb “to happen” is “happening”.
The past continuous tense is often used in narratives to describe the background events that were happening while the main event was taking place. For example, in the sentence “She was holding her breath as she waited for the results of the test”, the main event is the speaker waiting for the results, and the event of holding her breath is happening in the background.
Here’s a real expert example of past continuous affirmative:
I was trying to get you back.
Listen to the pronunciation of this verb phrase.
Here are two English Grammar Profile points in the category of PAST:
A2 point 10
past continuous: actions and states in progress around a particular time in the past.
A2 point 16
past continuous: show that an event was happening in the background to the main event.
An iWeb search for:
was|were _VVG
1 WAS GOING 512221
2 WERE GOING 235936
Just when things were going so well for you.
3 WAS LOOKING 178301
4 WAS TRYING 133765
5 WAS WORKING 124405
6 WAS THINKING 120034
7 WAS GETTING 117198
8 WAS WONDERING 116277
9 WERE LOOKING 96635
10 WAS USING 74365
11 WAS COMING 69958
12 WAS HOPING 66614
13 WAS TALKING 66359
14 WAS MAKING 65425
15 WERE TALKING 64934
16 WERE TRYING 62369
17 WAS TAKING 61564
18 WAS PLAYING 58527
19 WAS RUNNING 57316
20 WERE GETTING 55178
21 WERE WORKING 50540
22 WAS HAPPENING 50108
23 WAS SITTING 48138
24 WERE USING 47600
25 WAS WEARING 43266
26 WAS DRIVING 43056
27 WAS SAYING 38531
28 WAS MISSING 37396
29 WAS EXPECTING 36536
30 WAS LIVING 34811
31 WERE MAKING 34393
32 WAS READING 33366
33 WAS WALKING 32910
34 WAS WATCHING 32405
35 WAS PLANNING
32089
I was planning to go to college in Turkey.
PELIC STUDENT Turkish female level 3 writing class
36 WAS FEELING 31187
37 WAS STANDING 30946
38 WAS WAITING 30662
39 WERE TAKING 30503
40 WAS STARTING 29537
41 WERE PLAYING 29133
42 WERE COMING 28700
43 WAS GROWING 28253
44 WAS TELLING 23698
45 WAS WRITING 23142
46 WERE RUNNING 23090
47 WERE LIVING 22486
48 WAS SPEAKING 21928
49 WAS MOVING 21804
50 WAS GIVING 21487
51 WAS HOLDING 21348
52 WAS ASKING 20745
53 WERE SAYING 20587
54 WERE HOPING 19899
55 WAS BECOMING 19800
56 WAS REFERRING 18922
57 WERE THINKING 18468
58 WAS LEAVING 17965
59 WAS SEEING 17775
60 WAS BEGINNING 17595
61 WERE WAITING 17333
62 WERE EXPECTING 17143
63 WERE SITTING 17106
64 WERE SEEING 17095
65 WAS GON 17023
66 WERE PLANNING 16854
67 WERE STARTING 16680
68 WAS CAUSING 16205
69 WAS LYING 16099
70 WAS CARRYING 16062
71 WAS STRUGGLING 15989
72 WAS PUTTING 15688
73 WERE MISSING 15296
74 WAS SUFFERING 14681
75 WAS SELLING 14537
76 WAS EATING 14455
77 WAS SHOWING 14053
78 WERE WATCHING 13858
79 WERE MOVING 13796
80 WAS RIDING 13257
81 WAS PREPARING 12781
82 WAS STAYING 12602
83 WERE WALKING 12563
84 WERE GIVING 12377
85 WERE ASKING 12315
86 WAS TRAVELING 12283
87 WAS ACTING 12258
88 WAS SEARCHING 12213
89 WAS LISTENING 11967
90 WAS VISITING 11865
91 WAS HELPING 11850
92 WAS FACING 11768
93 WERE STANDING 11620
94 WERE WONDERING 11516
95 WAS DYING 11375
96 WAS SLEEPING 11159
97 WAS HEADING 11136
98 WAS PAYING 11125
99 WERE DRIVING 11044
100 WAS EXPERIENCING 10987
Here are some past continuous affirmative sentence examples using the A2 vocabulary above:
- Becoming: I was becoming more and more tired as the day went on.
- Growing: The plants were growing very quickly in the warm weather.
- Happening: Something strange was happening in the forest.
- Holding: She was holding her breath as she waited for the results of the test.
- Hoping: I was hoping that I would get a good grade on my test.
- Lying: I was lying in bed when I heard a noise outside.
- Missing: I was missing my friends when I was away at summer camp.
- Moving: The car was moving very slowly through the traffic jam.
- Preparing: We were preparing for the party all day long.
- Selling: The shopkeeper was selling vegetables from his stall.
- Standing: The crowd was standing in line for hours to get tickets to the concert.
- Trying: I was trying to solve the puzzle, but I couldn’t figure it out.