Unit 13 - Past Continuous (I was doing) · Beginner Grammar

Your Quick Grammar Guide

Picture the scene at a neighbourhood lantern-making workshop yesterday evening. The past continuous shows an action that was in progress at a past time. First choose the meaning, then match was/were to the subject and add the -ing form.

1. How to Form It

Past continuous: was / were + verb-ing

Use: an action was in progress at a particular time in the past.

Positive: subject + was / were + verb-ing
Example: At eight, Farah was hanging a paper sun.

Negative: subject + was not / were not + verb-ing
Example: The helpers weren’t washing the brushes.

Question: Was / Were + subject + verb-ing?
Example: Were Grace and Kai folding card?

Short answers: Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t. Repeat was or were; do not repeat the -ing verb.

Match was or were to the subject

Was: I, he, she, it, or one person/thing
I was drawing. Zara was folding card.

Were: you, we, they, or plural people/things
You were painting. The children were tying strings.

In a question, move was/were before the subject: Was Sam drawing? Were they tying strings?

Make the -ing form

Most verbs: add -ing: paint → painting. Drop a silent final e: make → making, use → using. With short one-syllable verbs ending in a consonant after one short vowel, double the final consonant: cut → cutting, put → putting. Do not double w, x or y: draw → drawing, fix → fixing, play → playing. Change final ie to y: tie → tying.

2. Clue Words & Patterns

A time in progress

at six o’clockat that momentat seven yesterdaywhile it was raining

At six, the children were making paper stars. The time phrase helps us picture the action underway then.

One action in progress, another event

While we were painting, the bell rang.

Painting was in progress; the bell rang during it. A shorter completed event can use the simple past, as in rang.

Compare the meaning

At seven, Mina was tying the lantern string. We picture her in the middle of the action at seven.

Mina tied the lantern string at seven. This reports the completed action. The clock time alone does not choose a tense; the meaning does.

3. Watch Out & Common Mistakes

Check agreement and word order

Use was with I, he, she, it and singular nouns. Use were with you (one person or more), we, they and plural nouns. Keep be in negatives and questions: weren’t cutting; Were they cutting?

Spell the -ing form carefully

Look at the verb before adding -ing: making (drop e), cutting (double t), tying (ie becomes y). Do not write makeing, cuting or tieing.

Wrong / Better 1: was/were agreement

Wrong: The children ~~was making~~ paper stars.

Better: The children were making paper stars.

Why: Children is plural, so it takes were.

Wrong / Better 2: keep be in the negative

Wrong: I ~~didn’t painting~~ a lantern.

Better: I wasn’t painting a lantern.

Why: Past continuous uses was/were + not + verb-ing.

Wrong / Better 3: verb form in a question

Wrong: Were they ~~tie~~ the strings?

Better: Were they tying the strings?

Why: After Were + subject, use the -ing form: tying.

Wrong / Better 4: spelling

Wrong: Iris was ~~makeing~~ a paper hat.

Better: Iris was making a paper hat.

Why: Drop the final e before adding -ing.

State meanings such as knowing an answer normally use the simple past: Ravi knew the address. For this unit, focus on activities that were in progress.

Before you answer: Is the action in progress at a past time? Which subject do I have? Does it need was or were? Is the -ing spelling right?

Quick self-check

1. At seven, Ella (was / were) drawing a moon. Which form fits?

Was. Ella is one person, so use was: Ella was drawing.

2. Make a question: the neighbours / hang lanterns / at six?

Were the neighbours hanging lanterns at six? Put Were before the plural subject and keep the verb in -ing form.

3. While we (were folding / folded) the paper, the door opened. Which phrase shows the action in progress?

Were folding. Folding was underway when the door opened; opened names the event that happened during it.