Past Continuous: What Was Happening at the Time
Was and were plus -ing: the tense that sets the scene, and how it works with past simple to tell a story.
Past simple tells you what happened. Past continuous tells you what was already going on when it happened.
- I was cooking when the phone rang.
Two events, two tenses, and the choice is not decoration: swap them and the meaning changes.
The form
was / were + verb**-ing**
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| I, he, she, it | was working |
| you, we, they | were working |
Negative: I wasn't listening. · They weren't waiting. Question: Were you sleeping? · What was she doing?
The -ing never changes for person — all the work is done by was or were.
The background and the interruption
This is the pattern that matters most, and it appears in every exam.
The long action takes past continuous. The short action that cuts into it takes past simple.
- I was walking home when it started to rain.
- She was reading when the lights went out.
When usually introduces the short action; while usually introduces the long one:
- When the lights went out, I was reading.
- While I was reading, the lights went out.
Both sentences describe the same evening. Only the emphasis moves.
Why the choice changes the meaning
- When she arrived, I made dinner. — she arrived, then I started cooking.
- When she arrived, I was making dinner. — the cooking was already under way.
The first is a sequence. The second is a scene. Getting this wrong is not a small slip — it tells your listener the wrong story.
Two things happening at once
Both verbs go into past continuous, usually joined by while:
- I was cooking while he was setting the table.
Setting a scene
Stories often open in past continuous, then switch to past simple once things start happening.
It was raining. The wind was blowing through the empty street and nobody was waiting at the stop. Then a car pulled up and a man got out.
The first three verbs paint the picture; the last two move the plot. That switch is what makes a narrative feel like a narrative.
Verbs that don't take the -ing form
Some verbs describe states rather than actions, and states are not "in progress":
know, understand, like, love, hate, want, need, believe, belong, seem
- ❌ I was knowing the answer.
- ✅ I knew the answer.
Have is on both sides: I had a car (state, no -ing) but I was having lunch (action, fine).
In conversation
Explaining a missed call
A: I rang you twice yesterday.
B: Sorry — I was driving. What were you calling about?
A: I was trying to find the address. I asked Sam in the end.
B: Ah. I was sitting in traffic for an hour, so I missed everything.
Was driving, were calling and was sitting all describe what was going on; rang and asked are the events.
Try it yourself
The quiz below focuses on the when/while split and on the state verbs that refuse -ing.