The past continuous tense is used to describe actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past. It is formed by using the past tense of the auxiliary verb “to be” (e.g. “was,” “were”) and the present participle of the main verb (which ends in “-ing,” such as “eating,” “drinking,” “walking”).
Here are some examples of the past continuous tense:
- “I was eating breakfast at 8 o’clock this morning.” (action that was in progress at a specific time in the past)
- “The sun was rising in the east at 6 o’clock this morning.” (action that was in progress at a specific time in the past)
- “She was speaking Spanish on the phone with her friend at 7 o’clock this morning.” (action that was in progress at a specific time in the past)
In the past continuous tense, the verb “to be” is conjugated to match the subject of the sentence, and the present participle is used to describe the action that was in progress.
Conjugation Table
Here is a conjugation table for the past continuous tense, showing the verb forms for the subject pronouns “I,” “you,” “he/she/it,” “we,” and “they”:
| Subject pronoun | eat | drink | walk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | was eating | was drinking | was walking |
| you | were eating | were drinking | were walking |
| he/she/it | was eating | was drinking | was walking |
| we | were eating | were drinking | were walking |
| they | were eating | were drinking | were walking |
As you can see, the verb “to be” is conjugated to match the subject of the sentence, and the present participle is used to describe the action that was in progress.