Past Continuous

How to build it

• Affirmative: was / were + verb-ing: She was writing the letter.
• Negative: wasn’t / weren’t + verb-ing: They weren’t listening.
• Question: Was / Were + subject + verb-ing: Was she writing the letter? What were you doing at eight?

When to use it

• An action in progress at a specific moment in the past: At ten o’clock last night I was watching a film.
• A longer background action interrupted by a shorter one (Past Simple), usually with when: I was cooking when the lights went out.
• Two actions in progress at the same time, often with while: While she was working, the kids were playing outside.
• Setting the scene at the start of a story: It was raining and people were hurrying home.
• With always for an annoying past habit: He was always borrowing money.

Examples

• What were you doing when I called?
• I wasn’t sleeping — I was just resting my eyes.
• We were driving home when we saw the accident.
• The sun was shining and the birds were singing.
• She was living in Kharkiv at the time.

Common mistakes

• Using it for completed, sequential actions: Yesterday I was going to the shop and was buying bread → Yesterday I went to the shop and bought bread. The Continuous is for background, not for the main events.
• Mixing up when and while: while + the long action (while I was cooking), when + usually the short one (when the phone rang).
• State verbs: I was knowing the answer → I knew the answer.
• Translating Ukrainian imperfective verbs automatically: я читав книжку вчора can be I read a book yesterday or I was reading a book (when…) — pick the Continuous only when you mean an action in progress at a point in time.

The passive

was/were + being + V3: The letter was being written. Natural and quite common: When we arrived, the room was still being cleaned. I felt I was being watched. Use it for a passive action in progress at a past moment.