Past Continuous Tense Past Progressive Tense
When you want to talk about something that happened recently like you just finished a work you use the Past Continuous Tense. Past continuous tense also called the past progressive tense is obviously talking about something in the past. Also it uses an ing verb. So past + ing = was verbing. You use was and the verb for example was eating. Now this type of sentence structure will be used when you are talking about some action that someone was doing at a particular time or at a particular place.
Examples of Past Continuous Tense
run = I was running
give reason = I was running to catch
to catch what? = I was running to catch the bus.
eat = I was eating
what were you eating = I was eating breakfast
add time = I was eating breakfast just now
add place = I was eating breakfast just now at a restaurant.
Past Continuous Tense
When we talk about Past Continuous Tense we are talking about an action that has just finished or is still happening but the speaker has removed himself from the scene or describing a scene as he saw it.
What ‘I’ as a speaker (First Person) Was Doing Just Now
If someone looks at me and feels that I look tired or am perspiring (sweating) he will ask me Why I look tired or why I am perspiring. He may also ask what I was doing to be tired or sweat. My answer would be ‘I was jogging’ or ‘I was exercising’. I am using the -ing word or the continuous verb again, but this time with helping verb of the past tense – was.
The Listener Was Doing Something Just a Second Ago
Example: You were eating Salad.
That Other Person was Doing This Action When I saw him
Akshay (He) was writing his homework.
Anushka (She) was talking to a friend.
More than one Person
Amir and Salman (They) were playing football in the field.
| Past Continuous Tense | Past | Continuous | |
| 1st Person (speaker) Singular | I | was | walking |
| 1st Person (speaker) Plural | We | were | talking |
| 2nd Person (listener) Singular | You | were | eating |
| 2nd Person (listener) Plural | You | were | jumping |
| 3rd Person Singular | He | was | running |
| 3rd Person Singular | She | was | reading |
| 3rd Person Singular | It | was | stopping |
| 3rd Person Plural | They | were | playing |
| Pronoun or Name | To be | Present continuous / progressive |
| I | was | eating, drinking, walking, sitting, |
| He / She / It | was | planning, stopping, running |
| We / They / You | were | shopping, tipping |
| Start of sentence | verb+ing | Information | More information |
| I was | eating | a pizza | at the restaurant. |
| He was | drinking | a lemonade | near the office. |
| She was | walking | to school | now. |
| It was | running | after the ball | in the garden |
| You were | sitting | on the bench | under the tree. |
| We were | shopping | for a t-shirt | for Sam. |
| They were | stopping | for traffic lights | at the crossroads. |
| Jack was | tipping | the jar | to pour water |
| Jill was | planning | a birthday party | for Katrina |
He was drinking something white in colour.
He was jumping over the wall when I saw him this afternoon.
He was reading Julius Caesar in the library.
She was dancing with Swami Nritya Anand.
She was crossing the road near Maharana Pratap chowk.
It was looking good in the afternoon.
The tree was growing right here.
They were cleaning the hallway of the college on Saturday.
They were resting inside the shed.
We were going to the movies.
We were calling the fire brigade.
Amir was acting in Ashutosh’s movie last year.
Katrina was cycling on Peddar road.
Salman and Kareena were holding a flag at the rally.
John and I were traveling to Delhi together.
The new Audi was shining in the sun.
पास्ट कंटीन्यूअस टेंस हिंदी
जब ह्म बात करते है ऐसे काम के बारे में जो बस अब ख़त्म हुआ है या जब बोलने वाला काम की जगेह पर था तब वो काम चल रहा था तो ह्म पास्ट कंटिन्युवस में बात करते है. जैसे “में व्यायाम कर रहा था.” ध्यान दे की “कर रहा हू” प्रेज़ेंट कंटिन्युवस हो जाता है और “कर रहा था” पास्ट कंटिन्युवस है.
इंग्लीश में इसे कहेगे “आई वाज़ एक्सरसाइज़िंग”. जहा वाज़ पास्ट क्रिया है और एक्सरसाइज़िंग कंटिन्युवस की क्रिया.
वैसे ही सुनने वाले को कह सकते है की “आप सलाद खा रहे थे”. और जब तीसरे आदमी या चीज़ के बारे में बात चल रही है तो “अक्षय होमवर्क लिख रहा था” या “अनुष्का अपने दोस्त से बात कर रही थी”.
“अक्षय वाज़ राइटिंग हिज़ होमवर्क” या “अनुष्का वाज़ टॉकिंग तो आ फ्रेंड”
एक से ज़्यादा लोगो के बारे में बात करनी है तो कहेगे “आमिर और सलमान फूटबाल खेल रहे थे” – “आमिर आंड सलमान वर प्लेयिंग फूटबाल”.