Conjugation & verb forms of the past continuous
(Formation of the past progressive tense in English)
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Formation of the past continuous
The past continuous (also known as past progressive) is formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb ‘to be’ in the simple past, which is ‘was/were’, and adding the progressive form (ing form or present participle) of the respective main verb. Compare the following examples as well as the table:
- Examples showing the formation of the past continuous:
- “He was reading a book when the telephone rang.”
- “At five o’clock this morning, my neighbours were talking very loudly.”
Verb forms of the past continuous
Example verb: ‘to drive’
Positive/affirmative sentences
| Person/pronoun | Positive | Short form | Interrogative form | Short form of question |
| I | I was driving. | – | Was I driving? | – |
| you (singular) | You were driving. | – | Were you driving? | – |
| he/she/it | He was driving. | – | Was he driving? | – |
| we/you/they | We were driving. | – | Were we driving? | – |
Negative sentences
| Person/pronoun | Negative | Short form | Interrogative form | Short form of question |
| I | I was not driving. | I wasn’t driving. | Was I not driving? | Wasn’t I driving? |
| you (singular) | You were not driving. | You weren’t driving. | Were you not driving? | Weren’t you driving? |
| he/she/it | He was not driving. | He wasn’t driving. | Was he not driving? | Wasn’t he driving? |
| we/you/they | We were not driving. | We weren’t driving. | Were we not driving? | Weren’t we driving? |
Further explanations related to the ‘Formation of the past progressive’
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