In English we use the past continuous to talk about an action taking place during a period of time in the past. We usually use it with past simple.
The table below shows the different forms of past continuous :
Example verb : study | I / He / She / It | You / We / They |
Positive | ... was studying. | ... were studying. |
Negative | ... wasn't studying. | ... weren't studying. |
Questions | Was ... studying? | Were ... studying? |
Short answers | Yes, ... was. / No, ... wasn't. | Yes, ... were. / No, ... weren't. |
In English we use the past continuous to show that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the past simple. This can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.
Past Continuous Examples Sentences :
Positive Examples of Past Continuous :
Negative Examples of Past Continuous :
Question Examples of Past Continuous :
In English we can also use a specific time as an interruption.
Examples Sentences :
When you use the past continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it means that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.
Examples Sentences :
Past continuous example sentences | |
---|---|
First she started to mumble about how long my cooking was taking. | D'abord, elle a commencé à marmonner à propos de la longueur de ma cuisson. |
But I don't know where he was getting it from. | Mais je ne sais pas où il s'en procurait. |
Yes, sorry, I was thinking of getting stock powder at the shop. | Oui, désolé, je voulais prendre un fond en poudre au supermarché. |
How did you know you were knocking on the right door? | Comment tu savais que tu toquais à la bonne porte? |
Oh, I see, she was talking about it last night! | Oh, je vois, elle en a parlé l'autre soir! |
Okay, long story short, I was cooking some chips last night. | Okay, pour faire court, je préparais des frites hier soir. |
No, I wasn't interested at all, I was just trying to be nice to her. | Non, je ne l'étais pas du tout, j'essayais juste d'être gentille avec elle. |
It sounds like she was having a mental breakdown. | On dirait qu'elle a eu un crise de nerf. |
I was just trying to be more realistic! | J'essayais d'être plus réaliste ! |
When I came, you were at the bar getting yourself a beer. | Quand tu es allé au bar, te chercher une bière. |
The other day, you complained about how loud I was snoring. | L'autre jour, tu t'es plaint d'à quel point je ronflais fort. |
That's what I was planning. | C'est ce que j'avais prévu. |
Noone was paying attention to your "precious" bag. | Personne ne faisait attention à ton "précieux" sac. |
I think she definitely understood I was lying! | Je pense qu'elle a totalement compris que je mentais ! |
And you pretended you didn't know I was living here. | Et tu faisais semblant de ne pas savoir que j'habitais ici. |
I ran inside to check what was happening... | J'ai couru à l'intérieur pour voir ce qu'il se passait... |
I was wondering where that chorizo smell was coming from. | Je me demandais d'où cette odeur de chorizo venait. |
I was also training new workers how to make coffee. | J'ai aussi entraîné de nouvelles recrues à faire du café. |
The only smoke I could see was coming out of her ears. | La seule fumée que j'ai pu voir était celle qui sortait de ses oreilles. |
I was planning on cooking some meat, originally. | Je comptais cuisiner de la viande. |