Contents
A. Study this example situation:
Yesterday Karen and Joe played tennis. They started at 10 o’clock and finished at 11.30. So, at 10.30 they were playing tennis.
they were playing =
they were in the middle of playing, they had not finished
was/were + -ing is the past continuous:
B. I was doing something = I was in the middle of doing it at a certain time. The action or situation started before this time, but had not finished:
- This time last year I was living in Hong Kong.
- What were you doing at 10 o’clock last night?
- I waved to Helen, but she wasn’t looking.
C. Compare I was doing (past continuous) and I did (past simple):
I was doing (= in the middle of an action)
- We were walking home when I met Dan. (in the middle of walking home)
- Kate was watching TV when we
- arrived.
I did (= complete action)
- We walked home aft er the party last night. (= all the way, completely)
- Kate watched TV a lot when she was ill last year.
D. You can say that something happened (past simple) in the middle of something else (past continuous):
- Matt phoned while we were having dinner.
- It was raining when I got up.
- I saw you in the park yesterday. You were sitting on the grass and reading a book.
- I hurt my back while I was working in the garden.
But we use the past simple to say that one thing happened after another:
- I was walking along the road when I saw Dan. So I stopped, and we talked for a while.
Compare :
- When Karen arrived, we were having dinner. (= we had already started before she arrived)
- When Karen arrived, we had dinner. (= Karen arrived, and then we had dinner)
E. Some verbs (for example, know and want) are not normally used in continuous forms (is + -ing, was + -ing etc.). See Unit 4A for a list of these verbs
- We were good friends. We knew each other well. (not we were knowing)
- I was enjoying the party, but Chris wanted to go home. (not was wanting)
