Past Continuous

 

Study this example situation.

 

Yesterday Dave and Jim played tennis. They began at 10:00 and finished at 11:30.

What were they doing at 10:30?

They were playing tennis (at 10:30).

 

"They were playing." means that they were in the middle of playing tennis. They had started playing, but they hadn't finished.

 

This is the past continuous tense.

I / he / she was playing.

we / they / you were playing.

We use the past continuous to say that someone was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but hadn't finished.

• This time last year I was living in Brazil.
• What were you doing at 10:00 last night?

The past continuous does not tell us whether an action was finished or not. Perhaps it was finished, perhaps not. Compare.

• Dan was cooking dinner. (past continuous) = He was in the middle of cooking dinner and we don't know whether he finished cooking it.
• Dan cooked dinner. (simple past) = He began and finished it.

We often use the past continuous and the simple past together to say that something happend in the middle of something else.

• Dan burned his hand while he was cooking dinner.
• I saw Jim in the park. He was sitting on the grass and reading a book.
• It was raining when I got up.
• While I was working in the garden, I hurt my back.

But to say one thing happened after another, use the simple past.

• Last night Sue was taking a bath when the phone rang. She got out of the bathtub and answered the phone.

Compare.

• When Helen arrived, we were having dinner. (past continuous) = We had already started dinner before Helen arrived.
• When Helen arrived, we had dinner. (simple past) = Helen arrived and then we had dinner.