Past Continuous: Connecting Two Past Events with When and While
Imagine you were cooking last night, your hands covered in oil, when suddenly the phone rang. To describe this scene, you need two actions: one is the ongoing background action (cooking), and the other is the sudden event (the phone ringing).
I was cooking when he called. (I was cooking when he called.)
This is the star of today's lesson—the Past Continuous (past continuous) tense. It adds imagery and depth to your stories. By learning it, you will be able to naturally say sentences like "I was doing something at that time." Don't worry, there is only one formula, and we will take it step by step.
What the Past Continuous Looks Like
The formula is very simple:
was / were + verb -ing
- When the subject is I / he / she / it, use was
- When the subject is you / we / they, use were
Let's look at a few examples:
I was reading a book. (I was reading a book.)
She was sleeping at 10 p.m. (She was sleeping at 10 p.m.)
They were playing soccer in the park. (They were playing soccer in the park.)
Note that you need to add -ing to the verb: read → reading, sleep → sleeping, play → playing. This follows the exact same spelling rules as the present continuous tense (I am reading.) that you are already familiar with; the only difference is that the "be" verb is changed to the past tense.
How Is It Different from the Simple Past?
This is where many people get stuck, so let's make it clear in one sentence:
- Past continuous: Emphasizes an action that was "ongoing and not yet completed" at that time.
- Simple past: Emphasizes an action that "happened and was completed."
Let's compare them:
I watched a movie last night. (I watched a movie last night.) → It is finished; the whole event is completed.
I was watching a movie at 8 p.m. (I was watching a movie at 8 p.m.) → At that specific moment, the action was still ongoing.
A good way to remember: the past continuous is like a paused frame in a video, where the people in the picture are in the middle of an action; the simple past is like the entire video that has already finished playing.
How to Use When and While
Both words can be translated as "when / while," but they are used with different tenses by habit. Remember this golden combination:
- while + past continuous (the longer ongoing action)
- when + simple past (the shorter interrupting action)
Let's put them into the same sentence:
I was cooking when he called. (I was cooking when he called.)
While I was cooking, he called. (While I was cooking, he called.)
Do you see the pattern?
- The longer, background action (cooking) uses the past continuous and often follows while.
- The shorter, interrupting action (calling) uses the simple past and often follows when.
Let's look at two more examples to reinforce this:
While she was studying, the lights went out. (While she was studying, the lights went out.)
The lights went out when she was studying. (The lights went out when she was studying.)
A Quick Tip for Deciding
Next time you get stuck writing a sentence, ask yourself this question:
"Which action is longer? Which action interrupted it?"
- The longer, background action → past continuous (was/were + V-ing)
- The shorter, interrupting action → simple past
Let's look at a complete example:
I was walking home when it started to rain. ✓ (I was walking home when it started to rain.)
The interrupting action of raining uses started (simple past), while the background action of walking uses was walking (past continuous). You can also reverse the order, and the meaning stays the same:
When it started to rain, I was walking home. (When it started to rain, I was walking home.)
Two Common Mistakes
First, forgetting to change the "be" verb to the past tense:
She was listening to music. ✓
She is listening to music yesterday. ✗ (With yesterday, you must use the past tense was.)
Second, forgetting to include the "be" verb in the past continuous, leaving only the V-ing form:
I was waiting for the bus. ✓
I waiting for the bus. ✗ (Without was, the sentence is incomplete.)
Remember: the past continuous is always a two-word combination—was / were plus V-ing. Both are indispensable.
When Two Things Happen at the Same Time
If two long actions are happening at the same time, use the past continuous for both sides, connected by while in the middle:
While I was cooking, my brother was watching TV. (While I was cooking, my brother was watching TV.)
In this case, neither action interrupts the other. The two things are happening in parallel, so both are depicted as "ongoing" scenes.
How to Practice on Loopy
Understanding grammar rules is only the first step; truly remembering them requires encountering them again and again in real sentences.
- Leveled Courses: In Loopy's A2 course, was/were + V-ing appears naturally in conversational contexts. You will hear how native speakers weave when and while into everyday stories, helping you memorize the formulas effortlessly within context.
- Shadowing and Speaking: Practice speaking along with sentences like I was waiting when the bus came. Once your mouth gets used to the pronunciation, you won't get stuck when it's your turn to speak.
- Dictionary: When you are unsure about the -ing form of a verb, look it up quickly to check its spelling and pronunciation.
- Forgetting Curve Review: Loopy will schedule a review of today's rule ("when goes with short actions, while goes with long actions") right when you are about to forget it, turning it into true intuition.
You can take it step by step. Just capturing one concept—an ongoing background action interrupted by another event—makes this article entirely worth your time. Practice slowly, you can do it.
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