Past Continuous

The Past Continuous Tense





I was playing handball.
They were playing tennis.
We use the past continuous to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but had not finished.

I started doing I was doing I finished doing

past past now
The verbs of sensation, verbs that indicate mental states and verbs that indicate states or qualities are not used with this tense.
He loved the Psychiatric Nurse. (not ‘I was loving Ali’)
We tasted the soup. (not ‘were tasting’)
Mohammed owned this land. (not ‘was owning’)
I was playing handball.
They were playing tennis.
We use the past continuous to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but had not finished.

I started doing I was doing I finished doing

past past now
The verbs of sensation, verbs that indicate mental states and verbs that indicate states or qualities are not used with this tense.
He loved the Psychiatric Nurse. (not ‘I was loving Ali’)
We tasted the soup. (not ‘were tasting’)
Mohammed owned this land. (not ‘was owning’)