Past Continuous | 1st Year Bac Lesson

We use the Past Continuous for an action that was in progress at a specific moment in the past — it had already started, and it hadn’t finished yet at that moment.

WAS / WERE + VERB-ING

“I was watching a film at 8 o’clock last night.”
“They were playing football when it started to rain.”

I / He / She / It → WAS + verb-ing
You / We / They → WERE + verb-ing

“She was dancing at the party.”
“We were watching a concert online.”

This is the most important use for this unit — one longer action (Past Continuous) is interrupted by a shorter action (Simple Past).

“I was playing video games when my phone rang.” (longer action + interruption)
“She was reading a book when the power went out.”

We often use “when” before the shorter, interrupting action, and “while” before the longer, background action.

“While I was watching TV, my friend called.”

Negative: WASN’T / WEREN’T + VERB-ING
“I wasn’t paying attention when the film started.”

Question: WAS / WERE + SUBJECT + VERB-ING?
“Were you watching the match last night?”

Don’t confuse Simple Past and Past Continuous. Use Past Continuous for the longer, “background” action — use Simple Past for the shorter action that interrupts it.

❌ “I watched TV when the phone rang.” (unclear which action is longer)
✅ “I was watching TV when the phone rang.” (watching TV = background, phone rang = interruption)