A verb shows the action in the past continuous tense
In Past Continuous Tense, the verb shows that the past action continued for some time.
Like continuous present tense, we can call continuous past tense as imperfect or progressive past tense.
In this sentence, the auxiliary verb ‘was /were’ is used with the present participle.
Use of auxiliary verb in the past continuous tense
The use of an auxiliary verb is according to the subject of a sentence.
In this tense, we use the auxiliary verb in the past form.
In sentence-
- For the subject ‘I’, we use an auxiliary verb ‘was’ (past form of am).
- If the subject is ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, or any third person with a singular noun, we use an auxiliary verb ‘was’ (past form of is).
- We use an auxiliary verb ‘were’ (past form of are) for the subject ‘we’, ‘you’, ‘they’ or any plural noun.
- For the subject ‘you’, we use ‘were’ for singular as well as a plural noun.
We shall take an example with three persons.
Examples of Continuous Past Tense
Person Singular Number Plural Number
1st I was playing football. We were playing football.
2nd You were playing football. You were playing football.
3rd He was playing football.
She was playing football.
They were playing football.
It was playing football.
You may also like the related links given below.
| Present Tense |
| Simple Present |
| Present Continuous |
| Perfect Present |
| Perfect Continuous Present |
| Uses of Present Tense |
