Past Continuous

was / were + -ing is the past continuous (+)   I / he/she/it wascooking We/you/they wereplaying (?) Am I working? cooking? playing? Is he /she /it Are we /you /they (-) I /he/she/it was notcooking I/he/she/it wasn’t cooking We/you/they were not playing We/you/they weren’t playing

We use Past Continuous

1 to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time

Examples:

· I was watching TV when she called.

· When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.

· While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.

· What were you doing when the earthquake started?

2 to describe an action happening at a specific time

Examples:

· Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.

· At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.

· Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work.

3 to express the idea that both actions were happening at the same time

Examples:

· I was studying while he was making dinner.

· While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.

· Were you listening while he was talking?

4 with a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at a particular time in the past

Example:

· When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss was yelling directions, and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service.

Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Continuous Tense
(+) I/ we/ you / they He / she / it had driven/gone / worked (?) Had I/ we/ you / they he / she / it driven/gone / worked? (-) I/ we/ you / they He / she / it hadn’t driven/gone / worked	(+) I/ we/ you /they He / she / it had been driving /going/ working (?) Had I/ we/ you / they he / she / it   been driving / going / working? (-) I/ we/ you / they He / she / it hadn’t   been driving /going / working
We use Past Perfect 1 to express the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past. Examples: · I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai. · I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet. 2 to show that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past (non-continuous verbs). Examples: · We had had that car for ten years before it broke down. · By the time Alex finished his studies, he had been in London for over eight years.	We use Past Perfect Continuous 1 to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. Examples: · They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived. · She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business. 2 to show cause and effect if the action happened before another one. Examples: · Jason was tired because he had been jogging. · Sam gained weight because he had been overeating.