Past continuous

Positive form	Negative form	Question form
I / he / she / it was travelling	I / he / she / it wasn’t travelling	Was I / he / she / it travelling?
we / you / they were travelling	we / you / they weren’t travelling	Were we / you / they travelling?

The Past Continuous is used:

1 For an action which was in progress at a stated time in the past. We do not

mention when the action started or finished.

At eight o’clock last night I was watching TV.

2 For an action which was in progress when another action interrupted it.

We use the Past Continuous for the action in progress (longer action) and

the Past Simple for the action which interrupted it (shorter action).

We were walking in the park when it started to rain.

3 To describe the atmosphere, the setting, etc. in the introduction to a story.

One beautiful morning Ben was riding through the forest. The sun was

shining and the birds were singing.

The Past Continuous is used with the following time expressions: when,

while, as, all day/night/morning, etc.

Past Perfect

Positive form	Negative form	Question form
I / you / he / she / it / we/ they’d (=had) finished	I / you / he / she / it / we/ / they hadn’t finished	Had I / you / he / she / it / we / they finished?

1 We use the Past Perfect for an action which happened before another past

action or before a stated time in the past.

When I arrived, the meeting had already started.

2 For an action which finished in the past and whose result was visible in the

past.

He was happy. He had signed an important contract.

Note: The Past Perfect is the past equivalent of the Present Perfect.

He had fixed an old armchair. It looked brand new.

3 We do not normally use the Past Perfect when the sequence of events in

the past is clear.

I had a shower and went to bed.

The Past perfect is used with the following time expression: before, after,

already, for, since, just, till/until, when, by, by the time, never, etc.

Past Perfect Continuous

Positive form	Negative form	Question form
I/you/he/she/it/we/they’d (=had) been working	I/you/he/she/it/we/they hadn’t been working	Had I/you/he/she/it/we/ they been working?

1 We use the Past Perfect Continuous to put emphasis on the duration of an

action which started and finished in the past before another past action or a stated time in the past, usually with since and for.

He had been working for the company for twenty years before he retired.

2 For an action which lasted for some time in the past and whose result was

visible in the past.

He was very tired. He had been writing a report all night.

Note: The Past perfect continuous is the past equivalent of the Present Perfect Continuous.

He had been waiting for hours, so he was bored.

The Past Perfect Continuous is used with the following time expressions:

for, since, how long, before, until, etc.