We were having supper when the phone rang

To express an action which was in progress at a given moment in the past.

Main uses

Table 4

Formation

Unit 5 The Past Continuous (Progressive) Tense

The past continuous tense is formed with the past tense of the auxiliary verb be + the present participle (the infinitive + ing).

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I was working	I was not working	was I working?
you were working	you were not working	were you working?
he/she/it was working	he/she/it was not working	was he/she/it working?
we were working	we were not working	were we working?
you were working	you were not working	were you working?
they were working	they were not working	were they working?

At eight he was having breakfast.

What were you doing at this time yesterday?

2 to express the activity which was in progress during a period of time in the past.

I was painting all day yesterday.

They were quarrelling the whole time they were together.

Often we don’t know whether the action was completed or not:

She was writing her essay last night.

3 The past continuous is often used to refer to a temporary situation.

He was working at home at the time.

Bill was using my office until I came back from America.

4 Parallel actions. We can emphasize the fact that two or more actions were in progress at the same time by using while or at the time (that):

While I was working in the garden, my wife was cooking dinner.

5 The past progressive and the simple past are often used together in a sentence. The past progressive describes a situation or action in progress in the past, and the simple past describes a shorter action or event. The action or situation in progress is often introduced by conjunctions like when, as, just as, while:

Just as I was leaving the house the phone rang.

Jane met Frank Sinatra when she was living in Hollywood.

Or the shorter action can be introduced by when:

We can often use the simple past to describe the action in progress, but the progressive puts more emphasis on the duration of the action, as in the second of these two examples:

While I fumbled for some money, my friend paid the fares.

While I was fumbling for some money, my friend paid the fares.

In the same way, still can emphasize duration:

Jim was talking to his girlfriend on the phone when I came in and was still talking to her when I went out an hour later.

6 Developing or changing situations in the past:

It was getting darker. The wind was rising.

The unemployment rate was increasing.

7 Repeated actions – criticism. ( This use is similar to that of the present progressive).

When he worked here, Roger was always making mistakes.

He was always ringing me up.

She was noisy and brash and constantly trying to attract attention by any means.

8 Just as the present continuous can be used to express a definite future arrangement, the past continuous can express this sort of future in the past:

He was busy packing, for he was leaving that night. (The decision to leave had been made some time previously.)

Why didn’t you tell me you were starting?

He didn’t know how he could inform them that he was not coming.

9 We use the past continuous tense in descriptions. Note the combination of description (past continuous) with narrative (simple past):

A wood fire was burning on the hearth, and a cat was sleeping in front of it. A girl was playing the piano and (was) singing softly to herself. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The girl stopped playing. The cat woke up.

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