The Past Continuous: How and When to Use It | 6 Practical Examples

[@Slimmshaady]

I used what I leaned to answer your questions and it was really fun to me.I appreciate it. You're such a great teacher.❤

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

That's fantastic! I'm thrilled that you practiced the lesson and it was fun. And thank you for the kind comment.

[@paammota1016]

Hi Annemarie. My husband and I really love all the lesões that you give. Today we watched six situations to use past continuos. We would like to suggest that while you are explaining situation 1, the title of this situation is freezed on the screen until you start the next situation. When you start to explain the situation 2, you would pin the title of the situation number 2 to screen until the beginning of the situation number 3 and so on. This procedure will help us to memorize better all the lesões. Thank you very much. Julio and Patrícia (from Brazil).

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you so much for the kind comment. I’m thrilled to know my lessons are helpful to you! And thank you for the suggestion. I will consider this for future lessons.

[@anotherperson9637]

Thanks a million. Hello from Kazakhstan

[@habibehalizadeh5912]

By the time I was in my mid-30s, I travelled to India. The sun was shining brightly and the people were behaving generously. When I was a kid, I was constantly complaining about everything. So I found that it was annoying me then I decided to take some advice and it was useful. By the age of 18, I was planning on becoming an actress. But my mind has changed toward taking part in the school's exam and going to the engineering department . Thanks 😊

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you for sharing your practice.

[@habibehalizadeh5912]

☘️

[@deisibernardi9583]

My last vacation was in Lisbon, and the first day was a beautiful sunny day. I was in love with the city and walked a lot to know more than I could because I would be busy working the following days. About habit, last year I usually studied English more frequently. This is a habit I want to return to my daily routine this year.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thanks for sharing! It sounds like a great vacation in Lisbon. Now that you have these sentences, let's look at how we might use the past continuous form. For example: "My last vacation was in Lisbon. And the on the first day, the sun _____ shining." "At this time last year, I _____ studying English more frequently." How would you complete those sentences?

[@riamojado8483]

@@Speakconfidentenglish i

[@JoseMartinez-il3ib]

I love your pronuntiation, Thanks for lessons 😊

[@ibrahimissaissa6627]

Thanks for your efforts beautiful teacher

[@pratapchandramajhi4485]

A brilliant lesson by a brilliant teacher !

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you for the kind comments!

[@humaunkabir6717]

You're the best teacher to me.

[@FarinaJanbaz]

Your expression was very excellent.

[@junjiemao3689]

I was going to watch a movie or TV for english learning until I saw your updates so here I am.

[@elenat.3848]

Thank you, it was very useful

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Glad it was helpful!

[@eugeniamanea]

Thank you, teacher!

[@xyzxvytrf]

Thank you so much.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

You're welcome!

[@Neoye-n9w]

It's very helpful,thank youso much

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sameetramrakhiani9774]

It's a handy grammar lesson. Thank you for sharing this!

[@lmachouche3862]

Very helpful Indeed. Thank you so much!

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

You're very welcome.

[@djoudernadia1641]

Thank you so much dear for this Amazing vedio 💓

[@shgreen]

Thank you so much. could you please explain difference between "used to" and 4 usage of past continuous?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

This would make a great topic for a future lesson. Thank you for suggesting it!

[@ayeshaattariaayeshabibi]

Thank you😊😊😊

[@subhasmitapradhan5089]

Hello mam, so deeply explained,thank u so much mam

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

You're welcome.

[@abhishekzen5993]

Thanks

[@mostafahassan5021]

Thanks for the amazing lesson.

[@raosahadat9731]

Thank for the such a amazing videos 😊

[@sunleight]

It was my aha moment about past continuous tense although I thought I knew the tense. Thank you, Annemarie.

[@jessapanita4153]

Teaches nice. Looks beautiful too. Thank you

[@mariaspringer356]

At first thank you for sharing this! Second need too repeat this! Thirth: Usually as I was a child, I was often in the forest with my dad. I liked the Nature as that what it was. We never needed Cars. It was allowed fot us to be in the mountains, in the homevillage of my mother, in the country of Salzburg. Thank you dear Annemarie!

[@Bertinamaestratriqui]

Professor do you have podcast??? I love your content.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you for the question. I do not have a podcast. I do release a new lesson every Wednesday on KZbin. And you can find out how to learn with me in my online courses at speakconfidentenglish.com/courses

[@munishchhabra8196]

excellent

[@miladjalali3944]

Hi. Thanks for the video. I've got two questions for you regarding use number 3. Shouldn't we use the past perfect continuous to emphasize the duration of an action in the past? How is 'We were working on this project nonstop all year' different from 'We had been working on this project nonstop all year'? Next question. Does this use number 3 have a present version? Or should we use present perfect continuous instead? From my understanding: We've been working on this project nonstop since the beginning of the year. (correct) We're working on this project nonstop since the beginning of the year. (incorrect)

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Hi, thank you for the questions. These are very thoughtful, observant questions. Indeed, the past continuous and the past perfect continuous share many similarities (I'd love to do a future lesson on this!). Both can be used to emphasize duration for different purposes when another event occurs in the same sentence, for example: We * were working* on this project for months when the budget was suddenly cut. We *had been working* on this project for months and were nearly finished before the budget was cut so we were able to complete it without consequence. Both of those sentences have another action that occurred or some consequence. However, when used alone as in, "We *were working* on this project nonstop *all year*" the use of the past continuous simply emphasizes the length of time with the inclusion of the adverb phrase 'all year.' As for your second question: 1. We've been working on this project nonstop since the beginning of the year. (correct) --> Grammatically this is correct, however, it changes the meaning. It means the work isn't finished yet. 2. We're working on this project nonstop since the beginning of the year. (incorrect) --> Yes, this is incorrect. We cannot use 'since' with the present continuous. instead, we could simply say "We're working on this project" which means it's something happening now.

[@miladjalali3944]

Thank you, Annemarie, for taking the time to give such a detailed answer. You're awesome!@@Speakconfidentenglish

[@thilakasirispathiranage9981]

I was wondering how things play out!

[@Azu-oe5rp]

My last vacation was in Cox's Bazar. First day of my vacation was 1st December 2022. It was an amazing day and I enjoyed it so much. The sun was shining on the Sand that made me very impressed. When I was a school going boy I was swimming in the river regularly as I lived in a village. But at present there is no scop like that. Last year I was planning to practice my singing in free time but after few days I decided to learn English as it is most important for my profession. Please correct me. Thank you.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Wonderful examples with: - the sun was shining - I was planning With your second example, I see the focus is a past habit. We use the past continuous to talk about past habits that are typically annoying or bad. And we tend to include adverbs such as 'always' or 'constantly.' Can you think of an old bad/annoying habit?

[@Azu-oe5rp]

Thank you for your kind interpretation .I'm really blessed.

[@brownlily5034]

I wish you a happy day💐

[@et7823]

Thanks 🙏🙏 Which one is correct? I came on bus or by bus?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

I came by bus vs. I came on [the] bus. Both are used however "I came by bus" is a better choice to indicate a mode of transport.

[@et7823]

@@Speakconfidentenglish thank you so much 🙏

[@inspirewithravisapkal5937]

Dear ma'am Make video on all tense like this

[@et7823]

At the restaurant or in the restaurant which one is correct?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thanks for the question. I have a lesson on the prepositions at/in/on which you might find helpful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpa1lqSVbciVj68

[@MsMajoranna]

When I arrived to the birtday party they were dancing all around the garden..🎉

[@hadihassanattari1595]

Hi miss In your very last example ,a very last sentence was" we decided we'll go somewhere closer to home " Don't you think "would " is a better option than"will" or we can use will also.i am a bit confused .

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thanks for the question. In the last sentence, the decision has been made and we have a plan. The plan is we will go somewhere closer to home.

[@karimas8022]

what about when you you put two dates: for example: between 1990 and 1995 he was studying at the university of Boston. is it more correct to use the past continuous or the past simple ( he studied) Can you answer me, please?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Yes, we could use the past continuous with that timeframe. If we make it clear that 1990 is the start date and 1995 is the finish date, then the past simple would be best. For example, "From 1990 to 1995, he studied at the University of Boston."

[@Cabdiqadir-d7o]

Thank you very much teacher of teachers for accurate and sweet explanations but your writing is invisible very small

[@ГлебГлеб-к5с]

Hi) 06:18 - can we reverse it that way: 'When I was talking to my friend they announced the results ' 11:41 - why not 'all the time we were living there, the neighbours...'

[@ГлебГлеб-к5с]

P.S. I know about the 'While + past continues' form, but can we use 'When + past continues'?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thanks for the questions. 1) Yes, we could reverse the sentence in that way. 2) 'All the time' indicates every time whereas 'the entire time' indicates an entire duration of time.

[@ГлебГлеб-к5с]

​@@Speakconfidentenglish Thank you I misquoted your example. My question was about using progressive form. Let me rephrase: Why not "The entire time we were living there.." I mean here we have 2 simultaneous actions: our living, and our neighbours being loud Kind regards

[@hayarajput6306]

I was waiting for you for an hour.. .is this correct

[@sameetramrakhiani9774]

When I was a university student, I preferred to chat with friends until the midnight.

[@albertoalbertoni9529]

🔝

[@nirajthakor9748]

7:28 Here i literally didn't understand what yoy mean by saying BEFORE and AFTER?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

I'm sorry to hear that it was confusing. When we use the continuous form, it can indicate that an action was in process before 1 thing began and it continued even after an event/action took place.

[@nirajthakor9748]

@@Speakconfidentenglish Ohhhh thank you so much ma'am! ✨ Mam I'm in trouble with unreal past situation how to use WISH and Past subjunctive mood.. 1) I wish it started raining before we leave from here (I'm telling this to myself in *SUMMER* because i don't want to go) 2) I wish it would start raining (the situation i told above) 3) I wish i spoke English fluently 4) I wish i could/would speak English fluently Now here 3 and 4 how could we differenciate with COULD and Past subjunctive? Because I will have ability only when at least i know or should know about some grammar or structures so should i use PAST SUBJUNCTIVE? but why does people tend to use COULD..I wish i could do, i wish could speak they just throw an excuse ABILITY without thinking anything. 5) I wish i didn't eat chocolates like this 6) I wish i wouldn't eat chocolates like this Now here dilemma is till now i believe that we can't use WOULD with ourselves or one who is subject himself so we can never use WOULD like *(I wish wish wish.. i would stop smoking) ???*

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you. This would make an excellent topic for a future lesson. I've noted this down. 😊

[@nirajthakor9748]

@@Speakconfidentenglish Thank you mam! I will be waiting for this lesson 🙌 hope so next one will be on this! 💫

[@sameetramrakhiani9774]

I am sorry for replying to your text a bit late this time, actually; I was watching the match with my friends that I completely lost track of time.

[@sameetramrakhiani9774]

I was taking a shower when the burglar broke into our house, and stole some of our precious stuff.

[@thilakasirispathiranage9981]

All days I was wondering how come a decisive person has ended up with the way engendered controversy.

[@thilakasirispathiranage9981]

The past were full of terrible and disappointment events I'm not relish hurting any one by reminding all.