Past Continuous for Interrupted Actions

Past Continuous For Interrupted Actions

The Past Continuous tense is used to describe an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past, but was interrupted by another action.

Key Uses:

• To describe an action that was interrupted by another action:
  • I was studying for my exam when my friend called me. (studying was interrupted by the friend's call)
  • They were having dinner when the power went out. (having dinner was interrupted by the power outage)
• To show that one action was in progress when another action started:
  • I was watching TV when my brother walked in. (watching TV was in progress when my brother walked in)
  • She was cooking dinner when the phone rang. (cooking dinner was in progress when the phone rang)

Form:

• Subject + was/were + verb-ing
  • I was studying
  • They were having
  • She was cooking

Common Time Expressions:

• When
• While
• As
• Just as

Example Sentences:

• I was writing a letter when the phone rang.
• She was taking a bath when the doorbell rang.
• They were playing soccer when it started to rain.

Contrast with Simple Past:

• Simple Past is used for completed actions in the past:
  • I studied for my exam. (completed action)
  • They had dinner. (completed action)
• Past Continuous is used for actions that were in progress at a specific point in the past:
  • I was studying for my exam when my friend called me. (action in progress)

Past Continuous for Interrupted Actions

• Describes an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past but was interrupted by another action.
• Used to show that one action was in progress when another action started.

Key Uses

• Describe an action that was interrupted by another action:
  • Studying was interrupted by the friend's call in "I was studying for my exam when my friend called me."
  • Having dinner was interrupted by the power outage in "They were having dinner when the power went out."
• Show that one action was in progress when another action started:
  • Watching TV was in progress when my brother walked in in "I was watching TV when my brother walked in."
  • Cooking dinner was in progress when the phone rang in "She was cooking dinner when the phone rang."

Form

• Subject + was/were + verb-ing
• Examples: I was studying, They were having, She was cooking

Common Time Expressions

• When
• While
• As
• Just as

Contrast with Simple Past

• Simple Past is used for completed actions in the past:
  • Completed action: I studied for my exam.
  • Completed action: They had dinner.
• Past Continuous is used for actions that were in progress at a specific point in the past:
  • Action in progress: I was studying for my exam when my friend called me.

Learn about the Past Continuous vs simple past tense and how it's used to describe actions that were interrupted by another action in the past.