O past continuous descreve uma ação que estava em curso em algum momento do passado — já havia começado, mas ainda não havia terminado. Pense nisso como uma foto tirada no meio de uma ação: At nine o'clock, she was studying. They were sleeping when I arrived.

A forma é simples: was ou were + a forma em -ing do verbo principal.

Fórmula rápida: sujeito + was / were + verbo**-ing** → I was working. They were talking.

Como formar o past continuous

O auxiliar é sempre was ou were — a mesma escolha do Past simple: was / were. Em seguida, adiciona-se a forma em -ing do verbo principal.

Sujeito Auxiliar Forma em -ing Exemplo
I was working I was working late.
he / she / it was reading She was reading a book.
you were talking You were talking loudly.
we / they were sleeping They were sleeping.

A regra para was / were é sempre a mesma: I, he, she, it → was; you, we, they → were. Isso também se aplica a sujeitos nominais — ✅ The baby was sleeping, ✅ The children were sleeping.

Ortografia da forma em -ing

São as mesmas regras do present continuous:

Se o verbo termina em… Regra Exemplo
a maioria dos verbos adicionar -ing work → working, play → playing
-e eliminar o -e, adicionar -ing make → making, have → having
verbo monossílabo terminado em consoante–vogal–consoante dobrar a consoante final (não w/x/y) run → running, sit → sitting, fix → fixing
-ie trocar por -y, adicionar -ing lie → lying, die → dying

Uma ação em curso em um momento do passado

O past continuous serve para dizer o que estava acontecendo em um momento específico do passado. A expressão de tempo indica um instante dentro da ação:

  • At ten o'clock last night, I was watching TV.
  • This time yesterday, we were flying over the ocean.
  • When you called, she was having a shower.

Ações interrompidas: past continuous + when + past simple

Este é um dos usos mais comuns. Uma ação mais longa (past continuous) estava em curso quando ocorreu um evento mais breve (past simple). O evento pode ou não interromper a ação — em I was cooking when the phone rang, a pessoa pode ter continuado cozinhando:

  • I was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
  • She was walking home when it started to rain.
  • We were watching the match when the power went out.

O past continuous pinta o plano de fundo; o past simple marca o evento. As orações podem ser invertidas — quando a oração com when vem primeiro, geralmente se adiciona uma vírgula:

  • When the phone rang, I was cooking dinner.

No português do Brasil, estar + gerúndio (estava cozinhando) costuma corresponder bem ao past continuous inglês: I was cooking when the phone rang equivale a estava cozinhando quando o telefone tocou. Ainda assim, o inglês marca essa distinção de forma mais sistemática; em português, às vezes usamos o pretérito imperfeito simples (cozinhava) com o mesmo sentido.

Duas ações simultâneas

Use o past continuous nas duas partes para mostrar duas ações acontecendo em paralelo:

  • While she was studying, he was cooking.
  • They were talking while I was trying to sleep.

When e while

Essas duas palavras seguem padrões úteis:

  • ✅ While I was sleeping, the cat came in. (while + ação de fundo)
  • ✅ I was sleeping when the cat came in. (when + o evento que interrompe)
  • ✅ When she arrived, we were eating dinner. (when antes do past simple também é correto)

while sinaliza duração e se encaixa naturalmente com o past continuous; when costuma introduzir o evento breve no past simple. Na prática, as duas palavras aparecem antes de orações no past continuous — When I was cooking, the phone rang é perfeitamente natural.

Forma negativa

Adicione not após was / were. As formas contraídas são muito comuns no inglês cotidiano:

  • I wasn't listening. (was not)
  • They weren't expecting you. (were not)
  • It wasn't raining when I left.

Perguntas

Coloque was / were antes do sujeito:

  • Was she sleeping?
  • Were they waiting for us?
  • What were you doing last night?
  • Who was he talking to?

As respostas curtas repetem was ou were:

  • "Were you working?" — "Yes, I was." / "No, I wasn't."

Verbos que geralmente não são usados no continuous

Alguns verbos descrevem estados em vez de ações — know, believe, love, want, understand. Quando têm sentido de estado, costumam ser usados no past simple, não no continuous:

  • ❌ I was knowing the answer. → ✅ I knew the answer.
  • ❌ She was wanting to leave. → ✅ She wanted to leave.

Alguns desses verbos podem aparecer no continuous com um sentido diferente, mais ativo (I was seeing a doctor, She was thinking about it), mas isso é para estudar mais adiante.

Erros frequentes

  • ❌ I was cook dinner. → ✅ I was cooking dinner. (falta a forma em -ing)
  • ❌ I cooking when you called. → ✅ I was cooking when you called. (falta was / were)
  • ❌ What was you doing? → ✅ What were you doing? (you sempre com were)
  • ❌ While she reading, I was writing. → ✅ While she was reading, I was writing. (falta was / were antes de -ing)
  • ❌ I was knowing the answer. → ✅ I knew the answer. (verbos de estado geralmente não usam o continuous)

Verificação rápida

Past continuous ou past simple?

  1. At midnight, they ____ (sleep).
  2. I ____ (have) a shower when you ____ (knock).
  3. While she ____ (read), he ____ (cook) dinner.
  4. ____ you ____ (listen) when the teacher explained it?
Ver respostas
  1. were sleeping   2. was having … knocked   3. was reading … was cooking   4. Were … listening

Pontos-chave

  • O past continuous = was / were + verbo-ing — descreve uma ação em curso no passado.
  • Usa-se para: uma ação em um momento específico do passado; uma ação de fundo interrompida por um evento no past simple; duas ações simultâneas.
  • while encaixa-se naturalmente antes de uma parte no past continuous; when costuma introduzir o evento breve no past simple.
  • Negação: wasn't / weren't + -ing. Perguntas: Was / Were + sujeito + -ing?
  • Verbos de estado (know, want, love…) usam geralmente o past simple no seu sentido de estado, não o continuous.