Past continuous tense (active and passive voice)

Past continuous tense (active and passive voice)

This article helps you learn how to write sentences in the active and passive voice of the past continuous tense, and how to change a sentence in the active voice to the passive voice of the past continuous tense.

Past Continuous tense active and passive voice

In past continuous tense, also known as past progressive tense, we talk about actions that were happening in the past at a specific time.

When to use the active voice in Past continuous tense?

The Past Continuous active voice is used when you want to focus on the person who was doing the action in the past. When you want to focus and talk about the perpetrator of the action, write the sentence in the active voice.

Structure: Subject + was/were + V1+ing + object

Examples:

• I was training Megha yesterday.
• Sam was talking the class.
• Jon was riding your bike in the morning.
• They were playing cricket when I reached there.
• We weren’t doing anything in your absence.
• The boys were cooking food last night.

When to use the passive voice in Past continuous tense?

Past Continuous passive voice is used when you want to focus on the person or thing that was receiving the action in the past; that it was acting. When the receiver of the action (object of the verb) is more important than the doer himself, write the sentence in the passive voice of the Past Continuous.

Structure: Object+ was/were + being + V3 + (by + subject)

Past continuous tense passive voice examples:

• The students were being taught in a weird way (by him).
• The match was being played at a huge stadium.
• I was being told to invest in that company.
• Those guys were being beaten brutally last night.

NOTE: The author of the action in the passive voice is not mentioned or is separated in parentheses because it is less important or is already understood in the passive voice. But he can always add the subject (doer) if he wants.

Active and passive voice of past continuous tense

Active and passive voice of past continuous tense

Active voice:	Subject	was/were	V1+ing	object
Passive voice:	object	was/were + being	V3	(by + subject)

 

• Active: I was training Megha yesterday.
  (focusing on the doer of the action ‘I’)
• Passive: Megha was being trained (by me) yesterday.
  (focusing on the object that was receiving the action ‘Megha’)

More examples:

• Active: I was taking the class at that time.
• Passive: The class was being taken at that time (by me).
• Active: He was eating dinner at 9 pm.
• Passive: Dinner was being eaten at 9 pm by him.
• Active: My parents were watching that movie.
• Passive: That movie was being watched by my parents.
• Active: Jon was editing my video yesterday.
• Passive: My video was being edited yesterday by Jon.
• Active: Some boys were harassing your sister.
• Passive: Your sister was being harassed (by some boys).
• Active: They were discussing something in the class.
• Passive: Something was being discussed in the class (by them).
• Active: Jyoti was copying the answers.
• Passive: The answers were being copied (by Jyoti).
• Active: Everyone was hugging the kids at the party.
• Passive: The kids were being hugged at the party by everyone.
• Active: They were not feeding the cats.
• Passive: The cats weren’t being fed by them.

Negative sentences (Active and voice voice)

Active and passive voice of past continuous tense (negative sentences)

Active voice:	Subject	was/were	not	V1+ing	object
Passive voice:	object	was/were + not	being	V3	(by + subject)

Examples:

• Active: Monu was not doing the assignment.
• Passive: The assignment was not being done (by Monu).
• Active: They were not helping us.
• Passive: We were not being helped (by them).
• Active: We were not recording the video.
• Passive: The video was not being recorded by us.
• Active: She was not buying anything at the store.
• Passive: Nothing was being bought at the store (by her).

Nota: Si ‘cualquier cosa’ es el objeto del verbo en voz activa de una oración negativa, cambiará a ‘nada’ en voz pasiva.

Interrogative sentences (Active and voice voice)

Active and passive voice of past continuous tense (interrogative sentences)

Active voice:	Question words (if any)	was/were	subject	V1+ing	object?
Passive voice:	Question words	was/were	object	being + V3	(by + subject)

Examples:

• Active: Were you calling me last night?
• Passive: Was I being called by you last night?
• Active: Was he not helping you?
• Passive: Were you not being helped by him?
• Active: When were you taking the class?
• Passive: When was the class being taken by you?
• Active: Where were they making videos?
• Passive: Where were the videos being made by them?

Practice!

1. Mox was hitting me with a bat.
2. Someone was using you.
3. They were not helping her.
4. Why were you beating that boy?
5. Was he calling me last night?
6. I was making the next lesson.

Answers:

1. I was being hit with a bat by Mox.
2. You were being used by someone.
3. She was not being helped by them.
4. Why was that boy being beaten by you?
5. Was I being called last night by him?
6. The next lesson was being made by me.