The past continuous tense
To talk about what you were doing at a specific moment in the past, you can use the past continuous tense. Just like the present continuous, it is formed by combining the verb estar with a gerund (an -ando or -iendo word).
To make it past tense, simply use the imperfect tense of estar:
| Pronoun | Imperfect of estar |
|---|---|
| yo | estaba |
| tú | estabas |
| él / ella / usted | estaba |
| nosotros / nosotras | estábamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | estabais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | estaban |
Let's see how we use this to describe ongoing actions during a past emergency:
| Yesterday afternoon, we were evacuating the office. | Ayer por la tarde estábamos evacuando la oficina. |
| The alarm was ringing in the dark hallway. | La alarma estaba sonando en el pasillo oscuro. |
| The director was shouting in panic. | La directora estaba gritando de pánico. |
Describing scenes and multiple actions
The past continuous is especially useful for setting the scene in a story or describing multiple actions that were happening at the exact same time.
| The alarm was ringing and I was trembling with fear. | La alarma estaba sonando y yo estaba temblando de miedo. |
| The firefighters were putting out the office fire. | Los bomberos estaban apagando el incendio de la oficina. |
| The doctor was saving the patient and evacuating the floor. | La médica estaba salvando al paciente y evacuando la planta. |
You can also use it alongside other descriptions to explain why people were acting a certain way or what they were trying to accomplish.
| You were trembling because you were very frightened. | Estabais temblando porque estabais muy asustados. |
| The boss was looking for the fire extinguisher to save the documents. | La jefa estaba buscando el extintor para salvar los documentos. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io