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### The Past Continuous Tense

To talk about actions that were ongoing in the past (like "was writing") or former habits (like "used to play"), use the past continuous tense. 

Create this tense by combining the present continuous suffix (**-ıyor**, **-iyor**, **-uyor**, **-üyor**) with the past tense suffix **-du**. Because the last vowel of the present continuous suffix is always *o*, the past suffix attached to it will always be **-du**.

This gives us the combined ending **-ıyordu** (or **-iyordu**, **-uyordu**, **-üyordu**).

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### Ongoing Actions and Past Habits

You can use this tense to set the scene for a story, describing what was happening at a specific moment in the past. It also works perfectly for talking about nostalgic routines or how things used to be done before modern technology.

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When talking about a sequence of past habits or a step-by-step process in the past, just use the past continuous ending for each verb.

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The past continuous tense (-iyordu)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

Question	Answer
typewriter	daktilo
The man was writing a letter with this typewriter.	Adam bu daktilo ile mektup yazıyordu.
key (button)	tuş
to press	basmak
The secretary was pressing every key hard on the typewriter.	Sekreter daktiloda her tuşa sert basıyordu.
camera	kamera
to record	kaydetmek
He was pressing the red button and the camera was recording.	O kırmızı tuşa basıyordu ve kamera kaydediyordu.
album	albüm
My father was recording us for an album with the old camera.	Babam eski kamera ile bir albüm için bizi kaydediyordu.
cassette	kaset
The child was looking at the album and listening to a cassette.	Çocuk albüme bakıyordu ve kaset dinliyordu.
to wind	sarmak
The student was winding the cassette with a pen.	Öğrenci kaseti bir kalem ile sarıyordu.
The child was waiting to wind the cassette.	Çocuk kaseti sarmak için bekliyordu.
vinyl record	plak
He was playing both cassettes and vinyl records.	O hem kaset hem plak çalıyordu.
The man was looking for a vinyl record for a new album.	Adam yeni bir albüm için plak arıyordu.
to dial	çevirmek
The woman was dialing a number on the phone.	Kadın telefonda bir numara çeviriyordu.
She was first dialing the number, then pressing the button.	O önce numarayı çeviriyordu, sonra tuşa basıyordu.
The man was looking for a camera because it was necessary to shoot a film.	Adam kamera arıyordu çünkü film çekmek lazımdı.
She was listening to neither a vinyl record nor a cassette.	O ne plak ne kaset dinliyordu.