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CoCap
Tenses · CEFR A2 · Everyday
Something that was in progress when another thing happened.
The shape
was / were + verb-ing
Set the scene for a story.
In Hindi
कोई काम चल ही रहा था, तभी दूसरी बात हुई।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
I was go to the market. | I was going to the market. After was/were the verb takes -ing. |
Easiest first. Every sentence is authored, with the Hindi it comes from.
I was waiting for you.
मैं तुम्हारा इंतज़ार कर {रहा|रही} {था|थी}।
It was raining outside.
बाहर बारिश हो रही थी।
He was waiting for me there.
वह वहाँ मेरा इंतज़ार कर रहा था।
The children were playing outside.
बच्चे बाहर खेल रहे थे।
We were eating at that time.
हम उस समय खाना खा रहे थे।
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
Past Continuous is a CEFR A2 structure — the everyday band — and it belongs to tenses. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
Practise the past continuous →