Formation of the past continuous
 
Positive sentences
Subject + was/were + verb(ing)
They were talking about her when she walked into the room.
Negative sentences
Subject + was/were + not + verb(ing)
 
Subject + wasn't/weren't + verb(ing)
He asked me why I was not having dinner at the hotel.
  
  
We weren't playing football when the earthquake began.
Questions
Was/were + subject + verb(ing)
Was she going to the theatre when it started raining?
 
Exceptions in spelling
 
Final 'e' is dropped (but: 'ee' is not changed)                                
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come – coming   
(but: agree – agreeing)                         
After a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled
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sit – sitting
'L' as a final consonant after a vowel is doubled (in British English)
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travel – travelling
Final 'ie' becomes 'y'
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lie – lying
 
Signal words: 'when', 'while', 'as long as'.