Question

Identify the tense used in the below sentence:
They were washing the car.
A. Simple future
B. Simple past
C. Past perfect
D. Past continuous

Answer 1

Hint: Any action that was happening during the time mentioned in the past is categorized as Past Continuous Tense. Past continuous tense consists of mainly three parts – a subject, was/were, an ‘ing’ form of a verb.

Complete step by step answer:
Option A – Simple future is a representation of an action that is going to happen in the future. It is rather a fact that is already known, because otherwise anything that happens in the future is unpredictable in nature.
Example: Sita will be back by 5.30pm.
This is not the right option.
Option B – Simple past tense is something that has happened at a specific time in the past. It may have occurred once and chances are that it is a finished action and not ongoing.
Example: I went to the market yesterday.
This is not the right option.
Option C – Past perfect tense is a relative occurrence, it is followed by another past action. It has a subject, followed by had/had not and a verb form (v1).
Example: She had finished the test before she left the class.
This is not the right option.
Option D – The given sentence had - a subject (they) + were+ an ‘ing’ form (washing). This satisfies the definition of past continuous tense. Hence this is the right option.

So, the correct answer is “Option D”.

Note:
It will always help to see the three parts of past continuous form as mentioned above, to identify the sentences accurately.