How to Use Was to Describe Negative Continuous Action

In this sentence, ‘was’ is used with another verb. We use ‘not’ for negation.

In these sentences, we use ‘was’ as a helping verb with the main verb. We should use the present participle of a verb, which is the -ing form of a verb.

Construction of a sentence using ‘was’

We can construct a sentence as follows:

• I/he/she/it/any singular subject + was + not + present participle (-ing form) of the main verb + other words + full stop (.)

Examples of ‘was’ in a sentence about continuous action

Let’s see how to use ‘was’ in the sentences with some examples.

Here are some examples. The construction is as above.

Have a look-

1. Sarika was not going to her home town.
   (main verb go+ ing)
2. He was not reaching the airport to receive his parents.
   (main verb come+ ing)
3. She was not studying in the college library.
   (main verb study+ ing)
4. He was not teaching philosophy.
   (main verb teach+ ing)
5. It was not eating fruit under a tree.
   (main verb eat+ ing)
6. Shalaka was not observing the painting.
   (main verb observe+ ing)
7. Saurabh was not carrying his tiffin.
   (main verb carry+ ing)
8. A cat was not playing on the roof.
   (main verb play+ ing)
9. She was not stitching a gown.
   (main verb stitch+ ing)
10. He was not collecting postage stamps.
    (main verb collect+ ing)
11. She was not fixing a gas cylinder.
    (main verb fix+ ing)
12. He was not fetching water from a water tanker.
    (main verb fetch + ing)
13. She was not solving an example of mathematics.
    (main verb solve+ ing)
14. He was not calling you yesterday.
    (main verb call+ ing)
15. Dr. Sarika was not diagnosing the patient’s condition.
    (main verb diagnose+ ing)
16. She was not examining the types of plants.
    (main examine+ ing)
17. A dog was not waiting for food.
    (main verb wait+ ing)
18. Rati was not inquiring about a psychiatrist.
    (main verb inquire+ ing)
19. She was not classifying vegetables.
    (main verb classify+ ing)
20. A monkey was not chasing the dog.
    (main verb drink+ ing)
21. The maid was not asking about her salary.
    (main verb chase+ ing)
22. A lion was not licking its wound.
    (main verb lick+ ing)
23. A parrot was not speaking with us.
    (main verb speak+ ing)
24. She was not painting her house.
    (main verb paint+ ing)
25. He was not choosing a dress for his son.
    (main verb choose+ ing)
26. Rati was not clarifying the issue.
    (main verb clarify+ ing)
27. Soham was not thinking of joining the party.
    (main verb think+ ing)
28. Parth was not decided to work from Monday.
    (main verb decide+ ing)
29. Rashi was not developing an educational website.
    (main verb develop+ ing)
30. She was not packing a gift for her brother.
    (main verb pack+ ing)

Related Lessons-

1. Use of were
2. Were- negative sentences
3. Use of was: continuous
4.                           questions
5.                        affirmative answers
6.                       negative answers 

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