The core idea — the slow tide coming in
Think of a tide coming in. It doesn't happen all at once. You don't notice it change in a single moment. But over time, step by step, inch by inch, the water rises. The beach gets smaller. The rocks disappear. By the time you notice, everything has shifted.
This is the third use of the Past Continuous: describing something that was gradually changing, developing, or transforming over time. Not a sudden event. Not a completed action. A slow, continuous process of becoming something different.
The key signal is a direction adverb or gradual change verb — words like slowly, gradually, steadily, increasingly, rapidly combined with verbs like get, become, grow, rise, fall, improve, worsen, increase, decrease, spread, fade, darken, develop.
The change unfolds continuously over time:
The verbs of gradual change
This use of the Past Continuous is closely associated with a specific group of verbs that describe movement, change, or development:
These verbs describe a direction of movement or transformation. The Past Continuous emphasises that this movement was in progress — actively unfolding — over time.
How is it formed?
The situation was getting worse. · Temperatures were rising rapidly.
Her confidence was growing with every performance.
Affirmative sentences
With a gradual change verb
- The situation was getting worse by the day, and nobody seemed to notice.
- The river was rising dangerously after three days of heavy rain.
- It was becoming increasingly clear that the project would fail.
- The temperature was falling rapidly as the sun went down.
- Her confidence was growing with each performance she gave on stage.
With a direction adverb
Direction adverbs make the gradual nature of the change explicit and natural-sounding.
- The economy was gradually recovering in the years after the recession.
- Tensions were steadily growing in the weeks before the election.
- The patient was slowly improving, but the doctors remained cautious.
- House prices were rapidly increasing in the years before the crash.
- The sound was gently fading as the orchestra brought the piece to a close.
Negative sentences
The situation wasn't improving — it was getting worse.
Tensions weren't growing — the mood was surprisingly calm.
- Her health wasn't improving — it was declining further.
- The river wasn't rising — the water level was actually falling.
- House prices weren't increasing in that region — they had been flat for years.
- The fire wasn't spreading — the firefighters had it under control.
- The team weren't performing better — they were getting worse every week.
Interrogative sentences
Was the situation improving? · Were house prices rising?
Wh- questions: Question word + was/were + subject + verb-ing + ?
How was the situation changing? · Why were tensions growing?
How fast was the fire spreading?
- How was the situation changing?
- Why were tensions growing in those weeks?
- How fast was the fire spreading?
- Was the temperature falling rapidly?
- How was her confidence developing?
Key time expressions and adverbs
Common mistakes to watch out for
✗ The situation got worse by the day when nobody seemed to notice.
✓ The situation was getting worse by the day, and nobody seemed to notice.
The Past Simple got worse suggests a completed change — it got worse and stopped. The Past Continuous was getting worse describes a change that was actively in progress — an ongoing deterioration. When the change is gradual and continuous (not sudden and completed), the Past Continuous is the correct choice.
✗ The temperature was falling. (grammatically correct but vague)
✓ The temperature was falling rapidly as the sun went down.
While the Past Continuous alone is grammatically correct, the gradual development use typically needs a direction word (slowly, gradually, steadily, rapidly) or a comparison phrase (more and more, increasingly, by the day) to make the meaning clear. Without it, the sentence simply describes an action in progress, not necessarily a gradual development.
✗ She was knowing more and more about the situation.
✓ She was learning more and more about the situation.
✓ She knew more about the situation as time went on.
Even for gradual development, stative verbs (know, believe, want, understand, remember) cannot be used in the continuous. Choose an active verb that expresses the same gradual change, or rephrase using the Past Simple.
✗ The temperature was falling suddenly when the cold front arrived.
✓ The temperature dropped suddenly when the cold front arrived.
✓ The temperature was falling gradually all afternoon.
Suddenly signals an instantaneous change — a completed event, not a gradual process. A sudden change uses the Past Simple. Reserve the Past Continuous + gradual adverb for changes that develop over time: slowly, steadily, day by day.