Past Progressive (Past Continuous)

The past progressive puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past.

Form
Positive
I / he / she / it I was speaking.

Negative
I was not speaking.

Question
Was I speaking?

you / we / they You were speaking. You were not speaking. Were you speaking?

Exceptions in Spelling
Exceptions in spe ing when a!!ing ing
fina e is !roppe! "#ut$ ee is not change!%

Examp e
come & coming "#ut$ agree & agreeing%

after a short' stresse! vowe ' the fina consonant is !ou# e!

sit & sitting

l as fina consonant after a vowe is !ou# e! "in (ritish Eng ish% trave & trave ing

fina ie #ecomes y

ie & ying

Use of Past Progressive

puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past Examp e$ )e was playing foot#a . two actions happening at the same time "in the past% Examp e$ Whi e she was preparing !inner' he was washing the !ishes. action going on at a certain time in the past Examp e$ When I was having #reakfast' the phone su!!en y rang.

Signal

or!s of Past Progressive

when' whi e' as ong as

*se the Past +ontinuous to in!icate that a onger action in the past was interrupte!. The interruption is usua y a shorter action in the ,imp e Past. -emem#er this can #e a rea interruption or .ust an interruption in time. Examp es$

I was watching T/ when she ca e!. When the phone rang' she was writing a etter. Whi e we were having the picnic' it starte! to rain. What were you !oing when the earth0uake starte!? I was listening to my iPo!' so I !i!n1t hear the fire a arm. You were not listening to me when I to ! you to turn the oven off. Whi e 2ohn was sleeping ast night' someone sto e his car. ,ammy was waiting for us when we got off the p ane. Whi e I was writing the emai ' the computer su!!en y went off. 3$ What were you !oing when you #roke your eg? ($ I was snow"oar!ing.

IMPORTANT

In the ,imp e Past' a specific time is use! to show when an action #egan or finishe!. In the Past +ontinuous' a specific time on y interrupts the action. Examp es$
4ast night at 5 P6' I ate !inner.

I STARTED EATING AT 6 PM.

4ast night at 5 P6' I was eating !inner.

I STARTED EARLIER; AND AT 6 PM, I WAS IN T E PR!"ESS !# EATING DINNER.

In Eng ish' we often use a series of para e actions to !escri#e the atmosphere at a particu ar time in the past. Examp e$

When I wa ke! into the office' severa peop e were #usi y typing' some were tal#ing on the phones' the #osswas yelling !irections' an! customers were waiting to #e he pe!. 7ne customer was yelling at a secretary an! waving his han!s. 7thers were complaining to each other a#out the #a! service.

hile vs$

hen

+ auses are groups of wor!s which have meaning' #ut are often not comp ete sentences. ,ome c auses #egin with the wor! 8when8 such as 8when she ca e!8 or 8when it #it me.8 7ther c auses #egin with 8whi e8 such as 8whi e she was s eeping8 an! 8whi e he was surfing.8 When you ta k a#out things in the past' 8when8 is most often fo owe! #y the ver# tense ,imp e Past' whereas 8whi e8 is usua y fo owe! #y Past +ontinuous. 8Whi e8 expresses the i!ea of 8!uring that time.8 ,tu!y the examp es #e ow. They have simi ar meanings' #ut they emphasi9e !ifferent parts of the sentence. Examp es$
I was stu!ying when she calle!.

hile I was stu!ying' she ca e!.