Past Progressive Tense
Past Progressive is a very common tense in English. You should understand it, and know it well.
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How do We Use the this Tense?
Past Progressive is a form of the verb that shows the action was in progress at a certain point, or at some time period in the past.For example:
- Yesterday at 7 o'clock Judi was washing the dishes.
- Judi was
washing the dishes the entire evening.
Past Progressive is often used together with Simple Past.
For example:
- While Judi was washing the dishes the phone rang.
Here
are the
different usages of this tense:
Make sure you also read:
Examples of Typical Time ExpressionsActions that were in progress at a certain point or at a certain time period in the past
(The verbs are
in bold)
He was flying
all day.
Yesterday morning the kids were
playing.
He was sitting outside for too long.
He was working at 10 o'clock this morning.
While he was jumping, she was watching him.
Dave was hitting the drums and Joe was blowing the trombone.
He was walking when he stumbled and fell.
While they were sleeping, he got into trouble.
Annoying
repeating actions in the
past
He was always resting.
She was always leaving me with all the paperwork.
He was always sleeping on duty.
Examples
of
Typical Time Expressions
- While
- As
- During
- All afternoon
- All night
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