Past Progressive

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Past Progressive

2. +
Structure (Form)
Structure
Auxiliary Verb: Was/Were
Affirmative
Subject + Aux Verb + Verb with –ing
They were reading a book.
He was playing the piano.
Negative
Subject + Aux Verb Not + Verb with –ing
They were not reading a book.
He was not playing the piano.
Question
(WH Question) + Aux Verb + Subject + Verb with –ing
(Why) Were they reading a book?
(Where) Was he playing the piano?

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The Past Progressive is used:
 To describe an action in
progress at a certain
time in the past.
What were you doing at
10 o clock last night?’
I was having a shower

4. +
 To describe actions that
were happening at the same
time in the past (usually with
while or as).
While John was cooking, Marc
was sleeping.

5. +
 To describe background
scenes to a story.
There were a lot of people
at the station, some were
talking on their mobiles,
others were sleeping and a
few were walking up and
down.

6. +
 To describe temporary
past states or actions.
My mom was writing a
play in those days.

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Past Simple – Past Progressive
 We use the Past Progressive and the Past Simple in the
same sentence when one action interrupted another in the
past. We use the Past Progressive for the longer action an the
Past Simple for the shorter action. In this case we usually use
while, when or as.
As/while/when they were walking in the forest, they saw a bear.
I was having a bath when the lights went out.

8. +
NOTE
• We commonly use as soon as with the Past
Simple.
As soon as we arrived on the island, we ran
to the beach.