The document discusses three uses of the past progressive tense: 1) to indicate an action that was interrupted by another past action, 2) to describe an action that was ongoing at a specific past time, and 3) to describe two parallel actions that were happening simultaneously in the past. Examples are provided to illustrate each usage.

1. Use 1: Interrupted action in the
past
Use the Past Progressive s to indicate that a longer
action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is
usually a shorter action in the Simple Past.
Remember this can be a real interruption or just an
interruption in time.

2. Use 1: Interrupted action in the
past
• I was watching TV when she called.
• When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
• While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
• What were you doing when the earthquake started?
• You were not listening when I told you to turn the TV on
• When John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.
• Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
• A: What were you doing when you broke your leg?
B: I was snowboarding.

3. Use 2: An action in progress at a
certain time in the past
8:00 pm
x
• You can use the Past Progressive to talk about an
action that started before a certain time in the past
and was still in progress at that time.

4. Use 2: An action in progress at a
certain time in the past
8:00 pm
x
• I was watching TV yesterday at 8:00 pm
• What were you doing on Saturday at 10:00 pm
• At 7:00 am Mr. Herbert was reading the newspaper
• We weren’t doing anything important in the morning

5. Use 3: Parallel actions
• When you use the Past Progressive with two actions
in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both
actions were happening at the same time. The
actions are parallel.

6. Use 3 Parallel actions
• I was studying while he was making dinner.
• While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching TV
• Were you listening while he was talking?
• I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the
letter, so I made several mistakes.
• What were you doing while you were waiting?
• Thomas wasn't working, and I wasn't working.
• They were eating dinner, discussing their plans,
and having a good time.

7. Affirmative sentences
Subject Verb to be -ing
in past
I was playing
You were studying
He, She, It was eating
We were dancing
You were walking
They were working

8. Negative sentences
Subject Verb to be not -ing
in past
I was not playing
You were not studying
He, She, It was not eating
We were not dancing
You were not walking
They were not working

9. Questions
Verb to be Subject -ing
in past
was I playing?
were You studying?
was He, She, It eating?
were We dancing?
were You walking?
were They working?