Use of the Past Progressive

When do we use the Past Progressive?

The Past Progressive is used when we talk about something which was happening at a special
time in the past. It is also called Past Continuous.

1. actions were in progress at special time in the past

Peter was reading a book yesterday evening.
She was listening to the radio.

2. two actions were happening at the same time (the actions do not influence each
other)
Anne was writing a letter while Steve was reading the New York Times.

3. together with the Simple Past

While we were sitting at the breakfast table, the telephone rang.
Note:

Past Progressive were sitting at the table

Simple Past the telephone rang.

The action in Simple Past interrupted the action in Past Progressive.

4. repeated actions irritating the speaker (with always, constantly, forever)

Andrew was always coming late. (I don't like that.)
Simple Past Andrew always came late. (Here I don't give a comment.)

WORKSHEET
1.Write down the ing form of the following words. Mind the exceptions in spelling.
1. live

5. lie

2. run

6. sit

3. give

7. travel

4. swim

8. 2.Decide whether to use 'was' or 'were'.

1. Boris____ learning English.

6. My friends ________ watching the

match on TV.

2. They _____swimming in the lake.

7.
3. Your father_______ repairing the
car.
4.

I _______ reading a magazine.

It ______ raining.

8. The dog _______ barking.

9. The children _________ brushing
their teeth.

5. You _______ packing your bag.

10. Anne and Maureen
__________singing a song
11. 3.Yesterday at 3 pm the following people were in the middle of an action.
Write positive sentences in past progressive.
1. you / play / cards

2. Alice / walk / around the lake

3. Caron / listen / to the radio

4. we / read / a book about Australia

5. Linda / look for / her ring

6. Fiona and Sam / visit / the castle

7. Ben / wash / the car

8. Kim and I / wait / in the park

9. My sister / feed / the birds

10. Greg and Phil / count / their money

12. 4.Somebody believes that yesterday at 3 pm the following people were in the middle
of an action. That cannot be, however, as yesterday at 3 pm these people were not
doing those things.Write negative sentences in past progressive.
1. Sarah and Luke / not / work

2. Mister Miller / not / teach / chemistry

3. Barry / not / drive / a lorry

4. Mandy / not / have / lunch

5. Albert / not / play / tennis

6. Taylor and Bob / not / cycle / home

7. Annie / not / clean / the table

8.

Benjamin / not / write / an e-mail

9. Jane / not / exercise / in the gym

10. Robert / not / buy / flowers

13. You want to know whether the following people were in the middle of an action at a
certain time in the past.Write questions in past progressive.
1. Rachel / feed / the cat

2. the children / paint / a picture

3. Clark / repair / his computer

4. Hazel / swim / in the pool

5. Lucas / have / a shower

6. Jason and Aron / run / down the street

7. Betty / do / her homework

8. Cindy and James / make / dinner

9. Rebecca / watch / Star Trek

10. Anita and Linda / sit / in the kitchen

14. Ask for the information in the bold part of the sentence.
1. Henry was living in London last year.

2. Anita was working at a restaurant last week.

3. Ricky was waiting for Holly.

4. Sarah was singing a song.

5. Joe was reading a book.

6. At six o'clock, Myriam and her family were having dinner.

7. Bob was walking home because his car had a flat tire.

8. At half past seven, Mister Logan was driving home.

9. The children were playing in the sandbox.

10. Claire was visiting her best friend.

15.
16. Put the verbs into the correct form (past progressive).
1. When I phoned my friends, they (play)

monopoly.
w ere playin

2. Yesterday at six I (prepare)

3. The kids (play)

4. I (practise)

dinner.

in the garden when it suddenly began to rain.

the guitar when he came home.

5. We (not / cycle)

6. While Aaron (work)

all day.

in his room, his friends (swim)

7. I tried to tell them the truth but they (listen / not)

8. What (you / do)

9. Most of the time we (sit)

yesterday?

in the park.

17.Test
18.
1.Write the ing form of the following verbs.
1. phone
4. chat

2. fly

3. swim

5. die

in the pool.

6. 2.Complete the table in past progressive.

positive
negative

question

He was shouting.
They were not talking.
Were you reading?
Brad was not waiting.
Diana was laughing.
3.Was or Were?
1. I _____ having dinner.
2.

You _____rushing down the street.

3.

The birds ______sitting in the tree.

4.

The teacher _______ pointing to the board.

5. The water ______dripping on the floor.

4.Write sentences in past progressive.
1. We / feed / the birds

2. Jenny / ride / a horse

3. my parents / not / eating / at a restaurant

4. James and Phil / build / a tree house

5. their mother / not / cook / dinner

Write questions in past progressive.

1. Jane / tidy / her room

2. Brendan / drive / a lorry

3. Sue and Jane / sell / fruits

4. the pupils / write / a test

5. your little sister / cry

Ask for the information in the bold part of the sentence.
1. Misses Bush was correcting our tests.

2. An hour ago, Carol was talking on the phone.

3. Avril was painting the kitchen.

4. Katie was sitting in the living room.

5. The children were running around noisily.