What is the Past Progressive?
We use the past progressive (also called past continuous) for an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past, often when something else happened.
subject + was/were + verb-ing
I was watching TV. | They were playing outside.
Was or were?
| Subject | Verb | Example |
|---|
| I / he / she / it | was | She was reading a magazine. |
| you / we / they | were | We were waiting for the bus. |
💡 Negative: wasn't / weren't (e.g. I wasn't listening. They weren't sleeping.)
An action interrupted by another action
We often use the past progressive together with the simple past to show that one action (longer, in progress) was interrupted by another action (shorter, complete). The word while often introduces the longer action, and when often introduces the shorter one.
I was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
While we were watching the film, the power went out.
She was walking to school when it started to rain.
Spelling rules for -ing
Most verbs: add -ing → play → playing, watch → watching
Verbs ending in silent -e: drop the e, add -ing → write → writing, make → making
Short verbs with one vowel + one consonant: double the consonant → run → running, sit → sitting
Common mistakes
⚠ Watch out:
✗ The children was playing. → ✓ The children were playing. (plural subject = were)
✗ I were walking home. → ✓ I was walking home. (subject "I" = was)
✗ She was writeing a letter. → ✓ She was writing a letter. (drop the silent e)
✗ He was runing across the street. → ✓ He was running across the street. (double the consonant)