Unit 7: I was doing (past progressive)

Vidéos pour l’unité 7 de votre livre, Free English Grammar.

 

Past progressive

 4:00 today: they are watching television

4:00 yesterday: they werejogging

 

 

 Negative

 I wasn’t doing

You weren’t doing

He/she/it wasn’t doing

We weren’t doing

They weren’t doing

Question

Was I doing?

Were you doing?

Was he/she/it doing?

Were we doing?

Were they doing?

Positive

I was doing

You were doing

He/she/it was doing

We were doing

They were doing

 

 

 We use the past progressive when we are more interested in the action itself than the time it started or stopped.

Compare the past simple with the past progressive:

I went to bed — the telephone rang —-  I woke up

=

I was sleeping when the telephone rang

I was going to the office

It was raining

I stopped to buy a newspaper

I met an old friend

She told me something I’ll never forget