Download Past Progressive/Continuous Positive Statements: Negative

Past Progressive/Continuous
Positive Statements:
Form: Subject + was/were + verb + -ing
subject
I/He/She/It
You/We/They
was/were
was
were
verb + -ing
eating
watching
…
dinner at 6:00.
TV at home.
Negative Statements:
Form: Subject + was/were + not + verb + -ing
subject
I/He/She/It
You/We/They
was/were
was
were
not
not (wasn’t)
not (weren’t)
verb + -ing
eating
watching
…
dinner at 6:00.
TV at home.
Yes/No Questions:
Form: Was/Were + subject + verb + -ing
Was/Were
subject
verb + -ing
Was
I/he/she/it
eating
Were
you/we/they watching
…
dinner at 6:00?
TV at school?
Short Answers
Yes, I/he/she/it was.
No, you/we/they
weren’t.
Wh- Questions:
Form: Wh- word + was/were + subject + verb + -ing
Whword
Who
What
Where
When
Why
How
was/were
subject
was
I/he/she/it
were
verb + -ing
…
talking
to (my friend)?
Short
Answers
you/we/they
Green River Community College – ESOL Program – Level 4
AL
Meanings: Use the past progressive tense to…
1) Talk about activities that were in progress at a specific time in the past. The
activity had started before that specific time, but had not finished.
Examples: We were eating at the restaurant at 6:30. (started at 6 and ended at 7)
2) Talk about two or more activities that were happening at the same time in the
past.
Examples: KC was listening to music and David was painting a picture.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While vs When (past progressive vs. simple past)
While + long action = past progressive (While I was cooking dinner, my friend called)
When + short action = past tense (When my friend called, I was cooking dinner.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Don’t use these verbs with past progressive: believe, belong, depend, hate, know,
like, love, mean, need, prefer, realize, suppose, want, understand
Green River Community College – ESOL Program – Level 4
AL