What is Past Progressive Tense? (Definition, Examples, Tips)

What is past progressive tense? And how does it work with the other verb tenses? What is the purpose of it’s grammatically function? These are all great questions that English writers, speakers, and educators have regarding the past progressive tense.

Get answers to these question and more in this English grammar guide…

What is past progressive tense?

Past progressive tense describes ongoing events in the past. Here’s a simple example:

John was playing basketball.

Let’s break down the sentence:

Who was playing?

John

What was he playing?

Basketball

When was he playing basketball?

In the past (was)

Had we written John played basketball, the sentence would be in the simple past tense, not past progressive.

Whenever there’s a verb+(ing) structure in a sentence, it refers to an ongoing activity.

Example:

Mary is dancing

She is setting up the dinner table

LeBron is playing basketball

The above sentences are in the present tense, hence, they are in the present progressive tense. We can easily change them to the past progressive tense:

Mary was dancing

She was setting up the dinner table

LeBron was playing basketball

To reiterate the definition of past progressive tense: it describes ongoing (continuous) events and activities in the past.

Note: Past progressive tense is also known as past continuous tense.

How does past progressive tense compare to the other tenses?

Here is a table that shows the differences of the many verb tense forms:

Tense	Function	Rule	Example
Present simple	Helps to describe habits, facts, actions, and truth that are not affected by time	I^st form of verb + s/es	He loves pizza.
Past simple	Helps to describe events that have happened in the past	II^nd form of the verb	She wore a beautiful dress for the party.
Future simple	Helps to describe events that will happen in the future	Will/ shall + I^st form	He will go to New York tomorrow.
Present perfect	Helps to describe the relevance of past events in the present moment	Has/ have + III^rd form of the verb	I have learned to ride a bike.
Past perfect	Helps to describe events that happened prior to other events in the past	Had + III^rd form of the verb	She had finished the paper before leaving the hall.
Future perfect	Helps to describe events that will be completed between now and a specific point in the future	Will/ have + III^rd form of the verb	She will have finished the book by tomorrow.
Present continuous	Helps to describe ongoing actions	Is/ am/ are + I^st form + ing	She is reading a book.
Past continuous	Helps to describe ongoing events of the past, mostly in relation to another event	Was/ were + I^st form + ing	He was driving to work when the accident happened.
Future continuous	Helps to describe future events that will/are expected to continue for a period of time	Will be + I^st form + ing	I will be going to meet my grandparents tomorrow.
Present perfect continuous	Helps to describe events that started in the past and will continue into the present	Has/ have been + I^st form + ing	She has been writing a book for the past one year.
Past perfect continuous	Helps to describe events that began, continued, and ended in the past	Had been + I^st form + ing	I had been working in this company for ten years when I got the promotion.
Future perfect continuous	Helps to describe events that began in the past but will continue until a point in the future	Will/ shall have been + I^st form + ing	I will have been doing business with her for one year.

Use of past progressive tense (examples)

We use past progressive tense primarily in three situations:

To talk about actions that began in the past and went on indefinitely
To talk about events of the past that were interrupted
To talk about two simultaneous events or actions in the past

Examples of actions that began in the past and went on indefinitely

She was running in the park
The boy was learning how to ride a bike
The sun was shining very bright

While these sentences convey complete meaning, they don’t talk about the duration of the events. How long did she run in the park? How long did the sun shine brightly? These sentences don’t have the answer to such questions.

Examples of events of the past that were interrupted

LeBron was playing basketball when it started raining
I was trying on the new dress when my friend asked me to hurry up
She was cooking when the phone rang

In each of the above instances, the ongoing action of the past was interrupted due to some other action. Both the action and the interruption are in the past.

Two simultaneous events in past progressive

Examples of sentences with two simultaneous events or actions in the past

I was posing while she was clicking my pictures
John was running while his sister was chasing him
Dorothy was smiling while watching the movie
I was feeling nervous as she was coloring my hair

There are two ongoing events from the past in each of the above examples.

Similarly, we use past progressive tense to combine two simple sentences.

For example:

She was crying. He was trying to console her.

She was crying while he was trying to console her.

It was raining. I was trying to walk back as fast as possible.

I was trying to walk back as fast as possible since it was raining.

Using past progressive tense helps us write in a more free-flowing and lucid voice. It also helps in bringing coherence and structure to sentences.

Past progressive tense is also used to denote the specific time and place of an event.

Consider the following examples:

At 12 AM, I was trying to fall asleep
By the end of June, I was going to the gym every day
In 1998, she was just starting out as a singer
By the end of the month, I was already doing better than everyone else

In all of the above examples, the use of past progressive tense allows us to pinpoint a date or time in the past. It also represents the ongoing nature of the events: trying to, going to, starting out, doing, and so on.

Past progressive tense sentence structure

Here’s the general structure of sentences in the past progressive tense:

Singular subject + was + present participle

Plural subject + were + present participle

For example:

John + was + playing

The kids + were + dancing

The sentence structure of past progressive tense is simple. However, many people make mistakes in using the correct form of the present participle. To make things easier, here are some general rules of present participles:

How to form present participle

1. Add ‘ing’ to verbs

Play > Playing

Catch > Catching

Dance > Dancing

Shout > Shouting

2. Verbs that end with ‘e’

Remove ‘e’ and add ‘ing’

Ride > Riding

Ease > Easing

Complete > Completing

Slide > Sliding

Bite > Biting

Skate > Skating

3. Verbs ending with ‘ie’

Swap ‘ie’ with ‘y’ and add ‘ing’

Die > Dying

Lie > Lying

Underlie > Underlying

Vie > Vying

Tie > Tying

4. Verbs that end with consonants

Add ‘ing’ after doubling the final consonant

Run > Running

Forget > Forgetting

Fulfill > Fulfilling

Signal > Signalling

Compel > Compelling

Cancel > Cancelling

Negative sentences

The structure for negative sentences in the past progressive tense is the same as for positive sentences.

Singular subject + was not + present participle

Plural subject + were not + present participle

Note: wasn’t and weren’t are contractions of was not and were not

Examples:

The students were not paying any attention in the class

John was not smiling at all

Sheela wasn’t doing well in her final year

Interrogative sentences

Here’s the structure of interrogative sentences in the past progressive tense

Was/were + subject + present participle

Example:

Were they having a good time?

Question word + was/were + subject + present participle

Example:

When was David playing football?

Was/were + subject + present participle + Option A + Option B

Was he eating the apple or the orange?

Was/were + subject + present participle (A) + or + present participle (B)

Were the kids studying or playing?

FAQs

1. What is past progressive tense?

Past progressive tense describes ongoing events in the past.

2. What is the structure of sentences in past progressive tense?

Subject + was/were + present particle (verb+ing)

3. When to use past progressive tense

Use past progressive tense when required:

a) Describe an event that started earlier and went on indefinitely.

b) To denote the specific time and place of an event.

c) To talk about events of the past that were interrupted.

d) To talk about two simultaneous past events.

Sources

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About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.