past Progressive

The Past Progressive or past continuous in English is a tense, unlike the simple past is used to talk about the development of a particular action was happening at a given time. It is also used to express an action taking place when someone interrupted and also to refer to actions occurring simultaneously.

Using the Past Progressive in English?
The use of the past progressive in English can be summarized to the simple fact strictly follow its structure, which resembles the present progressive with the exception of the verb To Be is changed to the past tense "was" or "were":


When to use the Past Progressive?
There are three ways or three circumstances in which we can and should use the past progressive, these are:

     When we want to indicate an action that was happening in the past but was interrupted by another action. For example:

     When Laura arrived, I was reading the newspaper
     When Laura arrived, I was reading the newspaper

     OR

     I was reading the newspaper When Laura arrived
     I was reading the newspaper when Laura came

     When two or more actions occur together in the past. For example:

     Alex was reading while Mark was writing
     Alex was reading while Mark was writing

     OR

     While Mark was writing, Alex was reading
     While Mark was writing, Alex was reading

     When an action occurs at a specific time in the past. For example:
     What was I doing at ten o'clock This Morning?
     What was he doing at ten this morning Pundo?

     Linda was singing at eight o'clock last night
     Linda was singing at eight o'clock last night