Mr.Maru: Where were you yesterday?

Sparky: I was at the house all day. Why?

Mr.Maru: I called you at 1, but you didn't answer.

Sparky: I took a bath at 1. Sorry!

Mr.Maru: I called you again at 2 and you didn't answer.

Sparky: Oh, I listened to some soothing music while doing Tai Chi.

Mr.Maru: So, why didn't you answer the phone.

Sparky: I concentrated too hard, I guess.

How do you use the past progressive? When is it appropriate to use the past progressive? Are you using it correctly? Let's talk about some rules and examples to help you.

Past Progressive – Use #1

We can use the past progressive to say an activity was taking place at a certain or specific time. For example,

When I went to lunch, it was raining.

I was driving on highway 105 at about 6 o'clock.
What were you doing yesterday at around noon?

Past Progressive – Use #2

We can also use the past progressive to talk about a background activity. We then use the simple past to talk about an event or action. For example,

Jenny was eating lunch, when she got a phone call from John.
While I was walking down the street I saw a car accident.

Or, if you want to talk about two activities that are continuing at the same time, you can use past progressive in both parts:

While Bob was speeding down the highway, I was trying to call my mom.

Past Progressive – Use #3

The past progressive can be used to talk about past habits or repeated actions, but you must use always, consistently, or other similar words that mean doing something 90%~100% of the time. For example,

My roommate was always drinking milk out of the carton. He never poured it into a glass.
She was consistently coming late to class.

Be careful! We can not say the following:

X She was calling him 3 times but he didn't answer.
X When I was younger, I was going out all night.

We can say:

She called him 3 times but he didn't answer.
When I was younger, I was always going out all night.

Do you think you understand? Let's take a short quiz

1) I _______ the door and saw my new office.

A) opened

B) was opening

C) am opening

2) A: What _________ last weekend?

B: Last weekend, George and I _________.

A) were you doing / fished

B) did you do / were fishing

C) were you doing / were fishing

3) She _____________ a lot of classes, when she meet her future husband, George.

A) taught

B) was teaching
C) was always teaching

Answers

1) A) – We should use simple past because these are two completed activities. The first activity 'open the door' was not a background activity.

2) C) – We can use the past progressive to talk about a activity that is going on at certain time.

3) B) – We do not use 'always' because this activity is the background activity.

Thanks for stopping by! If you have a question about English grammar please send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Can you make a sentence using past progressive? Give it a try in the comments and I'll be happy to correct it!