PAST PROGRESSIVE
The past progressive tense indicates continuing action, something that was happening, going on, at
some point in the past. This tense is formed with the helping "to be"
verb, in the past tense, plus the present participle of the verb (with an -ing ending):
- I was riding my
bike all day yesterday.
- Joel was
being a terrible role model for his younger brother.
The past progressive indicates a limited duration of time and is thus a
convenient way to indicate that something took place (in the simple past) while
something else was happening:
- Carlos lost his
watch while he was running.
The past progressive can express incomplete action.
- I was
sleeping on the couch when Bertie smashed through the door.
(As opposed to the simple
past, which suggests a completed action:
- I slept on the
couch last night.
The past progressive is
also used to poke fun at or criticize an action that is sporadic but habitual
in nature:
- Tashonda was always handing in
late papers.
- My
father was always lecturing my brother.
SIMPLE PAST
The past tense indicates that an
action is in the past relative to the speaker or writer.
·
When
the time period has finished: "We went to Chicago last
Christmas."
·
When
the time period is definite: "We visited Mom last
week."
·
With for,
when the action is finished: "I worked with the FBI for
two months."
Regular verbs use the verb's base form
(scream, work) plus the -ed ending (screamed, worked).
Irregular verbs alter their form in some other way (slept, drank, drove).
Students for whom English
is a second language sometimes (quite understandably) have trouble
distinguishing between the Simple Past and the Present Perfect tenses. There is
more information about the difference between these two tenses available under
the Present Perfect description.
