Join In
Twitter
YouTube
Weekly Newsletter
Libraries
A-Z Grammatical Terms
A-Z Confused Words
FAQs by Writers
A-Z Awkward Plurals
Punctuation Lessons
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
Past Progressive Tense
What Is the Past Progressive Tense? (with Examples)
The past progressive tense is used to describe an ongoing activity in the past. For example:- John was baking a cake.
- They were painting the fence.
- John was baking a cake when the storm started.
- They were painting the fence while I was cutting the grass.
Table of Contents
- Examples of the Past Progressive Tense and Its Uses
- Forming the Past Progressive Tense
- Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables
- Video Lesson
- Printable Test

Examples of the Past Progressive Tense and Its Uses
Here are three common uses of the past progressive tense:(1) The past progressive tense can be used to describe an activity in the past that was interrupted:
- He was painting the door when a bird struck the window.
- They were sleeping when the alarm went off.
- While they were painting the door, I painted the windows.
- While they weren't painting the door, I painted the windows.
- Were they painting the door when I painted the windows?
- Weren't they painting the door when I painted the windows?
- While they were painting the door, I was painting the windows.
Forming the Past Progressive Tense
The past progressive tense is formed like this:For singular:
[singular subject]
+ "was"
+ [present participle ("verb-ing")]
[plural subject]
+ "were"
+ [present participle]
Forming the Present Participle
The [verb] + "ing" part is known as a present participle. It is formed like this:Add "ing" to most verbs:
- play > playing
- shout > shouting
- prepare > preparing
- ride > riding
- lie > lying
- untie > untying
- run > running
- forget > forgetting
The Negative Version
If you need the negative version, you can use the following construction:"was not" or "were not"
+ [present participle]
- He was not painting the door when a bird struck the window.
- They were not sleeping when the alarm went off.
The Question Version
If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:"was" or "were"
+ [subject]
+ [present participle]
- Was John painting the door when a bird struck the window?
- Were they sleeping when the alarm went off?
[question word]
+ "was" or "were"
+ [subject]
+ [present participle]
- When was John painting the door?
- Where were they sleeping when the alarm went off?
"was" or "were"
+ [subject]
+ [present participle]
+ choice A
+ or
+ choice B
- Was John painting the door or the window?
"was" or "were"
+ [subject]
+ present participle A
+ or
+ present participle B
- Were they sleeping or playing when the alarm went off?
Top 10 Regular Verbs
Top 10 Irregular Verbs
All 4 Past Tenses
Person | Simple Past | Past Progressive Tense | Past Perfect Tense | Past Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.
|
The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.
|
The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.
|
The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.
|
All 4 Present Tenses
Person | Simple Present | Present Progressive Tense | Present Perfect Tense | Present Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.
|
The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.
|
The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)
|
The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).
|
All 4 Future Tenses
Person | Simple Future | Future Progressive Tense | Future Perfect Tense | Future Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.
|
The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.
|
The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.
|
The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.
|
The Other Past Tenses
The past progressive tense is one of four past tenses. This table shows all four of the past tenses:The 4 Past Tenses | Example |
---|---|
simple past tense | I went |
past progressive tense | I was going |
past perfect tense | I had gone |
past perfect progressive tense | I had been going |
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.