We use past tenses to talk about actions that already happened. Two key forms are the Simple Past and the Past Progressivealso called Past Continuous.
| Form | Structure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Past | subject + V2 (past form) | Completed action in the past | She went home at 7 p.m. |
| Past Progressive | subject + was/were + V-ing | Action in progress at a time in the past | She was walking home at 7 p.m. |
Use: A finished action or state at a specific past time.
| Type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | I/you/we/they/he/she/it + V2 | We arrived on time. |
| Negative | subject + didn't + base verb | He didn't eat breakfast. |
| Questions | Did + subject + base verb…? | Did you see the movie? |
Time expressions: yesterday, last night/week/year, in 2019, two days ago, this morning (finished).
-ed spelling: stop → stopped; study → studied; plan → planned; play → played.
Irregular verbs (V2): go → went; have → had; see → saw; buy → bought.
Use: An action that was in progress at a particular time in the past. It often sets the background for another, shorter action.
| Type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | I/He/She/It was + V-ing; You/We/They were + V-ing | She was waiting at the bus stop. |
| Negative | I/He/She/It wasn't + V-ing; You/We/They weren't + V-ing | We weren't studying at noon. |
| Questions | Was/Were + subject + V-ing…? | Were you working at 9 a.m.? |
Common time markers: at 7 o'clock, at that moment, when, while, as, all morning/day, during.
-ing spelling: make → making; run → running; lie → lying.
Use Past Progressive for the longer background action and Simple Past for the shorter interrupting action.
| Focus | Simple Past | Past Progressive |
|---|---|---|
| Completed action | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Action in progress at a time | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Interruption pattern | Shorter/interrupting action | Longer/background action |
| Two actions at the same time | — | She was cooking while he was studying. |
Simple Past: |----X (finished)----| specific past time
Example: She went home at 7 p.m.
Past Progressive: |==== in progress ====| at a past time
Example: She was walking home at 7 p.m.
Some verbs (e.g., know, believe, like, love, understand, need, own) are usually not used in progressive forms.