Past Progressive (Past Continuous)
The past progressive puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past.
Form
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Positive
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Negative
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Question
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I / he / she / it
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I was speaking.
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I was not speaking.
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Was I speaking?
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you / we / they
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You were speaking.
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You were not speaking.
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Were you speaking?
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Exceptions in Spelling
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Exceptions in spelling when adding ing
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Example
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final e is dropped (but: ee is not changed)
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come – coming
(but: agree – agreeing)
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after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled
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sit – sitting
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l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled (in British English)
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travel – travelling
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final ie becomes y
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lie – lying
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Use of Past Progressive
§ puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past
Example: He was playing football.
§ two actions happening at the same time (in the past)
Example: While she was preparing dinner, he was washing the dishes.
§ action going on at a certain time in the past
Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang.
Signal Words of Past Progressive
§ when, while, as long as
