Simple Past – Past Progressive – contrasted
Differences and similarities in the Simple Past and the Past Progressive
1. Use
Simple Past |
Past Progressive |
- action finished in the past (single or repeated)
- series of completed actions in the past
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- action was in progress at a special time in the past
- two actions were happening at the same time (the actions do not influence each other)
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2. Form
Simple Past |
Past Progressive |
- regular verbs: infinitive + -ed
- irregular verbs: 2nd column of the table of the irregular verbs
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(was or were) + infinitive + -ing |
3. Examples
3.1. Affirmative sentences
Simple Past |
Past Progressive |
I played football. |
He was playing football. |
You played football. |
You were playing football. |
He played football. |
He was playing football. |
3.2. Negative sentences
Simple Past |
Past Progressive |
I did not play football. |
He was not playing football. |
You did not play football. |
You were not playing football. |
He did not play football. |
He was not playing football. |
3.3. Questions
Simple Past |
Past Progressive |
Did I play football? |
Was I playing football? |
Did you play football? |
Were you playing football? |
Did he play football? |
Was he playing football? |
4. Spelling
Simple Past |
Past Progressive |
- stopped (Double the consonant after a short vowel.)
- loved (one -e at the end of the word → Add only -d.)
- worried (consonant before -y → Change to -i.)
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- sitting (Double the consonant after a short vowel.)
- writing (Drop the -e.)
- lying (Change -ie to -y.)
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5. Use
Both tenses are often used in one sentence:
While we were sitting at the breakfast table, the telephone rang.
We were sitting at the breakfast table when the telephone rang.
- Past Progressive → we were sitting at the table
- Simple Past → the telephone rang.
The action in the Simple Past (pink) interrupts the action in the Past Progressive (blue).
