PAST PROGRESSIVE /
CONTINUOUS
The Past Continuous or Progressive is used for...
1. An action that was in progress at a certain time. The action or situation had already started
before this time but it had not
finished.
Eg.
This time last year I
was living
in London.
What
were
you
doing
at 10 last
night?
Compare:
Dan
was cooking
dinner yesterday at 10
. (At 10, he was in the middle of cooking dinner
and we don t know whether he finished cooking it or not)
Dan
cooked
dinner yesterday at 10.
(he began and finished
it)
2. An action that was in progress (past continuous) when another action interrupted it (simple past).
Something happened in the middle of something
else.
Eg.
When I saw Jim in the park, he
was sitting
on the grass reading a
book.
It
was raining
when I got up.
