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Past vs. Past Progressive

Refer to earlier occurrences

In Context—Past vs. Past Progressive

Jack received a speeding ticket on June 16th. It was upsetting, but he knew that he was irresponsible. He either had to pay a fine or attend traffic school. Jack attended traffic school online. He completed the course and learned about safe driving. Jack drove more carefully after that experience.

Jack was receiving a speeding ticket when a friend drove by. He felt so embarrassed. He was behaving irresponsibly. As a result, he either had to pay a fine or attend traffic school. Some friends invited him out last weekend, but he couldn't go because he was attending traffic school online. After that experience, he was driving more carefully.

Past vs. Past Progressive

PAST
A verb in the past tense indicates the action or state took place at an earlier time. Whether or not the action had duration or was repetitive is not important; it happened and ended. The action may be pinned to a time in the past (definite) or it may be timeless (indefinite).
ACTION WITH DEFINITE TIMING
Jack received a speeding ticket on June 16th.
STATE OF MIND —TIMELESS
Jack was irresponsible.
ACTION(S) WITH INDEFINITE TIMING
Jack attended traffic school online. ("sometime in the past")
SEQUENCE OF ACTIONS; ORDERED BUT INDEFINITE TIMING
Jack was irresponsible, received a ticket, and attended traffic school.
Jack drove more carefully after that.

PAST PROGRESSIVE
A verb in the past progressive indicates (1) the duration or repetition of a past activity or event; and/or (2) relative timing of one activity to another, for example, as background activity interrupted by another activity that is the main focus.
AN ONGOING ACTIVITY INTERRUPTED BY AN ACTION
Jack was receiving a speeding ticket when a friend drove by.
STATE OF MIND [TEMPORARY]
Jack was behaving irresponsibly. (at the moment while speeding)
ACTION WITH DURATION, DEFINITE TIMING
Jack was attending traffic school last weekend.
ACTION WITH REPETITION, DEFINITE TIMING
Jack was attending traffic school last Saturday and Sunday evenings.
Jack was driving more carefully after that. (at least for a while, temporarily)

The past verb form is usually marked with -ed, -d, or -t (walked, loved, slept). See for irregular forms below.

The past progressive is formed with a verb group: auxiliary be and the participle verb form -ing.

traffic school – a course that one has to take to reduce a traffic fine (penalty)

He knew that he was irresponsible. (general truth) He knew that he had been irresponsible. (singular situation)

Situations — Verbs in Context

Choose compatible adverbs for particular situations

Situation Expressed by Past vs. Progressive Verb

PAST
The use of an adverb in a past tense clause depends on the situation expressed by the verb and the rest of the clause. Compare these situations: a state (exists), achievement (occurs quickly), accomplishment (an action toward an end/goal), activity (action, has duration, is timeless).
STATE—EXISTENCE, NO ACTION, NO TIMING
Jack knew everyone in town. (no adverb) Jack was always an only-child. (frequency timing) Jack was active when he was young. (relative time)
ACHIEVEMENT—MOMENTARY ACTION, ONE POINT IN TIME
Jack crashed his new car. (no adverb) Jack recognized his stolen car on eBay. Jack crashed his new car yesterday. (specific time) Jack crashed his new car when he sneezed. (quick relative time)
ACCOMPLISHMENT—SEMI-ENDURING ACTION DIRECTED TOWARD AN END
Jack drove his car to the mechanic yesterday. (specific time) Jack drove his car to the mechanic when it broke down. (relative time) Jack drove his car to the mechanic to fix the brakes. (goal)
ACTIVITY—ENDURING OR REPEITITVE ACTION, NO END TIME
Jack drove his car for years. (duration-quantity) Jack drove a taxi during the 1990s. (duration-period) Jack drove his car to work repeatedly. (repetition) Jack always drove cars. (frequency, interval)

PAST PROGRESSIVE
A verb expressing a meaning of activity—short, long, or repetitive—goes well with the progressive tense. Adverbs for specific times modify short or long activities. Adverbs for frequency, duration and repetition modify activities that are "timeless" without end times.
STATE—EXISTENCE, NO ACTION, NO TIMING
(States cannot be progressive. They have no action. No adverb.) See Static Verbs.
ACHIEVEMENT—MOMENTARY ACTION, ONE POINT IN TIME
(Achievements cannot be progressive. They occur instantaneously and at a single point in time. No Adverb.) Jack was crashing his new car. Jack was recognizing his stolen car on eBay.
ACCOMPLISHMENT—SEMI-ENDURING ACTION DIRECTED TOWARD AN END
Jack was driving his car to the mechanic yesterday. (specific time) Jack was driving his car to the mechanic when it broke down. (relative) Jack was driving his car to the mechanic to fix the brakes. (goal)
ENDURING OR REPEITITVE ACTION, NO END TIME
Jack was driving his car for years. (duration-quantity) Jack was driving a taxi during the 1990s. (duration-period) Jack was driving his car to work repeatedly. (repetition) Jack was always driving cars. (frequency, interval)

*incorrect / ~awkward or borderline usage

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language classifies verbs into four kinds of situations. These situations help us understand why and when we use nonprogressive or progressive (aspect), and which adverbs go well with a particular type of situation. [I will try to summarize; however, please see the book for a more accurate description.]

a state — is a static verb (stative), no action, cannot be progressive, timeless. See Static Verbs.

an achievement — is a single momentary action (quick, punctual), almost instantaneous. (An "achievement" sounds like something worth celebrating; however, the meaning here is that the action reaches an end quickly, for example: He dropped the glass. He fell down. He recognized me. He turned on the light.)

an activity — occurs, has duration, may have repetition, has no terminal point, is "timeless", without direction to an end (atelic). He reads to his son. He plays basketball. He commutes to work.

an accomplishment — occurs, endures, and moves toward an endpoint (telic). It often includes a distance, destination, an end point for the activity (telic). He read three stories to his son. He made it to work on time. He walked a mile to a gas station. Some verbs include an end point. The ice cream melted.

(Huddleston 3 §3.2 "Kinds of Situations and Aspectuality)

Past Adverbs (time expressions)

Specify the timing of an action or activity

Past Time Expressions — definite vs. indefinite timing

DEFINITE TIMING
Adverbial expressions with definite timing are used when actions can be marked on a timeline (clock/calendar); they have endpoints/goals. Compare: She was driving to work yesterday. (definite timing, it ended when she arrived at work) to She drove to work. (indefinite timing, "timeless", no endpoint, a routine).
BOTH PROG. & NONPROGRESSIVE	BOTH PROG. & NONPROGRESSIVE
She was driving to work at noon. She drove to work at noon.	She was driving to work yesterday. She drove to work yesterday.
AT, IN, ON	THAT / LAST…
at 6:00 AM(an earlier time—at noon yesterday, at midnight last week)	a day ago (second, minute, hour, week, month, year)
on January 10 (an earlier date—last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, January 31, May 1, 2020)	last night (week, month, winter, year) yesterday
in January (an earlier month, year, century— the 1990s, the 19th century)	that¹ Monday (week, month, year) those weeks (days, months, years)
as we spoke (a relative point in time: when they arrived, as soon as she knew)	then
still (with a negative verb: no longer) ⇒ Used with progressive.

INDEFINITE TIMING
Adverbial expressions with indefinite timing are used when activities or states happen "sometime", not related to a timeline. The precise time is not important. The focus is on the activity or state. These adverbs express duration (a period of time) or repetition (the interval of occurrence).
BOTH PROG. & NONPROGRESSIVE	BOTH PROG. & NONPROGRESSIVE
She was driving to work constantly. She drove to work during the week.	She was driving to work often. She drove to work often.
DURATION	REPETITION
temporarily(continuously, briefly, momentarily) [imperfective, ongoing] ⇒ Mostly progressive.	repeatedly(constantly, continuously, again and again, perpetually, eternally)⇒ Switch to "keep" with progressive.³
for a moment (ten minutes, a week, a month, for a while², a little while, a day, forever) ⇒ Often present perfect.	always (routinely, customarily, usually, in general, normally, often, sometimes, hardly ever, never)
during the week (month, year, etc.) ⇒ Mostly nonprogressive.	at night (noon, midnight, sunset) in spring (winter, summer, June, July)
from Monday to Tuesday(1 PM to 2 PM, morning to night)	on Mondays (Tuesday, Sundays, etc.) most days (nights, weekends, etc.)
while it was warm(a relative period of time: when, if, whenever, before, after) before sunrise (after)	every / each / every other (hour, day, night, week, month, year, May, spring)

*incorrect / ~awkward or borderline usage

¹ time expressions such as that month or those month indicate time that is distant, past or perhaps future. When used with past tense, we understand the timing as past time.

² for a while (PP) – can be understood in two ways: (1) having some amount of duration, or (2) being very temporary

³ keep + verb+ing – Repetition can be expressed by using the "keep" (I keep walking. He kept smiling.) The progressive with "repeatedly" (*I am walking to class repeatedly. )sounds awkward.

ago (prep.) – is originally from "agone" meaning past. It is currently analyzed as a post-position preposition (Huddleston 7 4.2)

last (Adj) – is the superlative form of late— late, later, last.

Other past tense practice pages: Past Progressive, Mixed Progressive, Would / Used to, Reporting Source, Past Series, After v. Before v. When

Verbs of Short and Long Duration

Pairing adverbs with verbs

Short or Long Duration?

SHORTER DURATION
Some verbs express activities that are short, instantaneous, detail activities. They tend to occur as singular actions in the nonprogressive or are reworded with kept as repetitive actions in the progressive.
He dropped his glass. *He was dropping his glass for a while. [duration] He kept dropping his glass repeatedly. [repetition]
ask	answer¹	arrive
begin	break	buy
call	catch	close
drop	end	exit
fall	finish	give
look	meet	open
pay	pick	push
put	stand up	tear
turn on	turn off	wave

LONGER DURATION
Other verbs express activities that are longer in duration or are repetitive. They are more complex, processes. Depending on the meaning¹ of the verb and the context, these verbs can occur as nonprogressive or progressive.
He cleaned up the broken glass. He was cleaning up the broken glass for a while. [duration] He was cleaning up the broken glass repeatedly. [repetition]
argue	answer	build
carry	come	continue
cry	dress	drink
eat	explain	fight
grow	hope	keep
prepare	rain	read
ride	send	sit
sleep	study	travel
walk	wash	watch

*incorrect / ~awkward or borderline usage

¹ Some words have more than one lexical (dictionary) meaning: She answered his question. (responded or nodded) She answered his question. (explained, expounded in detail).

Short duration: He answered my question whenever I asked him something. (responded)

Long duration: He was answering his phone whenever I asked him something. (chatting)

Also see and Verb Meaning & Timing and Duration vs Completion (activity v. accomplishment).

Past Tense

Word Order

	SUBJECT	AUXILIARY VERB	PREDICATE	COMPLEMENT
STATEMENT	NOUN PHRASE	AUX VERB	VERB	NP + ADV
	Jack		drove	home carefully.
	Jack and his friend		drove	home carefully.
QUESTION
Did	Jack		drive	home carefully?
Did	Jack and his friend		drive	home carefully?
NEGATIVE
	Jack	didn't	drive	home carefully.
	Jack and his friend	didn't	drive	home carefully.
†EMPHASIS
	Jack	did	drive	home carefully.
	Jack and his friend	did	drive	home carefully.

†Use emphasis word order when contradicting or stating that the opposite is true: — I think that Jack didn't drive carefully. — No, he did drive carefully."

Spelling Patterns

Suffixes

Regular & Irregular Suffixes (endings)

Suffix –ED		FINAL E
For most verbs, add -ed		For verbs ending in e, add -d.
wink	winked	phone	phoned
ask	asked	bike	biked
want	wanted	date	dated
need	needed	save	saved

FINAL -Y		CONSONANT DOUBLING
For verbs ending in -y, remove the y and add -ied.		For words ending with a stressed syllable [C+short vowel+C], double the final consonant and add -ed.
cry	cried	bag	bagged
fry	fried	wed	wedded
dry	dried	pop	popped
try	tried	excel	excelled

C – consonant, V – vowel

Also see consonant doubling in the Spelling Workbook (free download)

Double the consonant after a short vowel and add the suffix -ed.

What is a "short" vowel? These words contain "short" vowel sounds.

short a — /næp/	short e — /wɛd/	short i — /zɪp/	short o — /tʃɒp/	short u — /hʌg/
nap	wed	zip	chop	hug

Just a few past tense verbs with a doubled consonant

nap – napped	wed – wedded	zip – zipped	chop – chopped	hug – hugged
bag – bagged	step – stepped	clip – clipped	pop – popped	rub – rubbed
bat – batted	beg – begged	pit – pitted	jog – jogged	hum – hummed
wrap – wrapped	trek – trekked	kid – kidded (joked)	spot – spotted	sun – sunned

Irregular Spellings

Vowel Changes

Some Irregular Past Tense Verb Forms

PRESENT⇒	PAST	PRESENT⇒	PAST
awake	awoke	fall	fell
beat	beat	feel	felt
begin	began	find	found
bite	bit	forgive	forgave
blow	blew	get	got
bring	brought	go	went
buy	bought	hang	hung/hange
choose	chose	hear	heard
cost	cost	hit	hit
dig	dug	hurt	hurt
draw	drew	know	knew
drive	drove	lay	laid

PRESENT⇒	PAST	PRESENT⇒	PAST
let	let	shut	shut
lie	lay	sit	sat
lose	lost	slide	slid
loosen	loosened	spend	spent
meet	met	stand	stood
put	put	stick	stuck
read	read	swim	swam
ring	rang	teach	taught
run	ran	tell	told
see	saw	throw	threw
send	sent	wake	woke
shake	shook	wear	wore

Related quiz pages: Participle Practice 1 and Participle Practice 2.

Common Mistakes

Focus and Solutions

Error and Solution

ERROR
I worked there since a year ago.
I was attending classes several times.

ERROR
I worked there a year ago. (indefinite time) I was working there for a year. (defined period)
I attended classes several times. (repeated activity) I was attending classes often. (routine activity)

ERROR

I worked there a year ago. (indefinite time)

I was working there for a year. (defined period)

I attended classes several times. (repeated activity)

I was attending classes often. (routine activity)

Images

woman driving. pxhere, 31 Dec. 2016. CC0.

Practice

George's Study Abroad

Past Progressive versus Nonprogressive

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.

George to this country in 2007.

Feedback 1

He college classes everyday.

Feedback 2

He a writing class a writing class last semester.

Feedback 3

He attended regularly, studied hard, and very well.

Feedback 4

At home, in Athens, he with his parents.

Feedback 5

Here in the U.S., he with his uncle and his family.

Feedback 6

He home for visits twice a year.

Feedback 7

He home for good last month.

for good (expression) – forever

Feedback 8

George an engineering degree last June.

Feedback 9

10.

He working for an engineering firm a week after he returned home.

firm – a small company

Feedback 10

Practice 3

Camping Without a Tent

Read for Errors

By accident, we left our tent at home. We have no idea how to get by without a tent at night. The first night, we were hanging a string between two trees and throwed a blanket over it. However, the blanket falled in our faces, so we sleeping in the car. The next night, we tide the corners of the blanket down. The blanket was stayed in place, but the mosquitoes eating us alive.

As the campers next to us leaving, we ask to buy their old tent. They agree to sold it to us for very little money. Our problem was solved. The same day, we catched fish and fryed them. We staying up late and have a good time until the camp fire went out. So we called it a night, crawl into our tent and were falling peacefully asleep.

get by (phrasal verb) – survive with the minimum; live without something

ate us alive (expression) – bit or stung us several times

solve (V) – to find a way to fix or end a problem

the fire went out – was extinguished, the flame was gone

call it a night (expression) – end the late-evening or late-night activity
crawl (V) – move on hands and knees

Edit for errors.

Edit the sentence(s) in the text box.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.

16.

By accident, we left the tent at home. We have no idea how to get by without a tent at night.

Edit 16

Feedback 16

17.

The first night, we were hanging a rope between two trees and throwed a blanket over it.

Edit 17

Feedback 17

18.

However, the blanket falled in our faces, so we sleeping in the car.

Edit 18

Feedback 18

19.

The next night, we tide the corners of the blanket down.

Edit 19

Feedback 19

20.

The blanket was stayed in place, but the mosquitoes eating us alive.

Edit 20

Feedback 20

21.

As the campers next to us leaving, we ask to buy their old tent.

Edit 21

Feedback 21

22.

They agree to sold it to us for very little money. Our problem was solved.

Edit 22

Feedback 22

23.

The same day, we catched fish and fryed them.

Edit 23

Feedback 23

24.

We staying up late and have a good time until the camp fire went out.

Edit 24

Feedback 24

25.

So we called it a night, crawl into our tent and were falling peacefully asleep.

Edit 25

Feedback 25

Past vs. Past Progressive

Refer to earlier occurrences

In Context—Past vs. Past Progressive

Past vs. Past Progressive

Situations — Verbs in Context

Choose compatible adverbs for particular situations

Situation Expressed by Past vs. Progressive Verb

Past Adverbs (time expressions)

Specify the timing of an action or activity

Past Time Expressions — definite vs. indefinite timing

Verbs of Short and Long Duration

Pairing adverbs with verbs

Short or Long Duration?

Past Tense

Word Order

Word Order

Spelling Patterns

Suffixes

Regular & Irregular Suffixes (endings)

Double the consonant after a short vowel and add the suffix -ed.

Just a few past tense verbs with a doubled consonant

Irregular Spellings

Vowel Changes

Some Irregular Past Tense Verb Forms

Common Mistakes

Focus and Solutions

Error and Solution

Images

Practice

George's Study Abroad

Past Progressive versus Nonprogressive

Practice 2

A Weekend Trip

Correct or Incorrect?

Practice 3

Camping Without a Tent

Read for Errors

Edit for errors.