The past progressive tense potion helps us describe an action that was not yet finished and was already in progress in the past.

A verb phrase, the simple predicate, may contain either a main verb alone or a helping verb with a main verb. Tense expresses time, and time is just as important as word meaning.

When we connect what we already know to new information, we can better choose the correct tense to express time clearly.

Tenses Overview

• Simple present tense relays information that is true today and gives the impression of timelessness or ongoing relevance.
• Present progressive tense shows that the action or state of being is currently in progress. The task is incomplete and presently being addressed.
• Simple past tense describes a completed action or a stative verb.

Past Progressive Tense

The past progressive tense describes an action that was in progress at a specific moment in the past and was not yet completed.

Sometimes, textbooks, articles, and teachers say that stative verbs cannot be used in a progressive tense. This statement is true for many stative verbs, but not all of them. Some stative verbs can appear in the past progressive when the meaning becomes temporary, active, or dynamic. If a stative verb is used in a progressive tense, it is no longer functioning as a true stative verb. Instead, the progressive aspect shifts its meaning to a dynamic one.

Stative verbs related to existence, possession, and certain senses are generally not used in the past progressive tense. For example, verbs such as “be” and “look” usually do not work in this tense when they express a state rather than an action.

Stative VerbPast Progressive Tense
May be Used	Generally not Used
feel	be
hope	have
wish	know
consider	understand
wonder	like
want	own
think	believe
love	seem
	sound

Examples

• Correct: I was feeling angry last night.
• Incorrect: I was looking good last night.
• Corrected: I looked good last night.

Time Expressions

Adverbial phrases are often used to place action in the past by:

• Providing a specific point in time, or
• Indicating a span of time during which the action took place

We will add adverbial phrases to our sentence in a later lesson.

Past Progressive Tense Formula

Potion Formula for Past Progressive Tense→ past form of “to be + present participle

The subject determines the correct past form of the auxiliary verb to be, which is then followed by the present participle.

		“to be” Auxiliary	Present Participle
Singular	1st person	was	Present participle
	2nd person	were	Present participle
	3rd person	was	Present participle
Plural	1st person	were	Present participle
	2nd person	were	Present participle
	3rd person	were	Present participle

Present Participle Spelling Rules

1. For most one-syllable verbs ending in one vowel letter followed by one consonant letter, double the final consonant and add “-ing.” 

• Example: run → running

This rule does not usually apply when the final consonant is w, x, or y.

• Example: fix → fixing

It also does not apply when the vowel sound is written with a vowel team or when the final consonant is part of a multi-letter spelling pattern.

2. When a multi-syllable verb ends in a stressed final syllable with one vowel letter followed by one consonant letter, double the final consonant before adding “-ing.”

• Example: admit → admitting

But if the final syllable is not stressed, do not double the final consonant.

• Example: open → opening

A stressed syllable is pronounced with more force or clarity than an unstressed syllable. An unstressed vowel often reduces to the schwa sound /ə/ or a reduced vowel, as in the first syllable of about or the final syllable of sofa.

3. When a verb ends in a consonant plus silent “-e,” drop the “-e” before adding “-ing.”

• Example: come → coming

4. Do not drop the letter “-e” in “be.”

• Example: be → being

5. If no other rule applies, add “-ing.”

• Example: drink → drinking

It is not about memorizing these rules. Please put them in your own words, so you can remember how to create a participle. However, these rules will help you throughout these lessons!

Examples

• I was studying magic.
• She was singing songs.
• They were walking home.
• We were hoping for good news.

Preview Note: “For good news” is a prepositional phrase, which we will study later.

Note: In “were hoping,” the verb “hope” appears in a progressive tense. Here, it is not functioning as a true stative verb. The progressive aspect shifts its meaning to a dynamic one.

Potion Insight

Use the past progressive when you want your reader to picture an action unfolding in the past rather than ending in the past.

Think of it this way:

• Simple past = the action is finished
• Past progressive = the action was still unfolding at that past moment

Compare:

• Simple past: The wizard mixed the potion.
• Past progressive: The wizard was mixing the potion.

The first sentence tells us the action was completed.

The second sentence shows the action was in progress at that moment in the past.

Boxing in Phrases

Words of Wisdom

“A wise person knows a storm may never come, but he should be prepared to survive it.”