1

Past Progressive
and Simple Past

Someone Stole His

Briefcase!
Focus on Grammar 3
Part I, Unit 4
By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells
Copyright 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reporting
Reporting to
to the
the Police
Police 11
It was
about
ten of
in coffee,
the
I was
having
a cup
morning,
andwatching
I was sitting
and I was
the in
Maxis
Cafinnear
people
the City
caf.Park.
What
Whatdid
were
you
yousee?
doing?

Reporting
Reporting to
to the
the Police
Police 22
Tomy
myright,
left,there
therewas
wasanother
a youngyoung
man. He
was
To
woman.
She
Suddenly,
man.
He
drinking
coffee
and
reading
newspaper.
A it
was
eating
a red
huge
dish
of ice
cream.
Shewith
snatched
the
briefcase
anda
ran
away
big
red
briefcase
standing
nexthappening.
to his feet.
was
enjoying
it. was
so
fast
that
no one
knew
what was
After the man stole the briefcase,
we were all talking loudly. The
owner of the briefcase was very
upset!

Past
Past Progressive
Progressive
Use the past progressive to describe an action
that was in progress at a specific time in the past.
I was having coffee.
She was eating ice cream.
10 a.m.
now
past

was having
was eating

future

Be
Be Careful!
Careful!
Non-action verbs are not usually used in the
progressive. Note the exception with have.
I was
I had
having
a headache.
a headache.
I was having coffee.
She was having ice cream.
Here the meaning
of have is eat or drink.
drink

Past
Past Progressive
Progressive &
& Simple
Simple Past
Past 11
Use past progressive with simple past to describe an
action that was interrupted by another action.

They were enjoying the

morning when the thief
stole the briefcase.
stole
past

were enjoying

now

future

Past
Past Progressive
Progressive &
& Simple
Simple Past
Past 22
Use past progressive for the action in progress. Use
when and the simple past for the action that interrupts.

The man was reading the

newspaper when the thief
snatched his briefcase.
snatched
past

was reading

now

future

Past
Past Progressive
Progressive &
& Simple
Simple Past
Past 33
Use past progressive to focus on the duration of an action.
Use simple past to focus on the completion of an action.

I was sitting in Maxis Caf

and watching people.
the people there.
The thief stole the briefcase
and ran away.
past

now
was sitting / was watching

future

Practice 1

What were you and others

doing? Answer the questions
using the past progressive.

Example:
What were you doing when I called this morning?
I was trying to wake up when you called.
called
1. What were you doing when the phone rang last night?
2. What were your friends doing at 6 p.m. yesterday evening?
3. What were you doing last weekend?
4. What was the teacher doing when you first saw her/him today?

Past
Past Progressive
Progressive with
with While
While 11
Use past progressive with while to describe two
actions in progress at the same time in the past.

The man was reading

the newspaper while the
woman was eating her
ice cream.
now
past

was reading
was eating

future

Past
Past Progressive
Progressive with
with While
While 22
Use past progressive with while to describe two
actions in progress at the same time in the past.

While I was describing

While
the theft,
theft, the
the police
police
the
officer was
was writing
writing
officer
everything down.
down.
everything
past

now
was describing
was writing

future

Time
Time Clauses
Clauses
The time clause (= the part with while or when) can
come at the beginning or the end of the sentence.
no
co
mm
a

They were having coffee

when the thief snatched the briefcase.

When the thief snatched the briefcase

they were having coffee.
!!!
a!
m
com

Be
Be Careful!
Careful!
Sentences with both clauses in the simple past have a
different meaning from sentences with one clause in the
simple past and one in the past progressive.

When the waiter came,

came
I looked at the menu.
When the waiter came,
came
I was looking at the menu.
came
past came

was looking
looked

now

First
Firstthe
thewaiter
waiter
came;
came;then
thenI I
looked
lookedat
atthe
the
First
I
was
menu.
First
I was
menu.
looking
lookingat
atthe
the
menu;
menu;then
thenthe
the
waiter
waitercame.
came.

future

Practice 2

Form sentences with while.

Use the past progressive.

Example: read / steal

While the man was reading,
reading the prisoner was stealing his
wallet.

1. talk / drink
4. not look / burn
3. play / watch
5. talk / sit
2. shine / splash
4.
While
the
woman
was
not
looking,
the
toast
was
looking
5.
was
talking
onfountain
the
phone,
the
man
was
3.
one
manwas
was
playing
pool,
the
other
man
was
1.While
women
were
talking,
they
were
drinking
tea.
talking
2.
Whilethe
thewoman
sun
shining,
the
was
splashing.
shining
splashing
burning.
burning
sitting
in the chair.
watching.
watching

References
References
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education and
its licensors. All rights reserved.