Did you know that the past progressive tense is a powerful tool for describing ongoing actions in the past?
Okay, yeah, that sounds dramatic. But let me tell you what past progressive REALLY is: it’s the tense you use when you need to paint a picture of what was happening at a specific moment in the past, especially when something interrupted it.
“I was studying for my exams when the power went out.”
Your listener/reader can picture you hunched over your books, intensely focused, when suddenly everything goes dark.
That’s the beauty of past progressive. It sets the scene and creates context. It shows what was already in progress when something else happened.
And once your students understand WHEN and WHY to use it, they’ll stop just listing past events and start telling stories.
What Is Past Progressive?
Past progressive describes actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past or actions that were interrupted by something else.
The structure is simple: was/were + verb-ing
I was studying when the power went out.
They were cooking dinner when the smoke alarm went off.
See the pattern? You’ve got an ongoing action (studying, cooking, walking) that gets interrupted by a shorter action (power going out, alarm going off).
Past progressive can also describe multiple actions happening simultaneously in the past:
She was walking to work while it was raining.
While I was cooking dinner, my roommate was doing the dishes, and my friend was setting the table.
This paints a complete picture of the scene. Someone is getting soaked on their way to work. To get dinner ready, everyone was doing something at the same time, working together.
Why Students Need the Past Progressive
Students often default to simple past for everything: “I studied. The power went out.” And okay, that’s technically correct, but it’s flat, right? No context. No sense of interruption or timing.
Past progressive adds depth: “I was studying when the power went out.” Now we know studying was already happening when the interruption occurred.
It’s weird how there isn’t any push-back when it comes to present progressive. Tell them that it’s the difference between reporting facts and telling a story. They need both skills. (And brace yourself for tacking the future progressive with them.)
Teach with Example Sentences That Don’t Bore Everyone
Sure, you can use dry textbook sentences like “She was cooking dinner when the doorbell rang.” That’s grammatically correct and completely forgettable.
Or you can use creative, funny examples that actually get students’ attention:
We were having a picnic at the beach when a seagull stole our sandwich.
I was trying to fix the toaster when I accidentally set the kitchen on fire.
She was putting on her socks when she fell off the bed.
I was taking a shortcut through the park when I got lost and ended up in the wrong neighborhood.
He was trying to teach his parrot to talk when it started repeating everything he said in a British accent.
She was belting out show tunes in the shower when her roommates walked in on her.
He was tap dancing on the table when the waiter asked him to leave.
See how much more memorable these are? If funny or creative examples grabbed YOUR attention, they’ll work on your students too.
Use humor. Use absurdity. Use scenarios students can relate to or laugh about. Grammar doesn’t have to be boring just because it’s grammar.
Four Past Progressive Activities That Make Grammar Fun
Look, worksheets and task cards definitely have their place. We can all acknowledge that they’re solid for helping adults get the mechanics down. But here’s the thing: activities get your students using past progressive in the moment, reacting and thinking on their feet in ways that filling in blanks just can’t replicate, and that’s when a different kind of learning happens.
1. Short Past Progressive Dialogues
Pair and small group work gives students practice using past progressive in realistic conversation.
Have students create and act out short dialogues where past progressive naturally appears. Encourage creativity with roles and scenarios:
- Two roommates: “I was trying to be quiet when I accidentally stepped on your cat.”
- Teacher and student: “I was doing my homework when I found a silly mistake.”
- Customer and salesperson: “I was looking for the cheese when I smelled something bad.”
How to run this activity:
1. Divide the class into pairs or small groups (3-4 students).
2. Have each group come up with a scenario involving past progressive. This could be friends, coworkers, family members, or someone interacting with a service provider (doctor, server, etc.).
3. Have students brainstorm dialogue exchanges using past progressive:
“I was making breakfast when I realized I was out of eggs.”
“I was driving to work when I got a flat tire.”
“I was trying to order coffee, but the barista was having trouble understanding my accent.”
4. Each group chooses one dialogue and writes it out.
5. Groups take turns presenting their dialogues to the class. The rest listen attentively and ask questions.
6. After each presentation, allow time for discussion and feedback. Talk about how well they used past progressive and give suggestions for improvement.
This activity helps students practice past progressive while developing conversation skills and building confidence in speaking English. Plus, it gets students interacting and working together as a team.
2. Picture Prompts for Past Progressive
This one works great for visual learners.
How to run it:
- Gather pictures depicting different actions or scenes. Find these online, in magazines, or in books.
- Print out or display the pictures for students to see.
- Give students a few minutes to look at pictures and brainstorm sentences using past progressive to describe what’s happening in each one. Encourage descriptive vocabulary and attention to context.
- Go over pictures as a group. Have students share their sentences. Encourage them to listen to each other and give feedback or suggestions.
- Write sentences on the board for reference. This helps students who struggle with past progressive by providing examples of correct formation.
- Wrap up by reviewing any challenges they faced and reinforcing key points.
You can modify this for different skill levels. For advanced students, challenge them to create longer, more detailed sentences or come up with complex scenarios. For lower-level students, use simpler pictures and shorter sentences to help them focus on basics.
I once used a picture of someone looking startled at a computer, and my students came up with scenarios that sounded suspiciously like things that happened in real life. (They completely denied it and insisted it was creativity only.)
Their “creativity” made the grammar practice memorable. (Yeah, I still don’t believe them.)
3. Past Progressive Bingo
Bingo is a fun, interactive way to review and reinforce past progressive while giving students practice listening and understanding spoken English at a natural pace.
How to set it up:
Create bingo boards with past progressive verbs in the squares: working, studying, cooking, driving, watching, listening, singing, dancing, reading, writing. Include more advanced verbs to challenge students.
How to play:
Give each student a bingo board. Then, read out past progressive sentences using the verbs on the board, and have the students mark off the corresponding verb on their board. For example, if you say, “I was HMMMM on my computer,” and “working” is on the student’s bingo board, they would mark it off. The first student to get five in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) calls out “BINGO!” and wins the round.
Want to make this more challenging? Fill the bingo squares with sentence endings. Read out the beginning, and students will have to listen closely and pay attention to context to mark the ending that matches. For example, if you read “They were playing basketball,” students would mark “when the ball suddenly deflated.” Be sure to create this in a way each sentence beginning only has one ending that would make sense.
This forces students to really listen and think about context, not just recognize vocabulary.
4. Past Progressive Story Creation
Short story creation gives students practice using past progressive in creative, engaging ways.
Have students work in pairs or small groups to create a short story using past progressive. Encourage creativity and variety of verbs. They can choose any topic or genre they like.
As they work, encourage descriptive language and details to make stories more interesting. They should pay attention to sequence of events and use past progressive appropriately to describe what was happening at different points in the story.
Once finished, have them present their stories to the class. This could be a short play, a slide presentation, or simply reading aloud. Encourage expressive language and gestures to bring stories to life and engage the audience.
This activity helps students practice past progressive while developing writing and speaking skills. It gets students working together as a team, and it’s genuinely fun.
To get them started, give them an example like the time you were preparing a fancy dinner when the cat knocked over the soup. And while you were cleaning up the mess, the oven caught fire. And then, of course, while you were putting out the fire, all your guests arrived early. Then they got bored and walked into the kitchen while you were frantically heating up frozen pizza. The more chaotic and hilarious of an example you can give (with a completely straight face), the more fun they’ll have creating their own stories.
5 Tips for Giving Feedback That Helps
Providing feedback during past progressive activities will absolutely help your students improve. Here’s how to do it effectively:
1: Focus on Content AND Language: Pay attention to what students are saying AND how they’re saying it. Are they using past progressive accurately? Are they using it in appropriate contexts? Are they varying their vocabulary and sentence structures? Note what they’re doing well and what needs improvement.
2: Be Specific and Constructive: Instead of “Your dialogue was good,” say “I liked how you used past progressive to describe actions happening in the scene. Maybe you could try using more descriptive vocabulary to make the dialogue more interesting.” Avoid general or negative comments. Focus on offering specific suggestions for improvement.
3: Encourage Self-Assessment: Ask students to reflect on their own use of past progressive. What did they do well? What could they improve? This helps them become more independent learners and develop their own skills.
4: Provide Additional Resources: If students struggle with a particular aspect of past progressive, provide extra help. This could be a worksheet, a video, or access to your task card library. Give them tools to practice on their own.
5: Be Positive and Supportive: Give positive reinforcement and support as students learn and practice. Encourage them to take risks and try new things. Recognize their efforts and progress. This builds confidence and motivation to continue learning. Students who feel supported are more willing to experiment with language and make mistakes, which is how real learning happens.
The Bottom Line
Past progressive isn’t just about adding -ing to verbs and slapping was/were in front. Your students are painting pictures, setting scenes, and showing what was already happening when something else occurred.
Teaching past progressive gives students a fancy filter to give their English more oomph, have more details, and be more engaging. With past progressive, they can describe interruptions, set scenes, and show multiple actions happening simultaneously.
So use creative examples and make those activities interactive and fun. Give students opportunities to practice in realistic contexts.
That’s it from me. See you in the next post!
Want some ready-to-use past progressive grammar resources?
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Keep reading for more adult ESL grammar!
4 Fun Simple Past Activities for Adult ESL
