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Was Drowning When Somebody Jumped Into The Water and Saved Him

The past progressive (was/were + verb+ing) can be used instead of the past simple to express incomplete or ongoing actions in the past. Some key differences are: 1) The past progressive implies an action was ongoing and possibly interrupted, while the past simple implies a completed action. 2) The past progressive allows for the possibility of a change or interruption, while the past simple sees the event as a complete totality. 3) The past progressive can indicate a temporary state versus a permanent one expressed by the past simple. 4) The past progressive focuses on the continuity of an activity, while the past simple emphasizes the action was complete.

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24 views

Was Drowning When Somebody Jumped Into The Water and Saved Him

The past progressive (was/were + verb+ing) can be used instead of the past simple to express incomplete or ongoing actions in the past. Some key differences are: 1) The past progressive implies an action was ongoing and possibly interrupted, while the past simple implies a completed action. 2) The past progressive allows for the possibility of a change or interruption, while the past simple sees the event as a complete totality. 3) The past progressive can indicate a temporary state versus a permanent one expressed by the past simple. 4) The past progressive focuses on the continuity of an activity, while the past simple emphasizes the action was complete.

Uploaded by

Livia Moreanu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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(2) Past simple versus past progressive: The past progressive can be used instead of the past

simple when we want to express some slight differences in meaning:


a) Unlike the past simple which expresses a complete action in the past, the past progressive is
used to express an incomplete action. Compare:
I was reading a book last night (An incomplete act. I didnt finish it)
I read a book last night. (A complete act)
Especially with achievement verbs there is a sharp difference between the two variants:
He was dying. / He died.
He was drowning in the lake, so the lifeguard raced into the water. (incomplete)
/ He drowned in the lake. (complete)
The variants with the past simple imply that the event actually took place (death, drowning),
while in the variants with the past progressive the event did not take place if it was interrupted: He
was drowning when somebody jumped into the water and saved him.
b) Past simple sees the event as a totality with no room for change; past progressive indicates that
an event has already begun and extends the event in time and thus allows for a change or its
interruption:
He left when I came in.
He was leaving when I came in. (and so may have changed his mind and stayed.
c) Permanent versus temporary state:
They lived in London all their lives. (past permanent)
They were living in London during the seventies. (past temporary)
d) The past progressive is used if we are interested in the continuity of an activity; the past simple
is preferred if the activity itself is the chief interest and if we want to emphasize that the action was
complete:
My knees shook. (this could mean my knees shook for a defined period of time e.g. a few
seconds then stopped)
My knees were shaking. (an ongoing process at the point in the past the speaker is referring
to)
What were you doing all morning?
What did you do this morning?
She was writing letters all afternoon.
She wrote some /five letters in the afternoon.
The past progressive is used for apparently continuous, uninterrupted actions. The past simple
must be used if we indicate the number of times the action happened:
She was solving problems all afternoon.
She solved ten problems in the afternoon.
e) The past progressive can be used as an alternative to a past simple form to indicate a more casual,
less deliberate action:
I was talking to John the other day.
I talked to John the other day (the past simple expresses a deliberate action: it indicates that
the
subject I - took the initiative and started the conversation.
f) The past progressive with the verb wonder has a polite meaning:
I was wondering if you could help me.
With the verb think the past progressive suggests uncertainty:
I was thinking of having a party next week.
3. The past progressive is used with verbs of non-durative activity to express a frequently repeated
action in the past, often an annoying habit. A frequency adverb is necessary: always, forever,
continually, all the time, etc.
When Tom was younger he was always getting into trouble
Tom was always ringing me up late at night.
She was asking questions all the time.
4. Anticipated event use
Just as the present progressive can be used to express a definite future arrangement (I am leaving
tonight), so the past progressive can express a definite future arrangement seen from the past (an
action already arranged and sure to happen). It is the future in the past form of the present
progressive.
Dan was busy packing, for he was leaving the next day.
He was leaving for the country on Saturday.
The contest was taking place the next day.
The verb is used with an adverb of future time: the next day, on Saturday express the future
moment at which the action was anticipated to take place.
The past progressive can refer to future in the past especially in indirect speech (the past
equivalent of the present progressive):
When I told Pam I was getting married next month she wouldnt believe me.
5. The past progressive sometimes refers to plans that did not materialize (unfulfilled past
intention):
I was coming to see you tomorrow but now I find I cant.
More frequently we find the form going to instead: I was going to tell you myself (but I find you
already know). The going to form would not be used in the sentence above for stylistic reasons
we would not say *I was going to come to see you tomorrow.

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