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Chien-Chiao Wang Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Which one is grammatically correct.

I have a question about the verb tense.

should I said: "I was hiking in the mountain last Wednesday", or "I hiked in the mountain last Wednesday"?

or should I said "I was doing chores this morning" or "I did chores this morning"?

I thought "ing" is for the present tense, so it didn't make sense to me. Can you explain!!

thanks
  

Top answer

The progressive tense, in its simple form, describes an action in progress. In the present progressive, the action is taking place now; in the past progressive, the action is taking place at either an understood, or a specified time. Whether you chose the simple past or the past progressive depends really on what you wish to address.

— Cymbol

  • The progressive tense, in its simple form, describes an action in progress.
  • In the present progressive, the action is taking place now; in the past progressive, the action is taking place at either an understood, or a specified time.
  • Whether you chose the simple past or the past progressive depends really on what you wish to address.
  • So what were you doing last Wednesday when you spotted the UFO?
  • I was hiking in the mountain last Wednesday (when I spotted those strange lights on the horizon).
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3 Answers
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The progressive tense, in its simple form, describes an action in progress.

In the present progressive, the action is taking place now; in the past progressive, the action is taking place at either an understood, or a specified time. Whether you chose the simple past or the past progressive depends really on what you wish to address.

So what were you doing last Wednesday when yo
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Hi,

A small point.

I was hiking in the mountain.

No. Say -

I was hiking on a/the mountain.

I was hiking in the mountains.

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Chien-Chiao ****I thought "ing" is for the present tense
No! -ing is for any tense. It makes the aspect of the tense "continuous". For every tense without -ing there is a corresponding tense with -ing.

He walks. - He is walking.

He walked. - He was walking.

He will walk. - He will be walking.

He has w
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