was or did? What do I need to use?

Question

1. I was reading poetry.

or

2. I did reading poetry.

What the option is right and why?

Answer 1

"I was reading poetry" is correct grammar. "I did reading poetry." is not.

More details:

1. "I was reading poetry" - Past imperfect tense - Emphasizes the action that happened. - "At some time in the past, I was in the process of reading poetry."

2. "I did read poetry." - Past perfect tense - Emphasizes the time the action happened, or confirms the action was actually done (when someone says otherwise). - "I am confirming that I read poetry" (confirmation) or "I used to read poetry, but I don't do that anymore." (time)

Answer 2

I was reading poetry.

It was past continuous which talks about a continuous activity at a point of time in the past.

I did reading poetry.

The above sentence is wrong.

I did read poetry.The sentence is correct.

The above is not past perfect as some user called it so but it is simple past which is used to emphasize an activity

Infact, I read poetry means( I did read poetry) since its negative is I did not read poetry.