Past continuous Form:
(or past progressive tense)
How can we make the past continuous? Firstly, check that you know how to make the past simple with 'be' (subject + was / were). Then just add verb-ing.
Here's the positive form:
- I was sleeping
- you were working
- he was coming
- she was reading 'War and Peace'
- it was raining
- we were shopping
- they were watching a film
- I was not (wasn't) sleeping
- you were not (weren't) working
- he was not (wasn't) coming
- she was not (wasn't) reading 'War and Peace'
- it was not (wasn't) raining
- we were not (weren't) shopping
- they were not (weren't) watching a film
- Was I listening?
- Were you working?
- Was she working?
- Was he living in Paris at the time?
- Was it snowing when you arrived?
- Were we eating?
- Were they studying?
- Why was I working?
- Where were you living?
- How was she travelling?
- Where was he going?
- Why was it snowing in the summer?
- What were we eating?
- Why were they studying?
Past Continuous Use:
The past continuous tense in English is used quite often, especially when telling stories.
1 | A continuous action in the past which is interrupted by another action or a time: I was taking a bath when the telephone rang. At three o’clock, I was working. |
2 | Background information, to give atmosphere to a story: It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in the cafes people were laughing and chatting. |
3 | An annoying and repeated action in the past, usually with ‘always’: He was always leaving the tap running. (In the same way as the Present Continuous) |
4 | For two actions which happened at the same time in the past: I was watching TV and he was reading. |
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario