Cum se formează Past Continuous?
Formăm Past Continuous în felul următor: Was/Were + [Verb + ING]
- Verbul to be este la trecut: was sau were, în funcție de persoană/număr.
- Adăugăm terminația -ing verbului principal.
Punctăm faptul că Past Continuous se mai numește și Past Progressive pentru că se referă la acțiuni care erau, într-un anumit moment din trecut, în desfășurare (in progress).
Când folosim Past Continuous?
Past Continuous se folosește atunci când ne referim la acțiuni întrerupte din trecut (interrupted actions in the past).
e.g.: He was talking to Jeremy when I took that photo.
He was talking to Jeremy → acțiunea întreruptă (Past Continuous)
when I took that photo. → acțiunea care cauzează întreruperea (Past Simple)
Cazuri de utilizare:
- o acțiune din trecut întreruptă de o altă acțiune din trecut:
He was talking to Jeremy when I took that photo. - o acțiune din trecut întreruptă de un moment specific:
They were watching a movie yesterday at 10 p.m. - acțiuni concomitente din trecut:
The girls were preparing the meat while the boys were chopping sticks for the fire. - pentru descrierea atmosferei într-un moment din trecut:
When I arrived at Ruby’s place, Ruby was playing with the cats, Clara was making a cake and Brian and Jeremy were discussing politics.
Afirmativ / Interogativ / Negativ
Parcurge următorul tabel pentru a afla cum construim timpul verbal Past Continuous la afirmativ, interogativ și negativ.
| Afirmativ | Interogativ | Negativ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persoana I, sg. | I was eating pizza. | Was I eating pizza? | I was not eating pizza. |
| Persoana a II-a, sg. | You were listening to music. | Were you listening to music? | You were not listening to music. |
| Persoana a III-a, sg. | He was talking to Clara She was talking to Jeremy. The dog was sleeping. | Was he talking to Clara? Was she talking to Jeremy? Was the dog sleeping? | He was not talking to Clara. She was not talking to Jeremy. The dog was not sleeping. |
| Persoana I, pl. | We were washing the dishes. | Were we washing the dishes? | We were not washing the dishes. |
| Persoana a II-a, pl. | You were cleaning the room. | Were you cleaning the room? | You were not cleaning the room. |
| Persoana a III-a, pl. | They were surfing the Internet. | Were they surfing the Internet? | They were not surfing the Internet. |
When & While
Conjuncțiile when și while sunt folosite foarte frecvent în fraze care conțin verbe la Past Continuous.
When este urmat de Past Simple.
He was talking to Jeremy when I took that photo.
While este urmat de Past Continuous.
The girls were preparing the meat while the boys were chopping sticks for the fire.
Alte observații
1. În cazul lui Past Continuous, putem folosi contrageri doar în propozițiile negative:
- I/He/She/It wasn’t sleeping yesterday evening at 10 o’clock.
- You/We/You/They weren’t sleeping yesterday evening at 10 o’clock.
2. În limba română, Past Continuous se traduce folosind timpul imperfect.