One of the main sections of English grammar is Past Long Time, or, as it is called more often in the native language, Past Continuous. The rules for the practical application of this time are simple, and it will be easiest to learn them using examples. The article below will provide suggestions in which this past tense form most often sounds. Based on them, we can understand that it is quite common.
When do we use this time?
More often than not, in order to talk about some kind of long-term action that had its place in the past, it is Past Continuous that is used. The rules for applying this time are based on the fact that someone did something (played, walked, searched, waited, and so on), but there is no information that the action was over. An example is the following sentence: When you came, I was taking a lesson . “When you arrived, I was in class.” Similarly, you can say “I played the guitar”, “I painted”, “I swam” and much more.
Building a simple sentence
Now a little deeper into the past Continuous grammar of time . The rules for constructing sentences are based on the use of the keyword - the verb to be in its various forms, which vary depending on the number. So, for the singular, the verb “be” in the past tense will sound like was , but if we are talking about the plural, then were used. Thus, you can divide the pronouns into two groups: for I (I), He (he), She (she) and It (it), the was form is suitable, and for You (you), We (we) and They (they) , respectively, were form. Here are some sample sentences.
He was looking for something intresting. - He was looking for something interesting.
You were playing the flute. “You played the flute.”
We were smocking. - We smoked.
Ask a question in Past Continuous
Now let's move on to building interrogative sentences in Past Continuous. The rules are that you need to place this very auxiliary verb to be in the first place, and then just put all the other words to it:
Was he looking for something intresting ? “Was he looking for something interesting?”
Were you playing the flute ? - Did you play the flute?
If you need to refute something
The negative form of a given tense is constructed in the same way as the positive one, only after the verb to be there is now a negation not , which can be reduced as follows:
He was not (wasn't) looking for something intresting. - He was not looking for anything interesting.
You were not (weren't) play the flute. “You didn't play the flute.”
Other long English times
More complicated, but still quite often used time in English is Past Perfect Continuous. The rules for the practical application of this temporary form are as follows: one moment from the past is described that has ended by another moment, or has not ended. As an example, consider these sentences:
I have been waiting bus for over an hour, and then called taxi. - I waited for the bus for an hour, and then called a taxi.
Suggestions are built thanks to a combination of the verbs have and to be , where the latter is pronounced in the third form - been . Thus, for the pronouns I , as well as You , We and They, we say have been , and for He , She and It - has been .
A few common words
Most often, after using the above two times in a sentence, further actions are described using Past Simple time. Past Continuous (the rules are described above) may indicate a certain lasting action in the past during which something specific happened (While I was washing, you rang the doorbell). Past Perfect Continuous always shows us how something long lasts and then is interrupted by a specific event.
The use of both of these times is widespread both in America and in all other English-speaking countries of the world. Often auxiliary verbs are abbreviated, attributed in the form of endings to words, but without them, any sentence changes its original meaning.