Past continuous or past progressive that has passed a long time in English is a verb tense that is used to show that a continuous action occurred at a particular moment in the past. It can also be used to show that one past action was interrupted by another action.
With his help, we show that two long ongoing actions took place simultaneously in the past. Find out more about cases and features of using the past long time in English in the article below. Enjoy reading! Let's start speaking English!
Past Continuous Forms: Past Elapsed Time
The formation of Past Continuous painfully resembles the wording of another progressive English time. Guess which one? Of course, Present Continuous!
As in Present, a long past tense in English is formed by combining the auxiliary verb to be and the participle. The only feature: the verb to be takes the form of Simple Past. Thus, after the subject in the singular, we use the form was, for the subjects in the plural - were. Well and, of course, don't forget the -ing verb or the so-called present participle. Consider some examples of the past long time in English.
- Student was stydying.
- Students were studying.
Transfer:
- The student studied.
- Students studied.
Denials and Questions
Now we turn to the negative and interrogative sentences in the past long time in the English language. Everything is extremely simple here and, as they say, according to the canon. The former are formed due to the negative particle not, which occupies a position after the auxiliary verb was / were.
- Student was not studying.
- Students were not studying.
Transfer:
- The student did not study.
- Students did not study.
Also, do not forget about the so-called contractions, or abbreviations used in everyday English speech and informal writing: was not takes the form wasn't, were not → weren't.
When it comes to interrogative sentences, there is a favorite inversion: the auxiliary verb takes a position in front of the subject. That's all. It remains only to put a question mark at the end of the sentence and change the intonation. If the question is special, that is, it begins with the words what, why, when, and so on, the auxiliary verb is placed after the question word and between the subject. Examples:
- Were students studying?
- What was student studying?
Transfer:
- Did students study?
- What did the student teach?
What are the main uses for this time?
The past long time in English: rules of use
If you try to generalize, then Past Continuous is used, first of all, to describe actions or events that began in the past and still occur during speech (the moment of speech is also the past). In other words, with the help of this grammatical time we express the unfinished or incomplete action in the past.
- They were waiting for the bus when the accident happened.
- Caroline was skiing when she broke her leg.
- When we arrived he was having a bath.
- When the fire started I was watching television.
Transfer:
- They were waiting for the bus when the accident happened.
- Caroline was skiing when she broke her leg.
- When we arrived, he was taking a bath.
- I watched TV when the fire started.
Past Continuous Tense is in most cases used to describe the background in a past tense story. For example, here is an exercise for the past long time in English. As we translate the following passage from the book using Past Continuous Tense: “The sun was shining and the birds were chirping when the elephant came out of the jungle. Other animals rested in the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly. She tried to find her child, and she did not pay attention to the hunter, who watched her through binoculars. When a shot rang out, she ran to the river. " Find a possible translation of the passage at the end of the article.
With it, we can also describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action in the past. For example, "I was sleeping sweetly when the alarm clock rang."
I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang.
One possible use of this time is to convey a change of opinion. For example, “I was going to spend a day on the beach, but instead I decided to do my homework.”
I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to get my homework done instead.
The verb to wonder in Past Continious helps express a polite request.
I was wondering if you could baby-sit for me tonight.
Translation: "I wanted to know if you could not sit today with the child in my place."
Feature # 1: Interrupted Action in the Past
Use Past Continuous to indicate that one action in the past, usually a longer one, was interrupted. The interruption action is usually shorter and more pronounced in Past Simple.
Remember that this can be a real interrupt or just an interrupt in time. For instance:
- I was watching TV when she called.
- When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
- While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
- What were you doing when the earthquake started?
- I was listening to music, so I didn't hear the fire alarm.
- You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off.
- While Alex was sleeping last night, someone broke his car.
- Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
- While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off.
Transfer:
- I watched TV when she called.
- She wrote a letter when the phone rang.
- While we were having a picnic, it started to rain.
- What did you do when the earthquake started?
- I listened to music, so I did not hear a siren about a fire alarm.
- You did not listen to me when I told you to turn off the oven.
- While Alex slept last night, someone crashed his car.
- Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
- While I was writing a letter, the computer suddenly turned off.
When one event in the past is more important than another, we can use Past Continuous for the background event (less important) and Past Simple for the main event.
Feature # 2: Concurrent Activities in the Past
If you use Past Continuous for several actions in one sentence, you express the idea that both actions occurred simultaneously: they are parallel.
- I was studying while he was making dinner.
- While Kris was cooking, Harry was reading newspaper.
- Were you listening while he was talking?
- I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made several mistakes.
- What were you doing while you were waiting?
- Thomas wasn't working, and I wasn't working either.
- They were eating dinner, discussing their plans, and having a good time.
Transfer:
- I studied while he was cooking dinner.
- While Chris was cooking, Harry was reading the newspaper.
- Did you listen while he spoke?
- While I was writing a letter, I did not pay attention, so I made a few mistakes.
- What did you do while you waited?
- Thomas did not work, and I did not work either.
- They had lunch, discussed their plans and had a good time.
We often use a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at a certain time in the past. “When I went into the office building, someone was busy typing, someone was talking on the phone, the boss was giving directions, and customers were waiting for help. One of the clients sorted out his relationship with the secretary and waved his hands furiously. Some clients complained of each other about poor service. ”
When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss was yelling directions, and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service.
Feature # 3: repetitive, annoying
With adverbs such as always (forever), forever (forever) and constantly (constantly), the past progressive time expresses the idea that something annoying or shocking often happened in the past.
Most often we use this design to express negative emotions, but it is also suitable for conveying information about a habit from the past that is not relevant now.
- She was always coming to class late.
- He was constantly talking. He annoyed everyone.
- I didn't like them because they were always complaining.
Transfer:
- She was always late for classes.
- He was constantly talking. He annoyed everyone.
- I did not like them because they always complained.
Above all, remember to always or constanly place between auxiliary and -ing verbs - this is the standard position of adverbs in a sentence that uses Past Continuous.
Function No. 4: Emphase
The elapsed long time can be used to emphasize: something lasted for some time. Such use is often optional, and we usually use it with the following time expressions: all day (all day) or all evening (all evening) or for hours (whole hours). For instance:
- I was working in the garden all day.
- He was reading all evening.
Transfer:
- I worked in the garden all day.
- He read all evening.
Such a grammatical construction emphasizes that the event continued for some specific time period in the past.
Note: using while and when
In English, some of the subordinate sentences expressing time begin with words such as when (when) and while (when, while). For example, when she called (“when she called”) or while she was sleeping (“while she was sleeping”).
When we talk about actions in the past, when is most often followed by a verb in the form of Past Simple (simple past tense), while after while we should use a verb in the form of Past Continuous (past tense). While expresses the idea of "for some time." Study the examples below: they have similar meanings, but emphasize different parts of the sentence.
- I was studying when she called.
- While I was studying, she called.
Transfer:
- I studied when she called.
- While I was studying, she called.
What other features should be remembered?
Non-continuous verbs, or verbs that cannot be used for a long time
It is important to remember that some verbs cannot be used for a long time.
In addition, some of them may have different meanings depending on the time used. Pay attention to the following examples:
- Jane was being at my house when you arrived. Wrong
- Jane was at my house when you arrived. Right
Translation: "Jane was at my house when you arrived."
Past Continuous vs. Past perfect continuous
Let's try to figure out how the past perfect long time in English differs from the time that we have already considered? If you do not take into account the grammatical construction of Past Perfect Continuous, this time is primarily used to express longer actions or situations that continued until a certain point in the past.
By that time I had been studying in London for three years.
Translation: “By then I had been studying in London for three years.”
The fact is that Past Continuous just shows continuity. The past completed long time in English also emphasizes the idea of duration. It is mainly used to indicate the duration of an action or condition in the past. Compare:
- When I found Susie, I could see that she had been crying.
- When I found Susie, she was crying.
Transfer:
- When I met Susie, you could see that she was crying (for a while).
- When I met Susie, she was crying (a long action in the past, interrupted by another action in the past).
Remember the translation exercise? One of the possible options is presented below.
The sun was shining and the birds were singing as the elephant came out of the jungle. The other animals were relaxing in the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly. She was looking for her baby, and she didn't notice the hunter who was watching her through his binoculars. When the shot rang out, she was running towards the river ...
Good luck in mastering the material! May the force be with you.