Past Continuous Tense

Past Continuous Tense digunakan untuk menyatakan peristiwa yang SEDANG TERJADI juga, tetapi sedang terjadi sekarang, melainkan sedang terjadi tetapi DULU, tetapi sudah lewat. Loh sedang kok lewat? bukannya sedang itu artinya masa kini alias sekarang?. Oh ada juga sedang dulu. Mari kita bahas tuntas.
Seperti arti katanya, Past berarti “sudah lewat”, sedangkan Continuous artinya “sedang”. Contohnya gini:
Kemarin teman saya datang ke rumah saya, gedor-gedor pintu, tetapi nda ada yang buka. Padahal saya ada di rumah, tetapi saat itu tuh “Saya sedang tidur!”. Kapan sedang tidurnya? Kemarin, saat teman saya itu datang. Bukan sekarang kan? Tetapi sedang loh! Itulah Past Continuous Tense.

Rumus Past Continuous Tense
Positif: S + was/were + Ving
Negatif: S + was/were + NOT + Ving
Tanya: Was/Were + S + Ving

Contohnya:
I was sleeping when my friend came to my house yesterday
Lihat tuh, “I was sleeping” adalah bagian Past Continuous Tensenya. Sedang tidurnya itu kemarin, saat teman saya datang ke rumah.
Jadi, Past Continuous Tense ini mirip banget rumusnya dengan Present Continuous Tense, bedanya di TOBE nya yang menjadi bentuk kedua.
Ingat-ingat perubahan dan pasangan TO BE nya ya.
Tobe: is, am berubah menjadi WAS
Tobe: are berubah menajdi WERE
I, She, He, It, John, Merry pasangannya adalah WAS
We, They, John and Merry pasangannya adalah WERE.
Contoh kalimat lainnya:
-They were learning in the classroom when I came
Mereka lagi belajar di kelas ketika saya datang.
- I was writing
- Joko was sleeping
- … Ayo anda tambahkan sendiri

Kalimat Negatif Untuk Past Continuous Tense

Gampang bangets nih, tinggal pake rumusnya, tambahkan NOT setelah Tobe (was/were). Ingat rumusnya kan? Yes, Anda benar, rumusnya: S + was/were + NOT + Ving. Misalnya dari contoh sederhana yang terakhir diatas, menjadi:
- I was NOT writing …
- Joko was NOT sleeping …
- … ayo Anda buat yang lain.

Kalimat Tanya Past Continuous Tense

Kembali lagi gampang sekali, yang penting Anda sudah faham penggunaannya seperti saya terangkan diatas. Untuk bikin kalimat tanya tinggal TOBE nya (was atau were) di depan. Berikut ini dari contoh diatas akan menjadi:
- Was I writing ….?
Biasanya sih kalo bertanya kan gak nanya sendiri, karena itu lebih sering contoh-contoh yang ada dibuku pake YOU, sehingga menjadi:
- Were You writing …?
Contoh lain:
- Was Joko Sleeping …?
Tentu saja Anda bisa membuat kalimat yang sangat panjang untuk contoh-contoh ini. Saya bikin ringkas saja agar mudah difahami. Kapan akan lancar bahkan tanpa mikir lagi Anda bisa menggunakan kalimat-kalimat Past Continuous Tense ini? Jawabnya adalah ketika Anda sering memakainya, baik dalam menulis ataupun berbicara. Tul?
Tambahan:
Yes, kalimat Past Continuous Tense sering digandeng dengan Past Tense, tentu saja maksudnya untuk mengatakan bahwa kejadiannya tersebut SEDANG terjadi tetapi di masa LAMPAU (lewat) ketika sesuatu yang lain terjadi. Bagimana jika ingin menyatakan LAMPAU nya saja tetapi tidak menekankan pada SEDANG TERJADInya itu? Yes, gunakan saja Past Tense.
Oke, demikian pelajaran singkat dan padat tentang Past Continuous Tense
Quick example:

• What were you doing then?
• I was eating the dinner when someone knocked at the door.
• When he was sleeping, I was working hard
• I was wondering if you could help me.

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We usually use The Past Continuous (Progressive) to talk about longer actions in progress in the past. The actions can be interruped by something ("He was reading when she arrived") or can be happening at the same some ("She was learning English when he was watching TV"). There are also two other uses.

Use

1. Actions in progress (in the past)
2. Interrupted actions in progress (in the past)
3. Actions in progress at the same time (in the past).
4. Irritation over something or somebody (in the past)
5. Timid / polite question

USE 1: Actions in progress

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We use the Past Continuous to express the idea that an action was in progress in the past.

Examples:

• I was watching TV yesterday in the evening.
• She was not crying.

USE 2: Interrupted actions in progress

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The Past Continuous is often used when one actions in progress is interruped by another action in the past. We usually use "when" to link these two actions. Sentences usually have this form:

[ Sentence in Past Continuous ] + WHEN + [Sentence in Past Simple ]

WHEN + [ Sentence in Past Continuous ] + [Sentence in Past Simple ]

or:

[ Sentence in Past Simple ] + WHEN + [ Sentence in Past Continuous ]

Examples:

• I was talking with James when the telephone rang.
• The plane crashed when Angelica was playing tennis.

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To understand this use better, watch this interactive animation:

[ Peter: When I was jogging, someone stopped me and asked what time it was ]

Explanation

In this cartoon, you can see a man who says: "When I was jogging someone stopped me and asked what time it was.".

• Why is this in Past Continuous? Click on the button labled "event 1". You can see that the man is jogging. This is a continuous action. Suddenly, another man stops him and asks what time it is. This is "event 2". Notice that the action of jogging is interrupted by event 2. This is why the use of Past Continuous is correct here.

USE 3: Actions in progress at the same time

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We also use this tense to show that two actions are taking place at the same.

Examples:

• I was watching TV and Barbara was reading a book.
• The family was eating the dinner and talking.

USE 4: Timid / polite questions

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If we want to ask a polite question, we can use the Past Continuous.

Examples:

• I was wondering if you could open the window.
• I was thinking you might help me with this problem.

Even though the sentences have a Past Continuous form, they refer to the present moment. Their meaning is similar to the "could you" sentences, but they are more polite.
USE 5: Irritation

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Remember that you can also express irritation over somebody or something in the past.

Examples:

• She was always coming late for dinner!

Form

To form a sentence in the Past Continuous, what you need is:

1. The proper conjugation of the auxiliary verb "to be" in the past form
2. The Present Participle of your verb (verb + ing)

1. Auxiliary verb "to be"
The past form of the auxiliary verb "to be" is:

1. For third person singular: "was"
2. For all others: "were"

Examples:

• She was always coming late for dinner!
• You were always coming late for dinner!

2. The Present Participle
The present participle is of a verb is a verb form that appears with the present tenses. The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the verb.

• talk + ing = talking
• be + ing = being

There are exceptions.

Positive Sentences

Subject	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Verb + ing
e.g. I/a dog etc.		was / were		e.g. swimming/talking etc.