Past continuous

Il past continuous = was / were + -ing. Was va con I / he / she / it, were con you / we / they. La -ing si aggiunge come nel present continuous (vedi la lezione “Present continuous”).

Domande con Wh-: What were you doing? Who was she talking to? Risposte brevi: Yes, I was. / No, they weren't.

1. Un'azione in corso in un momento del passato: era iniziata prima di quel momento e non era ancora finita. Spesso con at 9 o'clock last night, at this time yesterday.

• At nine last night, I was watching a football match.

  Ieri sera alle nove stavo guardando una partita di calcio.

• What were you doing at this time yesterday?

  Che cosa stavi facendo ieri a quest'ora?

2. Descrivere la scena all'inizio di una storia

• It was raining, and people were hurrying home.

  Pioveva e la gente correva verso casa.

• The sun was shining and the kids were playing on the beach.

  Splendeva il sole e i bambini giocavano sulla spiaggia.

3. Due azioni più lunghe che succedono nello stesso momento: spesso unite da while

• While I was cooking, my husband was setting the table.

  Mentre cucinavo, mio marito apparecchiava la tavola.

• Lan was studying while her brother was playing games.

  Lan stava studiando mentre suo fratello giocava ai videogiochi.

💡Pensa al past continuous come a “stare facendo” qualcosa in un momento del passato, proprio come l'italiano “stavo + gerundio”: ieri sera alle nove stavo guardando una partita = I was watching football. Il past simple è per l'azione intera, conclusa.

I due tempi spesso lavorano insieme nella stessa frase: il past continuous per l'azione più lunga in corso, il past simple per l'azione breve che la interrompe.

• I was having a shower when the phone rang.

  Stavo facendo la doccia quando è squillato il telefono.

• We were driving home when we saw the accident.

  Stavamo tornando a casa in macchina quando abbiamo visto l'incidente.

• When I arrived, they were eating dinner.

  Quando sono arrivato, stavano cenando.

Cambiando il tempo cambia il significato:

Per azioni che si susseguono una dopo l'altra, usa il past simple per tutte: She got up, had breakfast and left.

• while + l'azione più lunga (di solito al past continuous): While I was walking home, it started to rain.
• when + l'azione breve (di solito al past simple): I was walking home when it started to rain.
• When può andare anche con l'azione più lunga (When I was walking home, …), ma while di solito va con qualcosa che dura; per un'azione che avviene in un attimo, usa when: “when I opened the door”, non “while I opened the door”.
• Quando la frase con when / while viene prima, metti la virgola: While she was sleeping, someone called. Quando viene dopo, di solito non serve: Someone called while she was sleeping.

While (+ frase) è diverso da during (+ sostantivo): vedi la lezione “During o while”.

Come al presente, i verbi di stato come know, want, like, need, believe, understand, own di solito non si usano nella forma continuous, nemmeno per un momento in corso nel passato: usa il past simple.

• I didn't understand what he was saying.

  Non capivo quello che stava dicendo. (non: wasn't understanding)

• We wanted to leave, but it was still raining.

  Volevamo andarcene, ma pioveva ancora.

• ✗I was cook dinner when you called.

  ✓I was cooking dinner when you called.

  Dopo was serve la forma in -ing.

• ✗They was playing football.

  ✓They were playing football.

  they → were.

• ✗I watched TV when the lights went out.

  ✓I was watching TV when the lights went out.

  L'azione più lunga, quella interrotta → past continuous.

• ✗Were you sleep when I called?

  ✓Were you sleeping when I called?

  was / were + -ing.

• ✗I was knowing the answer.

  ✓I knew the answer.

  know è un verbo di stato → past simple.

• ✗What did you doing at eight last night?

  ✓What were you doing at eight last night?

  Il past continuous usa was / were, non did.