Past Continuous - minulý průběhový

Je tvořen minulým tvarem slovesa TO BE, tedy WAS / WERE, a -ING tvarem daného slovesa:

  • I was listening to music all the afternoon.

Otázka, zápor a krátká odpověď se tvoří, podobně jako u přítomného průběhového, přidáním NOT ke tvaru WAS / WERE.

Použití minulého průběhového času:

It expresses an activity happening during some time in the past (all the afternon, last week, etc.):

  • We were speaking about it for two hours yeasterday.

We use the past simple and past continuous together to say that something happened in the middle of something else.

  • When I arrived at the restaurant, he was talking to somebody on the phone. - this means that he started talking on the phone before I arrived at the restaurant, and he was still talking when I entered the restaurant.
  • The order of the clauses is not important here. It is possible to change the clause order without changing the meaning of the sentence.
    • He was talking to somebody on the phone when I arrived at the restaurant.