Past Continuous

Il Past Continuous Tense, o Past Progressive Tense, descrive un’azione che stava avvenendo in passato e poi si è conclusa.
Si forma con il verbo essere al passato + la forma -ing del verbo.

I was walking
You were walking
He was walking
She was walking
It was walking
We were walking
You were walking
They were walking

My heart was pounding, and I was sweating like I was there.
Stephen King

Una situazione molto comune in cui si usa il Past Continuous è quando si descrive un’azione che si stava svolgendo in un determinato momento quando accadde qualcosa (espressa con il simple past tense) che interruppe l’azione in corso o che comunque accadde durante lo svolgimento dell’azione.

I was at my girlfriends apartment and I was sleeping when I heard this funny noise in the room.

La forma negativa del Past Continous

I was not (wasn’t) working
you were not (weren’t) working
he was not (wasn’t) working
she was not (wasn’t) working
it was not (wasn’t) working
we were not (weren’t) working
they were not (weren’t) working

Esempi:

I wasn’t waving, I was drowning
Non stavo salutando (con la mano), stavo affogando.

You weren’t driving too fast!
Non stavi andando (guidando) troppo veloce.

La forma interrogativa del Past Continous

Was I working?
Were you working?
Was she working?
Was he working?
Was it working?
Were we working?
Were they working?

Esempi:

Was I driving too fast?
Stavo andando troppo veloce?

Was she flirting with me?
Stava (lei) flirtando con me?
Ci stava provando?

All the nights we shared, were we just killing time?
Tutte le notti che abbiamo passato assieme, stavamo solo passando il tempo?
She Wants Revenge “She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not”

Sara’ molto comune trovare la forma interrogativa del Past Continous in domande con “Why”, “Where”, “How”, “What”, “When”…

“Why was I saying that?”
Perche’ ho detto questo?
“Where were you living at the time?”
Dove vivevi in quel periodo?
“What were you waiting for?”
Cosa stavi aspettando?

La forma interrogativa-negativa del Past Continous

Non troverete molto spesso questa forma, ma ad ogni modo, in caso vi possa essere utile:

Wasn’t I working?
Weren’t you working?
Wasn’t she working?
Wasn’t he working?
Wasn’t it working?
Weren’t we working?
Weren’t they working?

“Wasn’t I wearing a hat?”
Non stavo portando un cappello?
“Hey, now that I hear from you I think I remember: Weren’t you driving my car that night?”
Hey, adesso che ti sento mi sembra di ricordare: non stavi forse guidando la mia macchina quella notte?
“Why weren’t they drinking Champagne?”
Perche’ non stavano bevendo Champagne?