Past Continuous

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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

Si usa il Past Continuous per parlare di eventi passati che hanno avuto luogo per un certo periodo di tempo.

I was just making some tea.
Stavo giusto facendo del tè.

I was thinking about her last week.
Stavo pensando a lei la settimana scorsa.

In the 1990s few people were using mobile phones.
Negli anni ’90 poche persone usavano i cellulari.

My heart was pounding and I was sweating like I was there.
Il mio cuore batteva forte e stato sudando come se fossi lì.
Stephen King

Lo usiamo quando vogliamo enfatizzare il processo continuativo di un’attività o del periodo relativo a tale attività. Se vogliamo solamente parlare dell’evento passato come semplice fatto, usiamo il past simple. Nota ad esempio la differenza nelle seguenti frasi:

While I was driving home, Sarah tried desperately to contact me. -> Past Simple
Mentre guidavo verso casa, Sarah cercò disperatamente di contattarmi.

While I was driving home, Sarah was trying desperately to contact me. -> Past Continuous
Mentre guidavo verso casa, Sarah cercava disperatamente di contattarmi.

La seconda frase enfatizza il processo continuativo del “provare a contattarmi”.

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.
Detto in altre parole, lo si usa spesso per descrivere una “azione di sottofondo”, mentre accadde qualcos’altro.

I was walking in the park when I suddenly fell over.
Stavo camminando nel parco quando all’improvviso sono caduto.

He was talking to me on the phone and it suddenly went dead.
Mi stava parlando al telefono e tutto ad un tratto è caduta la linea.

They were still waiting for the bus when I spoke to them.
Stavano ancora aspettando l’autobus quando ho parlato loro.

The company was declining rapidly before he took charge.
La compagnia stava peggiorando rapidamente quando lui ha preso il controllo.

We were just talking about it before you arrived.
Ne stavamo giusto parlando prima che tu arrivassi.

I was making a presentation in front of 1000 people when the microphone stopped working.
Stavo facendo una presentazione davanti a 1000 persone quando il microfono ha smesso di funzionare.

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

La forma negativa del Past Continuous

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 Continuous

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?

Were you expecting any visitors?
Stavi aspettando qualcuno?

Sorry, were you sleeping?
Scusa, stavi dormendo?

All the nights we shared… were we just killing time?
Tutte le notti che abbiamo passato assieme… stavamo solo passando il tempo?

Sarà molto comune trovare la forma interrogativa del Past Continuous in domande con “Why“, “Where“, “How“, “What“, “When“…

Why was I saying that?
Perché 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 Continuous

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?