28
d Wh- Question The form of past continuous tense use the wh- words what, where,
when, how, which, why, who, and whom followed by was or were: wh- words + waswere + -ing form + C.
Example: Who was playing that loud music when I called you?
Why was the audience laughing at the end of the movie?
60
The pattern of past continuous tense can summarize as follows:
Table 2.6. The Pattern of Past Continuous Tense
Affirmative sentence IHeSheIt
was
-ing form WeYouThey
were Negative sentence
IHeSheIt was not
WeYouThey were not
YesNo Question Was
IHeSheIt Were
WeYouThey Wh- Question
Wh- words was
IHeSheIt -ing form
were WeYouThey
4. The Use of Past Continuous Tense
The use of the past continuous tense is described below:
61
a. Sequence of events The past continuous tense is used to describe something, which began
before a particular point in the past and the action is still progress at that point, the action may continue after that point.
I was still working at 6 o’clock. and I continued working after that point.
He was using the vacuum cleaner and so he just didn’t hear the doorbell
ring. and I continued using the vacuum cleaner after the doorbell rang.
60
Milada Broukal and Ingrid Wisniewska, Grammar Form and Function 3, ........, p. 29.
61
Otong Setiawan Djuharie, Functional English Grammar, ........., p.86.
29
The past continuous tense is also used when the action stopped at the key point in the past.
He was working at his computer when the power cut occurred. This use is sometimes called “the interrupted past continuous”. It uses
simple past to describe the action, which “interrupted” the past action. b. Complete period of time
Sometimes the past continuous tense is used to describe events that extend
across „complete’ period of time e.g. all day; the whole lesson; every minute of the journey.
We were slaving away from morning to night. This choice of the past continuous rather than the past simple
emphasizes that the activity was happening at every moment during the specified period.
5. Verbs Not Normally Used in Progressive Forms
There are some verbs that are not normally used in progressive form. The verbs indicate stative or dynamic sense generally do not occur in the
progressive form as follows: a Verbs referring to activities of the mind, the emotion or the senses, e.g.
think, believe, understand, remember, forget, wish, want, like, love, hate, notice, recognize, hear, see, feel, smell, etc.
b Verbs referring to a state or conditions, where an essential element in the meaning of the verbs is that of permanence, e.g. contain, equal,
resemble, belong, own, have =possess, include, comprise, etc.
6. Teaching Past Continuous Tense
