Past Continuous Tense

Formula is:

Subject + (Was/Were) + (Verb1+ing) + Object + Modifier

example:

1. Farmers in Magelang were growing rice crops at 9 a.m yesterday. (Petani-petani di Magelang sedang menanam padi jam 9 pagi kemarin).
2. Transpiration was starting to increase at 9 a.m. this morning. (Transpirasi sedang mulai meningkat jam 9 pagi tadi).

1.       Past continuous tense is used to express the events that are happening at a specific time in the past. In this case , the time specifications are usually expressed in hours (how it happened).

example:

1. My daughter was watching TV at seven o’clock last night. (Anak saya sedang nonton TV jam 7 tadi malam).
2. She was copying the materials at 10 o’clock this morning. (Dia sedang memfotokopi materi jam 10 tadi pagi).
3. I was discussing English with my classmates at 2 p.m. last Friday. (Saya sedang mendiskusikan bahasa Inggris dengan teman-teman kelas saya jam 2 sore hari Jumat yang lalu).
4. I was being busy at 8 o’clock yesterday morning. (Saya sedang sibuk jam 8 pagi kemarin).
5. They were being very happy at 10 o’clock last Saturday night. (Mereka sedang sangat bahagia jam 10 malam minggu lalu).

2.       Past continuous tense is used to express the activity is going on or are taking place in the past, which terinclude by other events. In this case, the formula is as follows:

When + subject1 + simple past tense, subject2 + past continuous

Subject1 + past continuous + when + subject2 + simple past tense

Events / activities that interrupt stated in the past tense, and serves as testimony of time. If placed at the beginning of the sentense, insert a comma before closing.

example:

1. When I came home, my daughter was watching TV. (Ketika saya pulang, putri saya sedang nonton TV).
2. When I called him last night, he was playing card with his friends. (Ketika saya telpon dia tadi malam, dia sedang main kartu dengan teman-temannya).
3. When she screamed for help, we were chitchatting. (Ketika dia berteriak minta tolong, kami sedang ngobrol).
4. When someone broke into our house, we were sleeping.  (Ktika seseorang masuk/mencuri ke dalam rumah kami, kami sedang tidur).
5. I held my breath when somebody was behaving suspiciously in my backyard. (Saya menahan nafas saya ketika seseorang bertingkah laku mencurigakan di belakang rumah saya).

3.      Past continuous tense is also used to express the two events occur at the same time in the past. In this case, the following formula is usually used.

While + subject1 + past continuous, subject2 + past continuous

Subject1 + past continuous + while + subject2 + past continuous

example:

1. While I was typing this note, my family was watching TV in the family room. (Sementara saya sedang mengetik catatan ini, keluarga saya sedang nonton TV di ruang keluarga).
2. While the president was giving his speech, the audience was listening to him carefully. (Sementara presiden sedang berpidato, pemirsa/hadirin sedang mendengarkannya dengan seksama).
3. Male students were playing around while female ones were chitchatting. (Murid-murid laki-laki sedang bermain-main sementara murid-murid wanita sedang ngobrol).
4. My roommate was snoring loudly while I was studying. (Teman sekamar saya sedang mendengkur keras sementara saya sedang belajar).
5. We were smoking while we were drinking. (Kami sedang merokok sementara kami sedang minum).

Negative form

Negative form of sentence in the past continuous tense is made by adding ‘not’ after be ere/was ‘as seen in the followng formula:

Subject + (was/were) + not + (verb1+ing) + object + modifier

example:                                                           

1. My daughter was not watching TV at eight o’clock last night. (Anak saya tidak sedang nonton TV jam 8 tadi malam).
2. She was not copying the materials at 10 o’clock this morning. (Dia tidak sedang memfotokopi materi jam 10 tadi pagi).
3. I was not discussing English with my classmates at 2 p.m. last Friday. (Saya tidak sedang mendiskusikan bahasa Inggris dengan teman-teman kelas saya jam 2 sore hari Jumat yang lalu).
4. I was not being busy at 8 o’clock yesterday morning. (Saya sedang tidak sibuk jam 8 pagi kemarin).
5. They were not being very happy at 9 o’clock last Saturday night. (Mereka sedang tidak sangat bahagia jam 9 malam minggu lalu).
6. When I came home, my daughter was not watching TV. (Ketika saya pulang, putri saya tidak sedang nonton TV).
7. When I called him last night, he was not playing card with his friends. (Ketika saya telpon dia tadi malam, dia tidak sedang main kartu dengan teman-temannya).
8. When she screamed for help, we were not chitchatting. (Ketika dia berteriak minta tolong, kami sedang ngobrol).
9. Someone broke into our house when we were not sleeping.  (Seseorang masuk/mencuri ke dalam rumah kami ketika kami tidak sedang tidur).
10. I breathed well when somebody was not behaving suspiciously in my backyard. (Saya bernafas lega ketika seseorang tidak sedang bertingkah laku mencurigakan di belakang rumah saya).

Note: NOT be contracted to be in front of it becomes: was not and were not. Howefer the use of contraction are considered slightly less formal.

Use of past continous tense in english yes / no questions

Forms of yes / no questions for past continuous tense follow the following formula:

(Was/were) +subject + (verb1+ing) + object + modifier?

example:

1. Was your daughter watching TV at eight o’clock last night? (Apakah putrid kamu sedang nonton TV jam 8 tadi malam?).
2. Was she copying the materials at 10 o’clock this morning? (Apakah dia sedang memfotokopi materi jam 10 tadi pagi?).
3. Were you discussing English with your classmates at 2 p.m. last Friday? (Apakah kamu sedang mendiskusikan bahasa Inggris dengan teman-teman kelasmu  jam 2 sore hari Jumat yang lalu?).
4. Were you being busy at 8 o’clock yesterday morning? (Apakah kamu sedang sibuk jam 8 pagi kemarin?).
5. Were they being very happy at 9 o’clock last Saturday night? (Apakah mereka sedang sangat bahagia jam 9 malam minggu lalu?).

Modifier of time to past continous tense

From the examples above sentence we can see that the modifer of time(time information) for sentences in past cintinuous tense s the form adverval phrases, namely:

1.      At + hours last night / two days ago/yesterday morning,etc. For example: at eight o’clock last night, at 10 this morning, etc.

2.      When + simple past tense. For example: when I came hoe, when I called him last night, etc.

3.      While + past continuous tense . fo example: while I was typing this note, while we were drinking, etc.