Il past continuous in inglese
Introduzione
Il past continuous è il tempo verbale che serve a descrivere le azioni che stavano avendo luogo in un momento passato.
Il past continuous si usa per:
- descrivere un' azione in corso di svolgimento nel passato;
- chiedere conferma per un' azione in programma in un momento passato.
Costruzione del past continuous
Il past continuous si costruisce con l'ausiliare "to be" coniugato al past simple ed il present participle del verbo principale:
| Soggetto | talk | watch | eat |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | was talking | was watching | was eating |
| you | were talking | were watching | were eating |
| he/ she/ it | was talking | was watching | was eating |
| we | were talking | were watching | were eating |
| you | were talking | were watching | were eating |
| they | were talking | were watching | were eating |
La forma interrogativa
Per la costruzione della forma interrogativa del past continuous basta mettere l'ausiliare "to be" prima del soggetto:
| Esempio | Esempio |
|---|---|
| Was I acting weird? | Were we going too fast? |
| Were you working when I texted you? | Were you working out? |
| Was it snowing? | Were they laughing when I was talking to you? |
La forma negativa
Per la forma negativa del past continuous si usa l'avverbio di negazione "not":
| Esempio | Esempio |
|---|---|
| I wasn't listening, sorry. | Were we talking to you? |
| You were doing a great job, why did you stop? | You weren't paying enough attention. |
| She was taking a walk. | Were they arguing again? |
La forma interrogativa negativa
Per la forma interrogativa negativa si impiegano le due regole precedenti:
| Esempio | Esempio |
|---|---|
| Was I not doing it right? | Weren't we shouting a little bit too much? |
| Weren't you driving to the beach? | Were you not studying? |
| Wasn't he behaving childishly? | Weren't they coming as well? |
Impieghi del past continuous
Il past continuous è quindi usato per:
- descrivere un' azione in corso di svolgimento nel passato:
- I was doing my grocery shopping when I met him.
(Stavo facendo la spesa quando l'ho incontrato) - He said that when he saw that thing it was raining heavily.
(Ha detto che quando ha visto quella cosa stava piovendo a dirotto) - I was cooking, which is why I didn't hear the phone ring.
(Stavo cucinando, ecco perché non ho sentito suonare il telefono) - At 4 my friends were laying on the couch while I was watching a movie.
(Alle 4 i miei amici stavano sdraiati sul divano mentre io guardavo un film)
- I was doing my grocery shopping when I met him.
- chiedere conferma per un' azione in programma in un momento passato:
- Weren't we going partying?
(Non stavamo andando a far festa?) - Weren't you calling him?
(Non lo stavi chiamando tu?) - Wasn't he the one booking for everyone.
(Non era lui a prenotare per tutti?)
- Weren't we going partying?