THE PAST (PROGRESSIVE) CONTINUOUS TENSE – ПРОШЕДШЕЕ ПРОДОЛЖЕННОЕ ВРЕМЯ

Прошедшее продолженное время образуется, как и настоящее продолженное время, при помощи глагола "to be" и Причастия 1 смыслового глагола (-ing – форма). При этом глагол "to be" употребляется в форме прошедшего времени (was, were).

Past Continuous (Progressive) обозначает:

1) Действие в развитии в определенный момент в прошлом. Этот момент может быть выражен либо определенным временем (at 5), либо придаточным предложением времени с глаголом в Past Simple (when ...)

I was learning English at 3 o'clock yesterday.

He was reading a book when the telephone rang.

2) Действие, происходившее в определенный период времени в прошлом: all day long, the whole morning, from 3 till 6 и т. д.

УТВЕРДИТЕЛЬНАЯ ФОРМА
Лицо	Число
Единственное	Множественное
	I was learning /reading	We were learning /reading
	You were learning /reading	You were learning /reading
	He/She/It was learning /reading	They were learning /reading
ВОПРОСИТЕЛЬНАЯ ФОРМА
Лицо	Число
Единственное	Множественное
	Was I learning /reading?	Were we learning /reading?
	Were you learning /reading?	Were you learning /reading?
	Was he/she/it learning /reading?	Were they learning /reading?
ОТРИЦАТЕЛЬНАЯ ФОРМА
Лицо	Число
Единственное	Множественное
	I was not learning /reading	We were not learning /reading
	You are not learning /reading	You were not learning /reading
	He/She/It was not learning /reading	They were not learning /reading

I was reading a book. Я читал книгу.
They were playing chess. Они играли в шахматы.
He was writing a letter. Он писал письмо.

Основным назначением the Past Continuous является обозначение действий, протекавших в точно указанное время в прошлом:

Tomas was working at ten o'clock yesterday morning. Томас работала вчера утром в десять часов. (т. е. в десять часов утра Сью ещё не закончила свою работу).

Дополнительными характеристиками таких действий являются их незаконченность, динамичность и наглядность. Момент, в который протекает интересующее нас действие, часто бывает обозначен другим коротким действием в the Past Simple.

It was raining when I went out into the street. (Шёл дождь, когда я вышел на улицу).
Little Mary came in. She was eating an ice-cream. (Вошла маленькая Мэри. Она ела мороженое).

I saw you last night. You were waiting for a bus. (Я видел тебя прошлым вечером. Ты ждал автобус).
I dropped my bag when I was running for a bus. (Я уронил сумку, когда бежал за автобусом).
My car broke down when I was driving to work. (Моя машина сломалась, когда я ехал на работу).
He broke a tooth when he was eating a sandwich.(Он сломал зуб, когда ел сэндвич).

Глагол "to be" (was, were) является в данном случае служебным и служит для образования вопросительной и отрицательной формы. Чтобы задать вопрос в the Past Continuous нужно поставить глагол "to be" (в нужной форме: was/ were) перед подлежащим. А чтобы образовать отрицательную форму, нужно поставить отрицание "not" после глагола "to be":

He was playing at 3 o'clock.
He was not playing at 3 o'clock.
Was he playing at 3 o'clock?
Yes, he was. Nо, he was not. (No, he was not).

Тренировочные упражнения

Поставьте вопросы к собеседнику по образцу: I was doing my English at 5. – And you? Were you doing English at five too?

My children were playing hockey all the morning. And your children? She was watching TV all the evening. And your sister? He was playing tennis at 2. And your brother? I was cooking at 9 a.m. And you? We were having breakfast at 7. And you? They were translating the article from 3 to 5. And you? She is working in the garden. And her husband? 9. She lived in Oxford last summer. And her son?

Употребите глаголы в форме Past Continuous по образцу: At 8 o’clock yesterday evening I ….. (to have) dinner with some friends.- At 8 o’clock yesterday evening I was having dinner with some friends

At 10.15 yesterday morning I ….. (to work). Half an hour ago I ….. (to watch) TV at home. This time last year we ….. (to live) in Brazil. What ….. you ….. (to do) at 10 o’clock last night?

Раскройте скобки, употребляя в Present Continuous или Past Continuous:

1. I (to write) an English exercise now. 2. I (to write) an English exercise at this time yesterday. 3. My little sister (to sleep) at this time yesterday. 4. My friends (not to do) their homework now. They (to play) volleyball. 5. My friends (not to do) their homework at seven o’clock yesterday. They (to play) volleyball. 6. She (to read) the whole evening yesterday. 7. She (not to read) now. 8. Now she (to go) to school. 9. What you (to do) now? – I (to drink) tea. 10. You (to drink) tea at this time yesterday? – No, I (not to drink) tea at this time yesterday, I (to eat) a banana. 11. My sister is fond of reading. She (to read) the whole evening yesterday, and now she (to read) again. 12. Look! My cat (to play) with a ball. 13. When I went out into the garden, the sun (to shine) and birds (to sing) in the tress. 14. You (to eat) ice cream now? 15. You (to eat) ice cream when I rang you up yesterday? 16. What your father (to do) now? 17. What your father (to do) from eight until nine yesterday? 18. Why she (to cry) now? 19. Why she (to cry) when I saw her yesterday?