BAB I

PENDAHULUAN

A. Background

Definition past continuouse tense reveals past action in progress. Action can
sometimes also be interrupted by something. This form of English tenses is also
called past progressive tense. Past continuous tense is formed with the help of “to
be” verbs, in the past tense, plus the present participle of the verb (with by-ing)

B. Formulation

1. How do we make the Past Continuous Tense?

2. How do we use the Past Continuous Tense?
3. What are the past continuous sentence patterns?
 BAB II

PEMBAHASAN

The past continuous tense is an important tense in English. We use it to

say what we were in the middle of doing at a particular moment in the past.

Adverb of time

Description of time for past continuous tense include :

a. When : ketika
b. While : sementara
c. As : ketika
d. The whole day yesterday

1. How do we make the Past Continuous Tense?

The structure of the past continuous tense is:

subject + auxiliary verb BE + main verb

conjugated in simple past tense present participle

was
base + ing
were

For negative sentences in the past continuous tense, we insert not between the
auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and
auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past continuous tense:

subject auxiliary verb main verb

+ I was watching TV.

 + You were working hard.

- He, she, it was not helping Mary.

- We were not joking.

? Were you being silly?

? Were they playing football?

2. How do we use the Past Continuous Tense?

 The past continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the

past. The action started before that moment but has not finished at that
moment. For example, yesterday I watched a film on TV. The film started
at 7pm and finished at 9pm.
 We use the past continuous to describe an interrupted activity which
continued for a period in the past and to talk about things happening for a
continuous period in the past
 to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something. Example: He
was playing computer games
 for two things happening at the same time. Example: He was playing
computer games while she was watching TV.
 for things you were in the middle of doing when another thing happened.
Example: He was watching TV when Tom arrived.
3. Sentence Patterns

a. Affirmative

We form the past continuous tense with the helping verb was/were + present
participle (V1 + -ing).

I Was
You
we
were
they
the girls
Verb-ing
He
She
John was
The Girl
It

Example :

 I was studying
 He was playing
 You were reading
 They were sleeping.

b. Negative

We form the negative with the helping verb was/were + not + present
participle (V1 + -ing).

I Was
You Not + Verb-ing
were
we
 they
the girls
He
She
John was
The Girl
It

Example :

 I wasn’t studying
 He wasn’t playing
 You weren’t reading
 They weren’t sleeping

c. Interrogative

We form questions by using the helping verb was/were + subject + present

participle (V1 + -ing).

Was I
You
we
Were
they
the girls Verb-ing?
He
She
was John
The Girl
It

Example :

 Was he working?
 Were they working?
Rumus Verbal :

(+) S + to be 2 (was/were) + V-ing + O

(-) S + to be 2 (was/were) + Not + V-ing + O

(?) to be 2 (was/were) + S + V-ing + O ?

Example :

(+) he was confused in studying grammar yesterday in school

(-) he was not confused in studying grammar yesterday in school

(?) was he confused in studying grammar yesterday in school?

Rumus Nominal :

(+) S + to be 2 + Adj / Noun / Adverb

(-) S + to be 2 + Not + Adj / Noun / Adverb

(?) to be 2 + S + Adj / Noun / Adverb ?

Example :

(+) she was lazy

(-) she was not lazy

(?) was she lazy?

 BAB III

PENUTUP

Past continuous tense or past progressive tense is verb form used to indicate
that an action is occurring at a certain time in the past. The action has started but
not finished yet.

Description of time for past continuous tense include :

a. When
b. While
c. As
d. The whole day yesterday