Verb tenses: Past Continuous

In a Nutshell

O past continuous é um tempo verbal utilizado para indicar ações que aconteceram por um determinado tempo no passado. É formado com o auxiliar to be (was/were) e o verbo principal terminado em -ing.

AFFIRMATIVE		NEGATIVE		INTERROGATIVE
I was	cooking	I wasn't	cooking	Was I	cooking?
You were		You weren't		Were you
He / She / It was		He / She / It wasn't		Was he / she / it
We were		We weren't		Were we
You were		You weren't		Were you
They were		They weren't		Were they

Exemplos:

I was cooking.

They weren't doing their homework.

Was she studying? Yes, she was.

Info 1: Short answers

(Respostas Curtas)

Podemos utilizar respostas curtas quando nos fazem perguntas em que a resposta é sim ou não. Como por exemplo:

Affirmative	NEGATIVE
Yes, I was.	No, I wasn't.
Yes, you were.	No, you weren't.
Yes, he / she / it was.	No, he / she / it wasn't.
Yes, we were.	No, we weren't.
Yes, you were.	No, you weren't.
Yes, they were.	No, they weren't.

Exemplos:

Was he playing football? No, he wasn't.

Were they studying in the living room? Yes, they were.

Were you a good friend? Yes, I was.

Info 2: Use of Past Continuous

(Utilização do past continuous)

Em inglês, utilizamos o past continuous para indicar.

	Exemplos:
Uma ação que estava a decorrer num determinado momento no passado. Não sabemos quando esta começou ou terminou.	Yesterday afternoon, *they were talking* on the phone.
Duas ou mais ações a acontecerem ao mesmo tempo no passado.	*I was doing* my homework while *my brother was studying*.
Uma ação que estava em progresso quando outra a interrompeu. (Aqui utilizamos o past continuous para a ação mais longa e os past simple para a ação mais curta.)	*Grace was watching TV* when the phone rang.

Nota: Quando falamos de uma ação mais longa, utilizamos o Past Continuous e as expressões de tempo «When» e «While», enquanto que na ação mais curta utilizamos o Past Simple e apenas a expressão «When».