Pengertian Past Continuous TensePast continuous tense atau past progressive tense adalah suatu bentuk kata kerja yang digunakan untuk menyatakan bahwa suatu aksi sedang terjadi pada waktu tertentu di masa lampau. Aksitersebut telah dimulai tapi belum selesai pada saat itu.Rumus Past Continuous TensePast continuous tense dibentuk dengan auxiliary verb “be”, berupa was/were – karena past tense (masa lalu),  dan present participle. Was untuk singular subject (I, she, he, it, dan kata ganti orang ketiga) dan were untuk plural subject (you, they, we, orang ketiga jamak).

Past continuous tense umumnya hanya terjadi pada aksi berupa dynamic verb, tidak stative verb karena secara umum hanya dynamic verbyang memiliki bentuk continuous [Baca: Stative Verb dengan Bentuk Progressive].Dengan demikian rumus past continuous tense untuk kalimat positif, negatif, dan interogatif adalah sebagai berikut.

Jenis Kalimat Rumus Contoh Past Continuous Tense

positif (+)S + be(was/were) + V1-ing/present participle

The team was running

The workers were queuing

negatif (-)S + be(was/were) + not + V1-ing/present participle

The team was not running

The workers weren’t queuing

interogatif(?)be(was/were) + S + V1-ing/present participle?

Was the team running

Were the workers queuing

Penggunaan dan Contoh Kalimat Past Continuous TenseBeberapa penggunaan dan contoh kalimat past continuous tense dapat dilihat pada tabel sebagai berikut.

Fungsi Contoh kalimat Past Continuous Tense

Past continuous tense untuk mengindikasikan suatu aksi yang terjadi selama momen tertentu di masa lampau.

I was shopping at this time yesterday.(Saya sedang belanja pada jam ini kemarin.)

What was she doing at 5 am this morning?(Apa yang sedang dia lakukan jam 5 pagi ini?)

They were roasting corn at this time last night.(Mereka sedang membakar jagung pada jam ini kemarin malam.)

I was doing physically exercises all day yesterday.(Saya sedang melakukan latihan-latihan fisik sepanjang hari kemarin.)

Untuk menunjukkan bahwa ada aksi berdurasi pendek (simple past tense) yang terjadi ketika suatu aksi berdurasi panjang (past continuous tense) sedang berlangsung. Subordinate conjunction “when” atau “while” dapat digunakan

She was sleeping when you called her.(Dia sedang tidur ketika kamu meneleponnya.)

The door was knocked while I was studying.(Pintu diketuk ketika saya sedang belajar.)

Past continuous tense digunakan untuk mengolok-olok atau mengkritik aksi yang terjadi pada interval acak namun sebenarnya merupakan kebiasaan alami.

The girl was always yelling out loud.(Anak itu selalu menjerit keras-keras.)

My neighbor was always chasing stray cats off with his broom.(Tetangga saya selalu mengusir kucing-kucing liar dengan sapunya.)

Choose the Correct answer for the questions below.! 1. My children ................ football when I arrived at home

were played

is playing

were playing

played

was playing

2. When his wife woke him up, he ................ a nice dream

was having

were having

is having

had

have

3. ............................... when her father left the house this morning

She is washing clothes

She was washing clothes

she washes clothes

she wash clothes

she will wash clothes

4. When I did my homework, my younger brothers ................ English

were studying

were studied

was studying

is studying

are studying

5. I was ................ a car when the accident suddenly happen

drove

driven

drive

driving

to drive

6. When Clara ................ visiting Bali, she met a famous pop singer there

does

were

are

is

was

7. Mr. Oscar was ................ a cup of tea when i saw him yesterday

drank

drunk

drinking

drinks

drink

8. When our father came back from his office, ............................... 

We were watching TV

We are watching TV

We watch TV

We will watch TV

We shall watch TV

9. Cindy was ................ an article when her baby boy cried

written

writing

wrote

writes

write

10. When Paul ................ a newspaper, he found an interesting story on it

is reading

read

reads

will be reading

was reading