Past Continuous Grammar (Δ,Μ)

Στην Αγγλική γλώσσα ο Παρατατικός εκφράζεται με Past Continuous. Είναι ένας χρόνος πολύ εύκολος στη χρήση και στον σχηματισμό του. Ξέρω ότι πολλές φορές οι κανόνες γραμματικής είναι βαρετοί για τους μικρούς μας μαθητές. Οπότε θα ήταν προτιμότερο να παρουσιάσουμε τους κανόνες ανάποδα, δηλαδή να δουν οι μαθητές πως κλίνεται ένα ρήμα και να βγάλουν τον κανόνα σχηματισμού, καθώς και από τα παραδείγματα να βγάλουν τους κανόνες χρήσης. Είναι πιο ενδιαφέρον όταν οι μαθητές μας ανακαλύπτουν τη γνώση!

PAST CONTINUOUS

The past continuous of any verb is composed of two parts : the past tense of the verb "to be" (was/were), and the base of the main verb +ing.

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I was playing	I wasn’t playing	Was I playing?
You were playing	You weren’t playing	Were you playing?
He / She/ It was playing	He/She/It wasn't playing	Was he/she /it playing?
We were playing	We weren't playing	Were we playing?
You were playing	You weren't playing	Were you playing?
They were playing	They weren’t playing	Were they playing?

The past continuous describes actions or events in a time before now, which began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking. In other words, it expresses an unfinished or incomplete action in the past.

It is used:

§  Often, to describe the background in a story written in the past tense, e.g. "The sun was shining and the birds were singing as the elephant came out of the jungle. The other animals were relaxing in the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly.

§  to describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action, e.g. "I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang."

§  to express a change of mind: e.g. "I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to get my homework done instead."

§  with 'wonder', to make a very polite request: e.g. "I was wondering if you could baby-sit for me tonight."

EXAMPLES

• They were waiting for the bus when the accident happened.
• Caroline was skiing when she broke her leg.
• When we arrived he was having a bath.
• When the fire started I was watching television.

Note: with verbs not normally used in the continuous form, the simple past is used.