一、过去进行时的构成
现将行为动词(以work为例)的过去进行时的肯定式,否定式和疑问式的构成列表如下:
动词 | 肯定式 | 否定式 |
work | I/He/She/It was working. | I/He/She/It wasn't working. |
We/You/They were working. | We/Yow/They weren't working. |
| | |
动词 | 疑问式 | 简答 |
work | Was I/he/she/it working? | Yes,I/he/she/it was.(No,I/he/she/it wasn't.) |
Were we/you/they working? | Yes,we/you/they were.(No,we/you/they weren't.) |
过去进行时由“was/were+现在分词”构成。was not常简略为wasn't;were not常简略为 weren't。
二、过去进行时的用法
1.表示在过去某一时刻或某一段时间内正在进行或持续进行的动作。如:
What were you doing at this time yesterday?
昨天这个时候你在做什么?
The teacher was giving us a lesson when Tom walked into the room.
汤姆走进教室时,老师正在给我们上课。
While we were having dinner, all the lights went out.
当我们正在吃饭时,所有的灯都灭了。
2.在叙述故事时,常用过去进行时来描述故事发生时的背景。如:
One day we were walking along a road which went round the foot of a mountain...
有一天我们在山脚边的一条路上走....
3.表示从过去某时看要发生的事。如:
I asked him whether he was coming back for dinner.
我问他是否回来吃晚饭。
I went to see Xiao Wang,as she was leaving early the next morning.
我去看小王,因为她第二天一早就要走。