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Il
past continuous
Il
past continuous
si forma con
soggetto
+
verbo essere al passato
+
verbo in -
ing
. Viene utilizzato per un’azione che si stava svolgendo in un
momento preciso del passato e corrisponde all’espressione italiana
stavo
+
gerundio
. Inoltre si usa per un’azione in fase di svolgimento interrotta
da un’altra azione (e.g.: “Shirley stava facendo una doccia quando squillò
il telefono”, “
Shirley was taking a shower when the telephone rang
”).
ATTENZIONE!
Se le due azioni sono consecutive, si usa il
simple past
per entrambe (e.g.:
“Quando Lisa chiamò, io andai fuori”, “
When Lisa rang, I went out
”),
F
ORMA LUNGA
44
Il verbo
affermativa
interrogativa
I was speaking
was I speaking?
you were speaking
were you speaking?
he was speaking
she was speaking
it was speaking
was he speaking?
was she speaking?
was it speaking?
we were speaking
were we speaking?
you were speaking
were you speaking?
they were speaking
were they speaking?
negativa
interronegativa
I was not speaking
was I not speaking?
you were not speaking
were you not speaking?
he was not speaking
she was not speaking
it was not speaking
was he not speaking?
was she not speaking?
was it not speaking?
we were not speaking
were we not speaking?
you were not speaking
were you not speaking?
they were not speaking
were they not speaking?