语法
Past Continuous Tense 过去进行时态
The Past Continuous Tense is formed by combining an auxiliary verb (was/were) with a present participle (= a verb ending in‘ing’).
过去进行时态的形成方式是把助动词 (was/were) 和现在分词(以‘ing’结尾的动词)结合。
Auxiliary Verb (was/were) + Present Participle = Past Continuous Tense
助动词 (was/were) + 现在分词 = 过去进行时态
Examples:
例子:
was + talking = was talking
were + singing = were singing
We use the past continuous tense to:
过去进行时态用来:
(i) talk about an action that was going on at a given time or period of time in the past.
形容在过去的一个或一段时间里正在进行的一个动作。
Examples:
例子:
Lina was reading at eight o’clock last evening.
昨天傍晚八点钟时，丽娜正在阅读。
Hanwen was doing his history assignment all yesterday afternoon.
昨天整个下午，汉文都在做他的历史功课。
We were cycling in the park at ten this morning.
今天早上十点时，我们在公园里骑自行车。
The brothers were painting the house all last Saturday.
上个星期日，那些兄弟一整天都在油漆屋子。
(ii) talk about two actions that were going on at the same time in the past.
形容在过去同时进行的两个动作。
Examples:
例子:
While Baozhi was playing the violin, his sister was dancing.
当宝志在拉小提琴时，他的妹妹在跳舞。
While I was sweeping the floor, my mother was cooking.
当我在扫地时，我母亲在做饭。
While they were having their dinner, we were jogging along the beach.
当他们在吃晚餐时，我们在海边慢跑锻炼。
While you were talking over the phone, Ruiying and Ruihua were reading n the study.
当你在通电话时，瑞英和瑞华在书房里阅读。
(ii) show that an ongoing or longer past action was interrupted by a shorter action. The ongoing action is expressed in the past continuous tense, while the shorter action is expressed in the simple past tense.
显示在过去的时间里，一个正在进行的动作被一个比较短时间的动作中断了。我们用过去进行时态来表达正在进行的动作， 短时间的动作则用一般过去时态来表达。
Examples:
例子:
While Aixia was cooking in the kitchen, the telephone rang.
当爱霞在厨房做饭时，电话响了。
(In the example given above, the longer action (Sarah was cooking) is in the past continuous tense while the shorter action (the telephone rang) is in the simple past.)
在上面的例子里，正在进行的动作(爱霞正在做饭)是用过去进行时态来表达，而短时间的动作(电话响了)则用一般过去时态来表达。
Xie Ang was drawing when his friends arrived.
当谢安的朋友抵达时，他正在画画。
While the children were building sandcastles, their parents called out to them.
当那些小孩正在堆沙堡时，他们的父母大声叫他们。
I was watching television when someone knocked on the door.
当某人敲门时，我在看电视。
Exercises 习题
Choose the correct answers.
选择对的答案。
1. While you ( was mopping, were mopping ) the floor, I ( was dusting, dusted ) the living room.
2. I ( was riding, were riding ) a motorcycle when two traffic cops ( stopped, were stopping ) me.
3. Yvonne ( was ironing, ironed ) her clothes at 2 p.m. yesterday.
4. While the students ( was drawing, were drawing ) pictures, they ( were hearing, heard ) a scream.
5. While the boys ( was flying, were flying ) kites in the field, the girls ( played, were playing ) with their dolls under a tree.
6. Brandon ( was building, built ) a kennel for his pet puppy all this morning.
7. While the milkmaid ( milked, was milking ) the cow, it ( were mooing, mooed ).
8. While Albert ( fished, was fishing ) by the river, Tony ( dug, was digging ) for earthworms.
9. Amanda ( prepared, was preparing ) for her final examination all last week.
10. Jason ( watered, was watering) the plants when a bee ( was stinging, stung ) him.
11. While he ( sketched, was sketching ) the scenery, I ( took, was taking ) photographs.
12. ( Was, Were ) my uncles ( chopped, chopping ) firewood at five yesterday evening?
13. We ( looked, were looking ) out of the window when a stewardess ( spoke, was speaking ) to us.
14. While my mother ( scaled, was scaling ) a fish, my sister ( boiled, was boiling ) a few eggs.
15. My classmates ( discussed, were discussing ) the Christmas party all yesterday afternoon.
Answers 答案
A.
1. were mopping, was dusting
2. was riding, stopped
3. was ironing
4. were drawing, heard
5. were flying, were playing
6. was building
7. was milking, mooed
8. was fishing, was digging
9. was preparing
10. was watering, stung
11. was sketching, was taking
12. were, chopping
13. were looking, spoke
14. was scaling, was boiling
15. were discussing