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33
We
You
They
were speaking
Were
we
you
they
speaking?
Negative
I
He (she it)
was not (wasn’t) speaking
We
You
They
were not (weren't) speaking
Negative-interrogative
a)
Was
I
He (she, it)
not speaking?
b)
Wasn’t
I
He (she, it)
speaking?
Were
we
you
they
not speaking?
Weren't
we
you
they
speaking?
§ 35. The past continuous is used mostly in narrative although it may occur in conversation as well.
The past continuous is used with all actional verbs and some statal verbs:
1. To denote a continuous action in progress at a certain moment in the past.
At 10 it was still raining.
When I called him up, he was still having breakfast.
The fire began at midnight when everybody was sleeping.
At that time she was already packing up.
In these examples the moment of time is specified directly, by means of adverbials of time or indirectly by
some other past action mentioned in the same sentence. The moment of time at which the action is in progress
can also be shown by the previous context, or understood from the situation:
He did not answer. His lips were trembling.
I stood motionless, as if glued to the ground. The enormous black bull was galloping towards me at full
speed.
I told him that Ralph was staying at the Three Boars.
2. To denote a continuous action in progress during a certain period of time in the past, marked by
adverbials - prepositional phrases (from ... till, from ... to) or adverbs (all day long, the whole night, etc.)
We were quarrelling all day long yesterday.
She says she was washing from six till eight.
When actional durative verbs take the form of the past continuous the actions thus described do not actually
differ from those in the form of the past indefinite, as both denote continuous actions in progress at some
moment of time in the past:
When I saw him, he was standing by the door.
When I saw him he stood by the door.
Both examples may refer to the same situation. The difference between the two is that the past indefinite