Past continuous tense, atau disebut juga sebagai past progressive tense, adalah salah satu dari tenses dalam bahasa Inggris yang paling sering digunakan. Hal ini karena tense ini merujuk pada masa lampu dan mengungkapkan segala kejadian yang sedang terjadi di dalamnya. Berikut akan dipaparkan pengertian, rumus, fungsi, dan contoh past continuous tense.

Pengertian Past Continuous Tense

Past continuous tense adalah bentuk tense yang digunakan untuk menyatakan kejadian yang sedang berlangsung atau terjadi di masa lampau (past continuous). Sehingga apapun yang sedang kita lakukan saat itu dapat diungkapkan dengan tense ini. Demikian pula dengan keadaan atau kondisi kita, seperti:

She was watching TV at 7 last night. When we arrived, he was having a bath.. I was on the way home.

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Rumus Past Continuous Tense

Past continuous tense memiliki dua rumus. Yang pertama disebut verbal dan dipakai ketika terdapat verb (kata kerja), sementara yang kedua disebut nominal dan digunakan tatkala tidak terdapat verb. Sebagai gantinya, be (was, were) perlu ditambahkan di rumus kedua ini.

A. Dengan verb (verbal)

	Pola	Contoh
(+)	You/we/they + were + V-ing I/she/he/it + was + V-ing	You/we/they were moving I/she/he/it was moving
(-)	You/we/they + were + not + V-ing I/she/he/it + was + not + V-ing	You/we/they were not moving I/she/he/it was not moving
(?)	Were + you/we/they + V-ing? Was + I/she/he/it + V-ing? – Yes, I/she/he/it + were – No, I/she/he/it + was + not	Were you/we/they moving? Was I/she/he/it moving? – Yes, I/she/he/it was – No, I/she/he/it wasn’t

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B. Tanpa verb (nominal)

	Pola	Contoh
(+)	You/we/they + were + pelengkap I/she/he/it + was + pelengkap	You/we/they were well I/she/he/it was well
(-)	You/we/they + were + not + pelengkap I/she/he/it + was + not + pelengkap	You/we/they were not well I/she/he/it was not well
(?)	Were + you/we/they + pelengkap? Was + I/she/he/it + pelengkap? – Yes, I/she/he/it + were – No, I/she/he/it + was + not	Were you/we/they well? Was I/she/he/it well? – Yes, I/she/he/it was – No, I/she/he/it wasn’t

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Fungsi dan Contoh Past Continuous Tense

Secara garis besar, fungsi past continuous tense dalam bahasa Inggris adalah sebagai:

1. Untuk menyatakan kejadian yang sedang terjadi di masa lampu

   Contoh:

   Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner. (Tadi malam jam 6, aku sedang makan malam.) At midnight, we were still driving through the desert. (Saat tengah malam, kami masih menyetir di tengah gurun.) Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work. (Kemarin saat ini, saya sedang duduk di meja saya di kantor.)

2. Untuk menyatakan kejadian yang terinterupsi oleh kejadian lain di masa lalu

   Past continuous = Kejadian 1 (terinterupsi) Simple past = Kejadian 2 (menginterupsi)

   Contoh:

   I was watching TV when she called. (Aku sedang menonton TV ketika dia menelpon.) When the phone rang, she was writing a letter. (Ketika telepon berdering, dia sedang menulis surat.) Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane. (Sammy sedang menunggu kami tatkala kami turun dari pesawat.)

3. Pemakaian when dan while untuk menyatakan interupsi

   When = simple past While = past continuous

   Contoh:

   She called. (Dia menelepon.)	I was studying. (Aku sedang belajar.)
   When she called, I was studying.* While I was studying, she called.	I was studying when she called.** She called while I was studying.

   * Koma diperlukan jika konjungsi when dan while mengawali kalimat.
   ** Koma tidak dibutuhkan jika konjungsi when dan while hadir di tengah kalimat.

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Program Sertifikat Grammar

Tertarik untuk mengetahui sejauh mana pemahaman Anda terhadap grammar setelah mempelajarinya di website ini? Anda bisa mengambil tes grammar bersertifikat di sini:

Program Sertifikat Grammar

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Daftar Materi di English Tenses

1. SIMPLE PRESENT
2. PRESENT CONTINUOUS
3. PRESENT PERFECT
4. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
5. SIMPLE PAST
6. PAST CONTINUOUS
7. PAST PERFECT
8. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
9. SIMPLE FUTURE
10. FUTURE CONTINUOUS
11. FUTURE PERFECT
12. FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS
13. SIMPLE PAST FUTURE
14. PAST FUTURE CONTINUOUS
15. PAST FUTURE PERFECT
16. PAST FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS