Se você já domina o Present Continuous, entender o Past Continuous será muito de boa!
O Past Continuous em inglês serve pra descrever ações que estavam em progresso em um momento específico do passado, estabelecer cenário, mostrar interrupções e muito mais.
Bora lá! 🔥
Estrutura/Formação do Past Continuous
Não há nada de muito diferente na estrutura, apenas o verbo to be no passado:
| Elemento | Forma Afirmativa | Forma Negativa | Forma Interrogativa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sujeito (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) + was/were + verbo+ing | She was cooking dinner. | They were not playing. / They weren’t playing. | Were you reading a book? / Was he working? |
📝 Regras ortográficas para o -ing:
Se o verbo termina em -e, tire o -e e adicione ing: make → making.
Dobre a consoante final em verbos que terminam em consoante-vogal-consoante e têm a sílaba final acentuada → stop → stopping, run → running. Se termina em -ie, troque por -y + -ing → die → dying.
Principais usos do Past Continuous em inglês
- Ações em progresso em um momento específico no passado: At 6 p.m. yesterday, I was studying.
- Descrevendo o cenário ou contexto onde a ação aconteceu: The sun was shining, the children were playing, and birds were singing in the garden.
- Interrupções: uma ação em progresso + outra que a interrompe (geralmente no Past Simple). I was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
- Ações paralelas: duas ou mais ações em progresso ao mesmo tempo no passado. While I was reading, she was listening to music.
- Ações temporárias ou situações transitórias que estavam ocorrendo no passado. He was living in London for a few months.
🆚 Past Continuous vs Past Simple
| Quando usar Past Simple | Quando usar Past Continuous |
|---|---|
| ações completadas no passado | ação em progresso no passado |
| sequências de eventos | cenário ou background |
| hábitos passados | situação temporária ou interrupção |
| ex: I finished work early. | ex: I was finishing work when he called. |
🌱 Exemplos:
- I called you four times last night. (Past Simple)
- I was calling you when the power went out. (Past Continuous + Past Simple)
✨ Leia também: Como usar o simple past
⏱ Expressões de tempo típicas usadas com Past Continuous
- While (enquanto) → para ações paralelas ou contexto
- When → quando uma ação interrompe outra
- At + hora específica → At 8 pm, I was sleeping.
- All evening / all morning / all day → para enfatizar duração
- This time yesterday / last night / at that moment → fixar o ponto no passado
👅 Pronúncia: while [waɪl]
- At 9 pm last night, Julia was reading a book.
- They were eating dinner when the guests arrived.
- While I was walking home, it started raining.
- We were watching TV all evening.
- He was not listening when his sister called.
🤔 É bom saber:
Verbos como know, understand, realize, remember, believe, love, like etc. costumam usar Past Simple, ou seja, sem ING.
I didn’t remember what she said
He didn’t realize he was wrong.
🚧 Erros comuns e como evitá-los
Esquecer was/were:
- ❌ I cooking when… → ✅ I was cooking when…
Sempre cheque se há “to be” no passado + verbo com -ing.
Usar Past Continuous quando a ação já terminou
- ❌ I was living in Brazil when I am small. → ✅ I lived in Brazil when I was small.
Se for algo habitual ou fala de infância, cuidado.
Misturar com verbos (stative verbs) que geralmente não usam -ing
❌ I was knowing him. → ✅ I knew him.
✍️ Exercícios práticos
Complete com Past Continuous ou Past Simple:
- I ___ (read) a story when you called.
- When she arrived, they ___ (play) football.
- Yesterday at 7, I ___ (study) English.
- He ___ (walk) home when he saw an accident.
- While we ___ (cook), the power went out.
(Respostas no fim do artigo.)
Mini-história
Last Saturday, Mark was painting the living room when his friend Anna called. She was walking through the park, and the sun was shining. While Mark was mixing the paint, his cat was sleeping on the floor. Suddenly, they heard a loud noise—someone dropped a heavy box in the hallway. Mark was very surprised because he was expecting a quiet afternoon.
🔚 Respostas dos exercícios
- was reading
- were playing
- was studying
- was walking
- were cooking
Ufa! 🤯
Agora você sabe como usar o past continuous em inglês!
🤙🏾 É nóis!
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