Англиискии для вас Новый курс XXI века

6. The Past Continuous Tense

	1 He She	was was not 'wasn’t	-watching V	at 7 o'clock yesterday.
	We You They	were were 'not weren’t
-Was	he she		at 7 o’clock yester­day?	Yes, he No, he	was. wasn’t.
Were	we you they	watching U V		Yes, they -No, they	were. weren’t.

* afterwards paftawadz] adv потом, впоследствии
Past Continuous образуется при помощи вспомогательного глагола to be в форме Simple Past и Present Participle (причастия настоящего вре­мени) смыслового глагола.
Вопросительная и отрицательная форма, а также краткие ответы на вопросы строятся аналогично соответствующим формам Present Continuous (см. урок 5).
Past Continuous употребляется для выражения конкретного действия в процессе его совершения в определенный момент в прошлом. Момент в прошлом может быть обозначен:

1. 
   точным указанием времени.
   

I was translating an article at seven o’clock last night. Вчера в 7 часов вечера я переводил статью.

2. 
   другим действием, выраженным глаголом в Simple Past.
   

Peter and John were playing chess when 1 came back from college. Питер и Джон играли в шахматы, когда я вернулся из колледжа.
Past Continuous может также употребляться для выражения двух или более параллельных действий, происходивших одновременно.
I was doing my homework while he was writing a letter. Я делал домашнее за­дание в то время, как он писал письмо.
Past Continuous иногда употребляется для выражения действия, про­исходившего в течение сравнительно длительного периода времени в прошлом, причем подчеркивается именно длительность действия. Пери­од времени в прошлом обозначается такими обстоятельствами времени, как all day (night) long весь день (всю ночь), all the time все время, the whole (houl| evening (morning, afternoon) весь вечер (всеутро, весь день), from five to six с пяти до шести часов и т. д.
John said: “They were discussing? the problem the whole moming yesterday.” Джон сказал: “Вчера они обсуждали эту проблему все утро”, (подчер­кивается длительность действия)
She was writing letters from nine to twelve yesterday morning. Вчера она писа­ла письма с 9 до 12 часов утра.
ПРИМЕЧАНИЕ. В тех случаях, когда констатируется лишь факт совер­шения действия, употребляется Simple Past.
John said: “They discussed the problem the whole morning yesterday." Джон ска­зал: “Вчера они обсуждали эту проблему все утро”, (длительность дейст­вия несущественна)
Past Continuous, как правило, переводится на русский язык глаголом прошедшего времени несовершенного вида.
The brothers were playing chess while their sister was watching TV. Братья иг­рали в шахматы в то время, как их сестра смотрела телевизор.
discuss (dis' kAs] v обсуждать, дискутировать
Exercise 18. Make up sentences using the table and translate them.

I He She	was wasn't	having dinner having an English class answering a telephone call telling John about her studies	at six o’clock yesterday. at 11 o'clock yesterday morning, when Peter came into the room, when the telephone rang.
We You They	were weren’t	discussing the problem listening to his lecture talking about Mr Brown’s lecture	when he came into the office, at 10 o'clock yesterday morning, when 1 came up to them.
Was	(I) he she	doing his homework writing a letter having a French class	at 5 o'clock yesterday? when you came home? al 9 o’clock last Tuesday?
Were	you they	watching TV driving in a car having breakfast	the whole evening yesterday? when you saw them? at 7.30 yesterday morning?

Exercise 19. Make the necessary substitutions and reproduce the dialogues.

1. 
   A,: What were you doing at 12.30 yesterday afternoon?
   

В I was having lunch. And you?
/1/ । ^was having a lecture.
(B: having a French class, taking Peter to the Travel Agency; Л/ looking through the papers, showing Mary round the city)

2. 
   A: Was John leaving when you came home?
   

B: No, he wasn’t. He was just going to.
(J: reading a book, speaking on the phone, watching television, doing his homework, making a phone call)

3. 
   A: Did you watch television last night?
   

B: Yes, I was watching TVthe whole evening.
(/4: play chess, translate the text, read that novel; B: playing chess, trans­lating it, reading it)
Exercise 20. Transform these sentences according to the models.

1. 
   Are they having an English class now? (at 11 o’clock yesterday)
   

No. they aren’t. They were having an English class at 11 o'clock yesterday.

1. 
   Is Mr Brown looking through the papers now? (at 10 o’clock yesterday) 2. Is Ann writing a letter? (at 4 o’clock yesterday) 3. Is she looking for her text­book? (at 6 o’clock last night) 4. Are they playing chess now? (at 11 o’clock yes­terday morning) 5. Is John reading the new text? (at 2 o’clock yesterday after­noon)
   

2. 
   Is he doing his homework now? (when I came home)
   

No. he isn’t. He was doing his homework when I came home.

1. 
   Is Jane writing a letter? (when her son came from college) 2. Is Peter learning the new words? (when his sister called him up) 3. Is Mary reading a book? (while her husband was translating an article) 4. Is Helen watching tele­vision? (while her father was looking through the newspapers)