20231002 過去進行式 The Past Continuous (66)

過去進行式
The Past Continuous
The past continuous is mostly used to express "past" actions or states that are "incomplete", and its constructed by "be-verb (was/were) + present participle (V-ing)". We all know that present participles function similar to "adjectives", and following be-verbs, they describe a "state". it is because of this characteristic that this state has the feature of "continuity" or "frequent". Take this sentence from the lesson, "Why was I completely leaving out my left hand?", the action was not completed or concluded in the past. It is a state that "continued for a period of time; was undergoing in the past".

過去進行式多用來表達「過去未完成或不完整」的動作或狀態，由 be 動詞的過去式 (was/were) ＋ 現在分詞 (V-ing) 構成。 我們都知道現在分詞類似於「形容詞」，而接在 be 動詞後，就是描述一種「狀態」。

所以注意，就是因為這樣的特性，這種狀態是會有「持續性」或「經常性」的特性。

例如本課 Why was I completely leaving out my left hand? 這句，這個動作並不是在過去就完成、結束的，反而是一種「持續了一段時間、過去正在進行中」的狀態。

例句
They were seeing a film last night.

他們昨晚在看一部電影。

He was playing basketball this morning.

今天早上他在打籃球。

I was running this time yesterday.

我昨天這個時候在跑步。