Past Continuous Tense: Struktur, Penggunaan, & Latihan Soal

Jika sebelumnya kita sudah belajar tentang Simple Past tense dan Present Continuous tense, pada materi ini kita akan membahas tentang bentuk waktu lain yang juga sangat penting untuk dipelajari dalam bahasa Inggris, yaitu "Past Continuous tense".

Past continuous tense adalah bentuk waktu yang digunakan saat kita membicarakan suatu aktifitas atau peristiwa yang sedang dilakukan atau sedang terjadi pada saat tertentu di masa lampau.

Sebagai ilustrasi, lihatlah gambar di atas dan perhatikan bentuk kata kerja (verbs) pada kalimat-kalimat dalam paragraf singkat berikut ini:

At ten o'clock, Nancy was working out. She wasn't cooking. Now she is cooking and preparing lunch. She is not working out.

Perhatikan kalimat dengan kata kerja (verbs) dicetak tebal, yaitu:

• At ten o'clock, Nancy was working out.
• She wasn't cooking.

Kata-kata yang dicetak tebal pada kedua kalimat di atas inilah contoh kata kerja dalam bentuk Continuous tense.

I. Bentuk dan Struktur Past Continuous tense

A. Kalimat Afirmatif / positif.

Subject + was / were + verb-ing

Subject	Auxiliary verb BE	Main verb (verb-ing)
I	was	working.
We She and I My friends and I	were were were	working. working. working.
You	were	working.
They The men My friends	were were were	working. working. working.
He She It Nancy The man	was was was was was	working. working. working. working. working.

B. Kalimat Interogatif / tanya.

Was / Were + subject + verb-ing?

Auxiliary verb BE	Subject	Main verb (verb-ing)?
Was	I	working?
Were Were Were	we she and I my friends and I	working? working? working?
Were	you	working?
Were Were Were	they the men my friends	working? working? working?
Was Was Was Was Was	he she it Nancy the man	working? working? working? working? working?

C. Kalimat Negatif / penyangkalan.

Subject + was not (wasn't) / were not (weren't) + verb-ing

Subject	Auxiliary verb BE + NOT	Main verb (verb-ing)
I	was not (wasn't)	working.
We She and I My friends and I	were not (weren't) were not (weren't) were not (weren't)	working. working. working.
You	were not (weren't)	working.
They The men My friends	were not (weren't) were not (weren't) were not (weren't)	working. working. working.
He She It Nancy The man	was not (wasn't) was not (wasn't) was not (wasn't) was not (wasn't) was not (wasn't)	working. working. working. working. working.

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II. Penggunaan Past Continuous tense.

Past Continuous tense pada umumnya digunakan untuk tujuan-tujuan berikut ini:

1. Membicarakan kegiatan / peristiwa yang sedang terjadi pada waktu tertentu di masa lampau. Kegiatan / peristiwa tersebut dimulai sebelum waktu itu, dan saat itu masih sedang terjadi dan belum berakhir.
   Contoh kalimat:
   • At ten o'clock, Nancy was working out. She wasn't cooking. She started cooking at nine, and finished at eleven.
   • Yesterday I watched a movie on the internet. The movie started at 7 pm and finished at 9 pm. At 8 pm yesterday, I was watching the movie.
   
2. Dalam bercerita, past continuous tense umumnya digunakan untuk menggambarkan situasi yang menjadi latar belakang sebuah adegan. Cerita tersebut seringkali dimulai dengan past continuous tense untuk menggambarkan peristiwa yang menjadi latar belakang, lalu dilanjutkan dengan kalimat dalam simple past tense untuk menceritakan adegan yang terjadi.
   Contoh:
   "The farmer and his wife were working in their farm. The sun was shining. The wind was blowing gently. The birds were chirping on the trees around the farm. Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion from the barn."
3. Past continuous tense sering digunakan bersama simple past tense dengan kata penghubung "when" atau "while" untuk 2 (dua) peristiwa/kegiatan yang terjadi pada waktu yang bersamaan di masa lampau. Past continuous tense digunakan untuk peristiwa/kegiatan yang sedang berlangsung saat peristiwa/kegiatan lainnya terjadi (biasanya menggunakan bentuk simple past tense). Jadi past continuous membicarakan peristiwa/kegiatan yang lebih lama, sedangkan simple past tense membicarakan peristiwa yang tiba-tiba terjadi pada saat itu.

   Pada contoh kalimat di bawah ini, ada 2 (dua) peristiwa/kegiatan yang sedang dibicarakan.

   1. Kegiatan yang lebih lama (she was watching a movie at 8 pm), menggunakan bentuk past continuous tense.
   2. Peristiwa yang tiba-tiba terjadi (the door opened), menggunakan bentuk simple past tense.
   Kedua peristiwa/kegiatan tersebut bisa diungkapkan dalam satu kalimat dengan menggunakan kata hubung "when" (untuk peristiwa yang tiba-tiba terjadi) atau "while" (untuk kegiatan yang lebih lama). Contoh-contoh kalimat di bawah ini menggunakan 4 (empat) kombinasi yang berbeda:
   • She was watching a movie when the door opened.
   • When the door opened, she was watching a movie.
   • While she was watching a movie, the door opened.
   • The door opened while she was watching a movie.
   Catat bahwa "when the door opened" juga merupakan keterangan waktu.
4. Past Continuous juga sering digunakan dengan "while" untuk membicarakan dua kegiatan / peristiwa yang sedang berlangsung secara bersamaan di waktu lampau. Kedua kegiatan / peristiwa tersebut berlangsung selama beberapa lama, dan keduanya menggunakan bentuk Past Continuous tense.
   Contoh:
   • While I was sunbathing, my friends were playing beach volleyball.
   • He was playing a video game while his sister was watching a movie.
   • The mechanic was repairing the car while Andy was curiously watching him.
5. Past continuous seringkali digunakan bersama frase "I was wondering if you could/would…….., I was hoping, and I was thinking". Di sini, past continuous digunakan agar permintaan atau saran terdengar lebih halus dan sopan.
   Contoh:
   • I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me for dinner one evening.
   • I was hoping you would be able to come to my party.
6. Past continuous digunakan untuk menggambarkan situasi yang sedang berubah.
   Contoh:
   • It was getting darker. The wind was rising.
   • Despite the headwinds created by the COVID-19, the economy was recovering.
7. Pada kalimat tak langsung (indirect speech), past continuous digunakan untuk mengganti kata kerja berbentuk present continuous.
   Contoh:
   • Ann said, "I am still working."
     Ann said that she was still working.
8. Sama halnya dengan present continuous, ada beberapa kata kerja (verbs) yang tidak biasa digunakan dalam bentuk past continuous.

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III. LATIHAN SOAL

A. Ubahlah kata kerja di dalam kurung ke dalam bentuk Past Continuous tense yang benar.

1. John (work) in his office at 10 am this morning.
2. When I walked past his house, he (mow) the lawn.
3. The sun (shine) while the afternoon breeze (blow).
4. The teacher (explain) his lesson when the fire alarm went off.
5. Jane (practice) the piano at 8 pm last night.
6. He (not joke) when he told the news.
7. The children (not play) football at 4 pm this afternoon.
8. What you (do) at 7 pm last night?
9. What he (do) when you entered the room?
10. Mom (cook) when Dad called her.
11. We (work) in the garden when it started to rain.
12. She left early because it (snow).
13. They (visit) the museum at 10 am this morning.
14. At 8 am yesterday morning, the students (do) their test.
15. At that time, the moon (hide) behind the cloud.

B. Ubahlah kata kerja di dalam kurung ke dalam bentuk Past Continuous tense atau Simple Past tense.

1. When the principal (appear) at the classroom door, some students (make) a presentation. They (talk) about cyberbullying while others (listen) attentively.
2. At 8 am this morning, they (clean) the room. They (start) working at 7 and (finish) at about 10.
3. The boys (practice) when David (call). He (say) that he was still at work.

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