ساختار زمان گذسته استمراري :
ساختار اين زمان به شکل زير مي باشد:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb (BE) | + | main verb |
| conjugated in simple past tense صرف فعل در زمان گذشته ساده | present participle | |||
| was were | base + ing | |||
در زمان گذشته استمراري براي استفاده از جملات منفي بين فعل کمکي و فعل اصلي not اضافه مي کنيم. براي جملات سوالي نيز جاي فاعل و فعل کمکي را عوض مي نماييم. به مثال هاي زير توجه کنيد:
| subject | auxiliary verb | main verb | |||
| + | I | was | watching | TV. | |
| + | You | were | working | hard. | |
| – | He, she, it | was | not | helping | Mary. |
| – | We | were | not | joking. | |
| ? | Were | you | being | silly? | |
| ? | Were | they | playing | football? |