Proslo trajno vrijeme-Past Continuous Tense

 prošlo vrijeme glagola "to be" + particip prezenta glavnog glagola

She was reading. (ona je čitala)

We were playing. (mi smo igrali)

Odrični oblik se pravi dodavanjem rječice not:

She was not reading - She wasn't reading.

Upitni oblik se pravi inverzijom:

Was she playing?

Were we playing?

Nesvršeni preterit se upotrebljava:

 da se opiše pozadina, odnosno da se pred čitaoce postavi scena priče pisana u

prošlom vremenu. Obično priča počinje nesvršenim preteritom, a zatim se nastavlja

prošlim vremenom, npr:

"James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard.

Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a

telephone box...";

 da se opiše radnja koja je trajala do trenutka kada ju je prekinula neka druga

prošla radnja:

I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang. (divno sam sanjao

kada se alarm oglasio);

I was watching TV when you telephoned. (gledao sam TV kada si nazvao)

 da se izrazi promjena mišljenja:

I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to go on an excursion

instead. (mislio sam provesti dan na plaži ali sam odlučio otići na ekskurziju)

 za dvije radnje koje se dešavaju istovremeno:

The children were playing while their mothers were chatting. (djeca su se igrala

dok njihove majke čavrljale)

 u zavisnoj rečenici umjesto nescršenog prezenta ako je u glavnoj rečenici preterit:

I knew that he was talking to her about her daughter. (znao sam da se sa njom

razgovara o njenoj kćeri)

 

Kod glagola koji se ne koriste u trajnom obliku upotrebljava se obični preterit >>.

to call - zvati

I was calling. I was not calling was I calling?

you were calling. you were not calling were you calling?

he, she, it was calling he, she, it wasn't calling was he, she, it calling?

we were calling we weren't calling were we calling?

you were calling you weren't calling were you callingg?

they were calling they weren't calling were they calling?