Past continuous (Verlaufsform)

Funktionen des 'past continuous'

Der 'past continuous' beschreibt Handlungen oder Ereignisse, die in der Vergangenheit begonnen und immer noch andauern während man spricht. In anderen Worten drückt er eine in der Vergangenheit unbeendete oder unvollständige Handlung aus.

Anwendung:

Häufig, um den Hintergrund einer in der Vergangenheit passierten Handlung zu erzählen: "The sun was shining and the birds were singing as the elephant came out of the jungle. The other animals were relaxing in the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly. She was looking for her baby, and she didn't notice the hunter who was watching her through his binoculars. When the shot rang out, she was running towards the river..."
um eine unvollendete Handlung zu beschreiben, die von einem anderen Ereignis unterbrochen wurde: "I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang."
um eine Meinungsänderung zu äussern: "I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to get my homework done instead."
mit 'wonder', um eine sehr höfliche Bitte zu formulieren: "I was wondering if you could baby-sit for me tonight."

Beispiele

They were waiting for the bus when the accident happened.
Caroline was skiing when she broke her leg.
When we arrived he was having a bath.
When the fire started I was watching television.

Bemerkung: Verben, die die Verlaufsform normalerweise nicht bilden stehen in der einfachen Vergangenheit (simple past).

Der 'past continuous'

Der 'past continuous' besteht aus zwei Teilen: die Vergangenheitsform von "to be" (was/were) und der Grundform des Hauptverbs +ing.

Subjekt	was/were	Grundform + ing
They	were	watching
Affirmativ
She	was	reading
Negativ
She	wasn't	reading
Interrogativ
Was	she	reading?
Negativer Interrogativ
Wasn't	she	reading?

To play, past continuous

Affirmativ	Negativ	Interrogativ
I was playing	I was not playing	Was I playing?
You were playing	You were not playing	Were you playing?
He was playing	He wasn't playing	Was he playing?
We were playing	We weren't playing	Were we playing?
They were playing	They weren't playing	Were they playing?