过去进行时描述的是过去某个时刻正在进行的动作——动作已经开始，尚未结束。可以把它想象成给动作"进行到一半"时拍了一张快照：At nine o'clock she was studying. They were sleeping when I arrived.

构成很简单：was 或 were + 实义动词的 -ing 形式。

快速公式： 主语 + was / were + 动词**-ing** → I was working. They were talking.

如何构成过去进行时

助动词始终是 was 或 were——与 一般过去时：was / were 中的选择相同。然后加上实义动词的 -ing 形式。

主语 助动词 -ing 形式 例句
I was working I was working late.
he / she / it was reading She was reading a book.
you were talking You were talking loudly.
we / they were sleeping They were sleeping.

was / were 的规则始终不变：I、he、she、it → was；you、we、they → were。名词主语也适用——✅ The baby was sleeping，✅ The children were sleeping。

汉语可以用"正在"或"在"表示动作正在进行（如"我正在做饭"），但不靠动词形式来区分过去和现在。英语的过去进行时必须用 was / were + 动词-ing；漏掉 was / were，句子就不完整。

-ing 形式的拼写规则

这些规则与现在进行时相同：

动词结尾 规则 例子
大多数动词 直接加 -ing work → working，play → playing
-e 结尾 去掉 -e，加 -ing make → making，have → having
单音节，辅音—元音—辅音 双写末尾辅音（w/x/y 除外） run → running，sit → sitting，fix → fixing
-ie 结尾 改为 -y，加 -ing lie → lying，die → dying

过去某时刻正在进行的动作

用过去进行时描述过去某个具体时刻正在发生的事情。时间状语指向动作进行中的某一时刻：

  • At ten o'clock last night, I was watching TV.
  • This time yesterday, we were flying over the ocean.
  • When you called, she was having a shower.

被打断的动作：过去进行时 + when + 一般过去时

这是最常见的用法之一。一个较长的动作（过去进行时）正在进行，此时发生了一个较短的事件（一般过去时）。较短的事件未必会终止较长的动作——在 I was cooking when the phone rang 中，做饭可能之后还在继续：

  • I was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
  • She was walking home when it started to rain.
  • We were watching the match when the power went out.

过去进行时用来铺陈背景，一般过去时用来点出发生的事件。两个从句可以互换位置——当 when 从句在前时，通常要加逗号：

  • When the phone rang, I was cooking dinner.

两个同时进行的动作

在两个从句中都使用过去进行时，表示两个平行进行的动作：

  • While she was studying, he was cooking.
  • They were talking while I was trying to sleep.

When 与 while 的用法

这两个词有一些常见的搭配规律：

  • ✅ While I was sleeping, the cat came in.（while + 较长的背景动作）
  • ✅ I was sleeping when the cat came in.（when + 打断的事件）
  • ✅ When she arrived, we were eating dinner.（when 接一般过去时也完全正确）

while 侧重持续性，自然与过去进行时搭配；when 通常引出较短的一般过去时事件。实际上，两个词都可出现在过去进行时从句前——When I was cooking, the phone rang 完全自然。

否定式

在 was / were 后加 not。缩写形式在日常英语中非常常见：

  • I wasn't listening.（was not）
  • They weren't expecting you.（were not）
  • It wasn't raining when I left.

疑问句

将 was / were 置于主语之前：

  • Was she sleeping?
  • Were they waiting for us?
  • What were you doing last night?
  • Who was he talking to?

简略回答要重复 was 或 were：

  • "Were you working?" — "Yes, I was." / "No, I wasn't."

通常不用进行时的动词

有些动词描述的是状态而非动作——know、believe、love、want、understand。表示状态时，它们通常用一般过去时，而不用进行时：

  • ❌ I was knowing the answer. → ✅ I knew the answer.
  • ❌ She was wanting to leave. → ✅ She wanted to leave.

这些动词在表达更偏动作的含义时，有时也可以用进行时（I was seeing a doctor，She was thinking about it 等），但那是之后要学的内容。

常见错误

  • ❌ I was cook dinner. → ✅ I was cooking dinner.（缺少 -ing 形式）
  • ❌ I cooking when you called. → ✅ I was cooking when you called.（缺少 was / were）
  • ❌ What was you doing? → ✅ What were you doing?（you 始终用 were）
  • ❌ While she reading, I was writing. → ✅ While she was reading, I was writing.（-ing 前缺少 was / were）
  • ❌ I was knowing the answer. → ✅ I knew the answer.（状态动词不用进行时）

快速测验

用过去进行时或一般过去时填空：

  1. At midnight, they ____ (sleep).
  2. I ____ (have) a shower when you ____ (knock).
  3. While she ____ (read), he ____ (cook) dinner.
  4. ____ you ____ (listen) when the teacher explained it?
查看答案
  1. were sleeping   2. was having … knocked   3. was reading … was cooking   4. Were … listening

要点总结

  • 过去进行时 = was / were + 动词-ing——描述过去正在进行的动作。
  • 用于：过去某时刻正在进行的动作；作为背景的较长动作被一般过去时事件打断；两个同时进行的动作。
  • while 自然搭配过去进行时从句；when 通常引出较短的一般过去时事件。
  • 否定：wasn't / weren't + -ing。疑问：Was / Were + 主语 + -ing？
  • 状态动词（know、want、love 等）表示状态时通常用一般过去时，而非进行时。