PAST TENSE, PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

A. SIMPLE PAST TENSE

    Simple past tense is used to indicate the activity in the past. Furthermore, 
    simple past is used for retelling successive events. So, it is commonly used in a
    story telling.

    The formula of Simple Past Tense :
    a. Without Verb :
        (+) S + to be (was/were) + Obj. / Compliment
        (-) S + to be (was/were) + not + Obj. / Compliment
        (?) To be (was/were) + S + Obj. / Compliment + ?
        Example : (+) I was at home last night
                          (-) I was not at home last night
                          (?) Was I at home last night?

    b. With Verb :
        (+) S + V2 + Compliment
        (-) S + did + not + V1 + Compliment
        (?) Did + S + V1 + Compliment + ?
        Example : (+) I called him last night.
                          (-) I did not call him last night.
                          (?) Did I call him last night?

    Time Signal of Simple Past Tense :
    - Yesterday
    - Yesterday afternoon
    - Last night
    - Last month
    - Last week
    - Last year
    - An hour ago

B. PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

  Past Continuous Tense is a kind of tense that is used to describe an event or 
    an action which was happening in a certain time in the past.

   The pattern of Past Continuous Tense:
 (+) S + to b (was, were) + V₁-ing + .....
 (-) S + to be (was, were) + not + V₁-ing + .....
 (?) To be (was, were) + S + V₁-ing + .....?

  Example :
  (+) I was studying all day yesterday.
  (-) I was not studying all day yesterday.
  (?) Was I studying all day?

Note:
Subjek (S)              To be

       He, She, It           Was

       I                        Was

      You, We, They       Were

The functions of Past Continuous Tense are :

  1)   To indicate that one action was in progress when another 
  action occurred.

  2)   To indicate that two actions were progress simultaneously.

  3)   To indicate an action that happened at a certain time in 
  the past.

Example :

-      I was studying when the telephone rang.

-      When mother came back from the market, we were 
     watching TV.

-      She was sleeping all afternoon yesterday.

-      I was working when she came here.

-      He was studying while I was coming to my house.

-      Rianty was growing up.

Adverb of time :

-      All day yesterday.

-      The whole day yesterday.

-      When

-      While

-      As