Past Continuous

B1Sedang terjadi di masa lalu

Dipakai untuk kegiatan yang sedang berlangsung pada satu saat di masa lalu, sering sebagai latar saat kejadian lain memotongnya. Rumusnya was/were + V-ing.

ANALOGI GOGO

Bayangkan kamu memutar ulang rekaman rapat Zoom kemarin, lalu kamu hentikan di menit ke-15. Di layar, Rina sedang presentasi (Rina was presenting), lalu tiba-tiba internetnya putus (her internet went down). Presentasinya kegiatan panjang yang sedang berjalan, putusnya internet kejadian singkat yang memotong. Jadi was/were + V-ing untuk yang sedang berjalan pada satu titik di masa lalu, dan simple past untuk yang memotongnya.

Rumus Past Continuous

Bentuk	Rumus	Contoh
Kalimat positif (+)	`S + was / were + V-ing + O`	I was driving to work at eight.Jam delapan tadi saya sedang menyetir ke kantor.
Kalimat negatif (−)	`S + wasn't / weren't + V-ing + O`	We weren't using the room at that time.Saat itu kami tidak sedang memakai ruangan itu.
Kalimat tanya (?)	`Was / Were + S + V-ing + O?`	Were you sleeping when I called?Kamu sedang tidur waktu aku telepon?
Kata tanya (Wh-)	`Kata tanya + was / were + S + V-ing?`	What were you doing at nine last night?Jam sembilan tadi malam kamu sedang apa?
Jawaban singkat	`Yes, S + was/were. · No, S + wasn't/weren't.`	Yes, I was. · No, they weren't.Ya. · Tidak.

Kata kunci yang sering muncul: when, while, at that time, at eight last night, at this time yesterday, all morning, as

Kapan dipakai?

Pertanyaan khasnya: "Tadi jam segitu kamu lagi apa?" Past continuous menjawabnya dengan kegiatan yang sedang berlangsung saat itu:

Sedang terjadi pada jam tertentu: At ten yesterday, I was presenting to the client.
Kegiatan panjang yang dipotong kejadian singkat: I was writing an email when the power went off.
Dua kegiatan bersamaan: While Dina was checking the data, Raka was preparing the slides.
Latar cerita: It was raining, and everyone was rushing to the station.

What were you doing at eight last night?Jam delapan tadi malam kamu sedang apa?
I was driving to work when my boss called.Saya sedang menyetir ke kantor waktu atasan saya menelepon.

Cara membentuk: was / were + V-ing

Kalau sudah bisa present continuous, kamu tinggal mengganti to be-nya ke bentuk lampau: was/were + V-ing. Ejaan -ing-nya juga sama: make jadi making, stop jadi stopping.

Subject	Positif	Negatif	Tanya
I / he / she / it	was working	wasn't working	Was … working?
you / we / they	were working	weren't working	Were … working?

Tips:

Kata kerja keadaan (know, want, need, believe) tetap pakai simple past: I knew, bukan I was knowing.

When vs while

Dalam satu kalimat, kegiatan panjang pakai past continuous, sedangkan kejadian singkat yang memotongnya pakai simple past.

when + kejadian singkat: I was talking to Bu Sari when the fire alarm rang.
while + kegiatan panjang: While I was talking to Bu Sari, the fire alarm rang.

Kalau bagian when/while ada di depan, beri koma. Satu jebakan: when + dua simple past artinya kejadiannya berurutan, bukan bersamaan.

S + was/were + V-ing + when + S + V2 · While + S + was/were + V-ing, S + V2

When the client arrived, we started the meeting.Begitu klien datang, kami memulai rapat. (berurutan)
When the client arrived, we were having lunch.Waktu klien datang, kami sedang makan siang. (sudah berlangsung)

Kesalahan khas orang Indonesia

"Sedang" di masa lalu ditulis was/were + V-ing. Tiga kesalahan ini yang paling sering:

Lupa -ing: I was work ✗ → I was working ✓.
Salah pasangan: They was waiting ✗ → They were waiting ✓.
-ing untuk kata kerja keadaan: I was knowing him ✗ → I knew him ✓.

Kesalahan umum: I was sleep when you called me. → I was sleeping when you called me.

Setelah was/were, kata kerjanya wajib -ing: was sleeping.

Ingat!

Rumus: was/were + V-ing, untuk yang sedang berlangsung pada satu titik waktu lampau.
Kegiatan panjang (past continuous) dipotong kejadian singkat (simple past).
when + kejadian singkat · while + kegiatan panjang.
I/he/she/it → was · you/we/they → were.
Kata kerja keadaan tetap simple past: I knew, bukan I was knowing.

Contoh soal Past Continuous dan pembahasannya

1. At nine last night, I ___ my presentation.

were preparing
was preparing
am preparing
preparing

Lihat jawaban

Jawaban: was preparing

At nine last night menunjuk satu titik di masa lalu, dan kegiatannya sedang berjalan saat itu. Untuk I, pakai was preparing.

2. I was writing an email ___ the power went off.

while
during
when

Lihat jawaban

Jawaban: when

The power went off adalah kejadian singkat, jadi pakai when. While untuk kegiatan panjang, dan during harus diikuti kata benda.

3. Pilih kalimat yang benar.

While I were presenting, my laptop crashed.
While I presenting, my laptop crashed.
While I was presenting, my laptop was crash.
While I was presenting, my laptop crashed.

Lihat jawaban

Jawaban: While I was presenting, my laptop crashed.

While diikuti kegiatan panjang: was presenting. Laptop crashed terjadi sekali, jadi cukup simple past.

4. Manajer masuk, LALU kami memulai rapat. When the manager came in, we ___ the meeting.

were starting
started
was starting
start

Lihat jawaban

Jawaban: started

Kata "LALU" menunjukkan dua kejadian berurutan, jadi keduanya simple past: came in, lalu started. Were starting berarti rapatnya sudah berjalan saat manajer masuk.

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