زمن الماضي المستمر
وظائف الماضي المستمر
يُسْتَخْدَم الماضي المستمر لوصف الأفعال أو الأحداث في فترة زمنية قبل الآن، حيث يكون الحَدَث قد بدأ في الماضي وما زال مستمرًا حتى وقت الكلام. بعبارة أخرى، يُعَبِر الماضي المستمر عن أفعال غير مُنتهية أو غير مكتمِلة في الماضي استخداماته: غالبًا ما يُسْتَخْدَم الماضي المستمر لوصف الأحداث الخلفية في القصص المكتوبة في زمن الماضي، مثل:
- “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…”
لوصف حَدَث غير مُكتَمِل قَطَعَه حدث أو فعل آخر، مثل:
- “I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang.”
للتعبير عن تغيير في الرأي، مثل:
- “I was going to spend the day at the beach but I’ve decided to get my homework done instead.”
مع الفعل ‘wonder’ لصياغة الطلب بطريقة مُهَذَبة، مثل:
- “I was wondering if you could baby-sit for me tonight.”
أمثلة
- 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.
ملحوظة: يُسْتَخْدَم الماضي البسيط بدلًا من الماضي المستمر مع الأفعال التي لا تأتي عادة في الصيغة المستمرة.
تكوين الماضي المستمر
يتكون الفعل في زمن الماضي المستمر من جزأين هما: صيغة الماضي من الفعل (was/were) “to be” ومصدر الفعل مضافًا إليه -ing.
| الفاعل | was/were | مصدر الفعل+ ing |
|---|---|---|
| They | were | watching |
| الإثبات | ||
| She | was | reading |
| النفي | ||
| She | wasn’t | reading |
| الاستفهام | ||
| Was | she | reading? |
| الاستفهام المنفي | ||
| Wasn’t | she | reading? |
الماضي المستمر، To play كمِثال
| الإثبات | النفي | الاستفهام |
|---|---|---|
| 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? |