Kestoimperfekti

Kestoimperfektin funktiot

Kestoimperfekti kuvailee toimintaa tai tapahtumia ajassa ennen nykyisyyttä, mikä alkoi menneisyydessä ja tapahtuu silti puhumishetkellä. Toisin sanoen, se kuvailee päättymätöntä tai keskeneräistä toimintaa menneisyydessä.

Käyttö:

Sitä käytetään usein kuvailemaan tarinan taustoja: esim. "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..."
kuvailemaan päättymätöntä toimintaa, jonka jokin tapahtuma tai toiminta keskeytti: esim. "I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang."
kuvailemaan mielen muuttumista: esim. "I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to get my homework done instead."
yhdessä 'wonder' kanssa, kun halutaan tehdä kohtelias pyyntö: e.g. "I was wondering if you could baby-sit for me tonight."

Esimerkkejä

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.

Huomioi: jos verbiä ei yleensä käytetä kestoimperfektimuodossa, käytetään imperfektiä.

Kestoimperfektin muodostaminen

Minkä tahansa verbin kestoimperfekti muodostetaan kahdesta osasta : verbin mennyt aikamuoto "to be" (was/were), ja pääverbin vartalo +ing.

Subjekti	was/were	base + ing
They	were	watching
Myönteinen
She	was	reading
Kielteinen
She	wasn't	reading
Kysymyslause
Was	she	reading?
Kielteinen kysymyslause
Wasn't	she	reading?

To play, kestoimperfekti

Myönteinen	Kielteinen	Kysymyslause
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?