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Content tagged with "continuous"

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Past continuous subjunctive in the second conditional

conditionals
continuous
present
subjunctive
IF

The past continuous subjunctive can be used in the if-clause of a sentence in the second conditional to express an unreal action in the present which is imagined as continuous:

Past perfect continuous for continuous events in the past

continuous
past
perfect
point in time

The past perfect continuous tense is used to express that an action started before a point in time in the past and that it was still in progress or it had just stopped. This point can be implied or expressed with a time expression or a clause with a verb in the past simple tense:

Past perfect continuous for habitual actions in the past

continuous
habitual actions
past
perfect

The past perfect continuous is used to express repeated or habitual actions happening over a period of time before a point in time in the past:

I had been getting up at five o'clock all week, so on Friday I was completely exhausted.

Past perfect continuous subjunctive in the third conditional

conditionals
continuous
past
subjunctive
IF

The past perfect continuous subjunctive can be used in the if-clause of a sentence in the third conditional to express an unreal action in the past which is imagined as continuous:

Past simple to express a point in the past

continuous
past
perfect
point in time
simple

The past simple is used to refer to a point in the past at which another event was in progress, had been completed or had been going on for some time. The past simple thus serves as a time marker in subordinate time clauses within complex sentences, where the main clause is in the past continuous, past perfect or past perfect continuous tense:

Present continuous for fixed future arrangements

arrangement
continuous
future
present

Used with a time expression, the present continuous tense can express fixed social or travel arrangements for the future:

Present continuous for frequently repeated actions in the present

annoyance
continuous
habitual actions
present

With time expressions such as always, constantly, continually and all the time, the present continuous can express frequently repeated actions which annoy the speaker:

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