Forming Past Continuous / Past Progressive Verb Forms in Portuguese

Past Continuous Tense:

• Definition of Past Continuous Tense: (from Sonia Portuguese)
  
  
• The past continuous tense is used to say that somebody was in the middle of an action at a certain time in the past when another action occurred (in yellow below). It is also used to express two past actions in progress simultaneously (highlighted in green below)
  
  
• Notice that these sentences are often formed with a verb in the indicative preterite form (highlighted in yellow below)
  
  
• The past continuous tense is formed with the past tense (imperfect) of the auxiliary verb estar (to be) + the present participle (ndo).
  
  
• Examples (from Sonia Portuguese)
  
  
• English
• 1.  I was sleeping when you arrived.
• 2.  It was raining when I left home.
• 3.  They were having lunch when the phone rang.
• 4.  What were you doing there?
• 5.  I was talking to my sister while he was reading.
  
  
• Portuguese
• 1. Eu estava dormindo quando você chegou.
• 2. Estava chovendo quando eu saí de casa.
• 3. Eles estavam almoçando quando o telefone tocou.
• 4. O que você estava fazendo lá?
• 5. Eu estava conversando com a minha irmã enquanto ele estava lendo.
  
  
• Other Notes
  
  
• You can substitute the imperfect tense to substitute for the past continuous tense (it is grammatically correct).
  
  
• Example:
• (1) Enquanto eu estava dirigindo, ele estava dormindo.
• (2) Enquanto eu dirigia, ele dormia.
• (3) Enquanto eu dirigia, ele estava dormindo.
• (4) Enquanto eu estava dirigindo, ele dormia.
  
  
• However, using the past continuous form versus the imperfect for is more "precise"
• ...... the imperfect has a wider scope whereas the past continuous is more focused in a precise momentary process.
  
  
• Wordreference 1
• Wordreference 2
• Other Helpful Links:
  
  
• Helpful past continuous (and present continuous) video
• Link 1
  
  
• Good explanation from Sonia Portuguese (where the examples were taken)
• Link 2
  
  
• Lesson highlighting past continuous tense construction from Brazilian Podclass
• Link 3