과거의 특정 시점에 진행 중이던 동작을 나타낼 때는 was / were + -ing 동사를 써요. I, he, she, it에는 was를 쓰고, you, we, they에는 were를 써요.
was / were + -ing
At 8pm I was watching TV.
She was cooking dinner.
They were playing in the garden.
Not "They was playing in the garden." — say "They were playing in the garden.". they에는 was가 아니라 were를 써요.
해 보세요: At 8pm, we ___ dinner. (were having / was having / were have) 정답: were having — we에는 were를 쓰고 동사에 -ing를 붙여요: were having. "Was having"은 1인/단수(I/he/she)에 쓰고, "were have"는 -ing가 빠졌어요.
-ing 붙이는 철자 규칙
대부분의 동사는 뒤에 -ing만 붙여요(play → playing, watch → watching). -e로 끝나는 동사는 e를 빼고 써요: drive → driving, have → having, make → making. run이나 sit처럼 짧은 동사는 마지막 글자를 한 번 더 써요: run → running, sit → sitting.
She was driving to work. (drive → driving)
We were having lunch. (have → having)
The dog was running in the park. (run → running)
Not "She was driveing to work." — say "She was driving to work.". -ing를 붙이기 전에 소리 나지 않는 e를 빼요: drive → driving(driveing이 아니에요).
해 보세요: At noon, they were ___ lunch. (have) (having / haveing / haved) 정답: having — -ing를 붙이기 전에 소리 나지 않는 e를 빼요: have → having. "Haveing"은 실수로 e를 남겨둔 형태이고, "haved"는 올바른 형태가 아니에요.
부정문과 의문문
부정문은 was/were 뒤에 not을 붙여요: wasn't / weren't + -ing. 의문문은 주어 앞에 was / were를 둬요: Was / Were + 주어 + -ing?
I wasn't sleeping at 10pm.
They weren't listening to me.
Were you waiting for the bus?
Was she working yesterday?
Not "Did you were working?" — say "Were you working?". 의문문을 만들 때는 주어 앞으로 were를 옮겨요. did를 붙이지 마세요.
해 보세요: It was quiet. The children ___ any noise. (not / make) (weren't making / wasn't making / didn't making) 정답: weren't making — The children은 복수이므로 weren't를 쓰고 -ing 형태를 유지해요: weren't making. "Wasn't"는 단수에 쓰고, "didn't making"은 두 과거 형태를 잘못 섞어 쓴 거예요.
해 보세요: ___ you ___ TV when I called? (Were … watching / Did … watching / Was … watching) 정답: Were … watching — you가 주어일 때는 Were로 질문을 시작하고 -ing 형태를 유지해요: Were you watching? "Did"는 -ing와 함께 쓸 수 없고, "Was"는 I/he/she/it에 써요.
길게 이어진 동작과 짧은 순간의 동작
더 길게 이어지던 동작 도중에 짧은 동작이 끼어들 때는, 긴 동작에는 was / were + -ing를 쓰고 짧은 동작에는 일반 과거 시제를 써요.
I was reading (long) when the phone rang (short).
She was driving when she saw the accident.
They were playing when it started to rain.
해 보세요: Amina는 저녁 식사를 준비하던 중이었어요. 시간이 꽤 걸리는 일이었죠. 그때 갑자기 초인종이 한 번 울렸어요. 이미 진행 중이던 더 긴 동작에 알맞은 것은 무엇일까요? (She was cooking dinner. / She cooked dinner.) 정답: She was cooking dinner. — 요리는 이미 진행 중이던 더 긴 동작이므로 was cooking을 써요. "She cooked dinner"는 요리가 다 끝난 것처럼 들려 초인종이 울린 배경 상황이 되지 못해요.
해 보세요: Hiroshi는 오래 운전하던 중이었어요. 그러다 한순간에 전방의 사고를 목격했죠. 한순간에 일어난 짧은 동작에 알맞은 것은 무엇일까요? (He saw an accident. / He was seeing an accident.) 정답: He saw an accident. — 사고를 본 것은 한순간에 일어난 일이므로 일반 과거형인 saw를 써요. "Was seeing"을 쓰면 긴 동작이 되어 버리지만, 실제로는 순간적인 일이었어요.
while은 긴 동작과 함께 써요
While은 긴 동작(was / were + -ing)과 함께 쓰고, When은 짧은 동작(일반 과거 시제)과 함께 써요.
While I was sleeping, the phone rang.
When the phone rang, I was sleeping.
While she was cooking, someone knocked.
Not "While the phone rang, I was sleeping." — say "While I was sleeping, the phone rang.". While은 짧은 동작(rang)이 아니라 긴 동작(was sleeping)과 함께 써요.
해 보세요: Mei는 오랫동안 책을 읽고 있었어요. 전화가 걸려온 것은 도중에 끼어든 짧은 순간의 일이었죠. 긴 동작인 was reading 앞에 알맞은 단어는 무엇일까요? (While she was reading, the phone rang. / When she was reading, the phone rang.) 정답: While she was reading, the phone rang. — 책을 읽는 것은 긴 동작이었고, while은 긴 동작과 함께 쓰여요: While she was reading, the phone rang. "When"은 보통 짧은 순간의 동작을 가리켜요(when the phone rang).
해 보세요: While Lars ___ home, it ___ to rain. (was walking … started / walked … was starting / was walking … was starting) 정답: was walking … started — 집에 걸어가는 것은 긴 동작 → was walking. 비가 내리기 시작한 것은 짧은 순간 → started. 긴 동작에는 was + -ing를 쓰고, 짧은 동작에는 일반 과거 시제를 써요.