prošlo vrijeme glagola "to be" + particip prezenta glavnog glagola

She was reading. (ona je čitala)
We were playing. (mi smo igrali)

Odrični oblik se pravi dodavanjem rječice not:
She was not reading - She wasn't reading.

Upitni oblik se pravi inverzijom:
Was she playing?
Were we playing?

Nesvršeni preterit se upotrebljava:

• da se opiše pozadina, odnosno da se pred čitaoce postavi scena priče pisana u
  prošlom vremenu. Obično priča počinje nesvršenim preteritom, a zatim se nastavlja prošlim vremenom, npr:
  
  "James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard. Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a
  telephone box...";
  
  
• da se opiše radnja koja je trajala do trenutka kada ju je prekinula neka druga
  prošla radnja:
  
  I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang. (divno sam sanjao
  kada se alarm oglasio);
  I was watching TV when you telephoned. (gledao sam TV kada si nazvao)
  
  
• da se izrazi promjena mišljenja:
  
  I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to go on an excursion instead. (mislio sam provesti dan na plaži ali sam odlučio otići na ekskurziju)
  
  
• za dvije radnje koje se dešavaju istovremeno:
  
  The children were playing while their mothers were chatting. (djeca su se igrala
  dok njihove majke čavrljale)
  
  
• u zavisnoj rečenici umjesto nescršenog prezenta ako je u glavnoj rečenici preterit:
  
  I knew that he was talking to her about her daughter. (znao sam da se sa njom razgovara o njenoj kćeri).

Kod glagola koji se ne koriste u trajnom obliku upotrebljava se obični preterit >>.


to call - zvati