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Past continuous Exercises

( Free Online English Grammar Lessons )

Read time : 2 minutes

Past Continuous Form : ( Was / were + verb -ing )

In English we use the past continuous to talk about an action taking place during a period of time in the past. We usually use it with past simple.

The table below shows the different forms of past continuous :

Example verb : study	I / He / She / It	You / We / They
Positive	... was studying.	... were studying.
Negative	... wasn't studying.	... weren't studying.
Questions	Was ... studying?	Were ... studying?
Short answers	Yes, ... was. / No, ... wasn't.	Yes, ... were. / No, ... weren't.

In English we use the past continuous to show that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the past simple. This can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.

Past Continuous Examples Sentences :

Positive Examples of Past Continuous :

I was cooking dinner when she phoned.
While we were cycling in the park, it started to rain.
While Alex was exercising, someone stole his bike.

Negative Examples of Past Continuous :

You were not listening to the teacher when she gave us our homework.
He wasn't paying attention when the fire alarm went off.
We weren't watching the film during the scary parts.

Question Examples of Past Continuous :

What were you doing when you had the car accident?
What were you doing when the police turned up?
Where was he living when the attack happened in London?

In English we can also use a specific time as an interruption.

Examples Sentences :

Last night at 6 PM, I was travelling home.
At midnight, I was still studying for my exam.
Yesterday at this time, I was sitting on a beach in Australia.

When you use the past continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it means that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.

Examples Sentences :

I was swimming while he was sunbathing.
While Emily was cooking, Brian was doing his homework.
Were you listening when I was speaking to you?
They were sitting by the pool, sipping cocktails, and talking about life.

Past continuous example sentences
Yeah, it wasn't only Pogo, she was complaining about everything!	Ja, es war nicht nur Pogo. Sie hat sie über alles beschwert!
I was planning on stirfrying some red peppers and mushrooms!	Ich hatte geplant etwas rote Paprika und Pilze kurz anzubraten!
I was wondering where that chorizo smell was coming from.	Ich habe mich gewundert, woher dieser Chorizo-Geruch kam.
Noone was paying attention to your "precious" bag.	Keiner hat auf deine "wertvolle" Tasche aufgepasst.
Alright Nick, what were you saying?	Okay Nick, was meintest du?
Yeah... What was I saying?	Ja... Was habe ich gesagt?
And you pretended you didn't know I was living here.	Und du hast so getan als wüsstest du nicht, dass ich hier wohne.
No, I wasn't interested at all, I was just trying to be nice to her.	Nein, ich war überhaupt nicht interessiert. Ich wollte nur nett zu ihr sein.
I thought Diego was taking you somewhere.	Ich dachte Diego nimmt dich irgendwohin mit.
It sounds like she was having a mental breakdown.	Es klingt so als hätte sie einen Nervenzusammenbruch gehabt.
How did you know you were knocking on the right door?	Woher wusstest du, dass es die richtige Tür ist?
I was planning on cooking some meat, originally.	Ich habe eigentlich geplant etwas Fleisch zu kochen.
She was in the kitchen, too, preparing something to cook.	Sie war auch in der Küche und hat sich etwas zum Essen zubereitet.
And the girls were too busy ordering.	Und die Mädels waren zu beschäftigt mit bestellen.
Oh, I see, she was talking about it last night!	Oh ich verstehe. Sie hat letzte Nacht darüber gesprochen!
That's what I was planning.	Das hatte ich vor.
Hm, why was he begging the fairy to turn him into a real kid then?	Hmm, warum hat er die Fee dann gebeten ihn in ein echtes Kind zu verwandeln?
First she started to mumble about how long my cooking was taking.	Erst hat sie angefangen etwas darüber zu murmeln, wie lange mein Essen braucht.
Thank god you weren't looking for red wine!	Gottseidank hast du nicht nach rotem Wein gesucht!
The only smoke I could see was coming out of her ears.	Der einzige Rauch den ich sehen konnte, kam aus ihren Ohren.

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