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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
And you pretended you didn't know I was living here.	E você fingiu não saber que eu estava vivendo aqui.
No, I wasn't interested at all, I was just trying to be nice to her.	Não, não estava de todo interessada, só estava a tentar ser simpática para ela.
She was in the kitchen, too, preparing something to cook.	Ela também estava na cozinha, preparando algo para comer.
You were saying something about the wardrobe before.	Você estava dizendo algo sobre o roupeiro antes.
First she started to mumble about how long my cooking was taking.	Primeiro, ela começou resmungando sobre o tempo que eu estava demorando a cozinhar.
I was planning on cooking some meat, originally.	Inicialmente, estava planejando cozinhar carne.
But I don't know where he was getting it from.	Mas eu não sei onde ele o comprava.
Alright Nick, what were you saying?	Muito bem, Nick, o que você estava dizendo?
I was also training new workers how to make coffee.	Também ensinava os novos funcionários a fazer café.
It sounds like she was having a mental breakdown.	Parece que ela estava sofrendo de um colapso nervoso.
Oh, I see, she was talking about it last night!	Oh, estou vendo, ela estava falando nisso a noite passada!
I thought Diego was taking you somewhere.	Eu pensei que Diego ia levar você para algum lugar.
The only smoke I could see was coming out of her ears.	O único fumo que podia ver estava saindo de seus ouvidos.
Okay, long story short, I was cooking some chips last night.	Muito bem, em suma, eu estava fritando umas batatas a noite passada.
I was planning on stirfrying some red peppers and mushrooms!	Estava planejando saltear pimentos vermelhos e cogumelos!
Yes, sorry, I was thinking of getting stock powder at the shop.	Sim, desculpe, eu estava pensando comprar caldo de frango em pó no supermercado.
I was just trying to be more realistic!	Eu estava tentando ser mais realista!
The other day, you complained about how loud I was snoring.	No outro dia, você se queixou de como eu roncava alto.
Yes, I already made myself a coffee while you were sleeping.	Sim, eu já preparei um café para mim quando você estava dormindo.
That's what I was planning.	Era o que estava planeando fazer.

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