Online English private lessons and group courses with native speakers.

Click now to take advantage of discounts up to 50%.

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
I was planning on cooking some meat, originally.	Estaba planeando cocinar algo de carne de forma original.
The only smoke I could see was coming out of her ears.	El único humo que podía ver era el que salía de sus orejas.
I thought Diego was taking you somewhere.	Pensé que Diego te llevaría a algún lado.
Once when Bear was little, we were walking along a dark street...	Una vez, cuando Bear era pequeño, caminábamos por una calle oscura...
Yeah... What was I saying?	Sí... ¿Qué estaba diciendo?
Yeah, it wasn't only Pogo, she was complaining about everything!	Sí, no era solo por Pogo, ¡se estaba quejando de todo!
You were saying something about the wardrobe before.	Antes habías dicho algo sobre el armario.
The other day, you complained about how loud I was snoring.	El otro día, te quejaste de lo ruidosa que soy cuando ronco.
When I came, you were at the bar getting yourself a beer.	Cuando vine estabas en el bar, buscando una cerveza.
I was also training new workers how to make coffee.	También enseñaba cómo hacer café a los nuevos trabajadores.
I was just trying to be more realistic!	¡Sólo estaba intentando ser más realista!
Noone was paying attention to your "precious" bag.	Nadie le prestaba atención a tu "preciosa" bolsa.
No, I wasn't interested at all, I was just trying to be nice to her.	No, no estaba para nada interesada, sólo intentaba ser amable con ella.
Yes, sorry, I was thinking of getting stock powder at the shop.	Sí, perdona, estaba pensando en comprar polvo de caldo en la tienda.
I ran inside to check what was happening...	Corrí adentro para ver qué había ocurrido...
I think she definitely understood I was lying!	¡Creo que definitivamente entendió que estaba mintiendo!
But I don't know where he was getting it from.	Pero no sé dónde lo conseguía.
She was in the kitchen, too, preparing something to cook.	Ella estaba en la cocina, también, preparando algo para cocinar.
Alright Nick, what were you saying?	De acuerdo Nick, ¿qué estabas diciendo?
I can't believe it, I was planning to sleep till 9 today!	No lo puedo creer, ¡hoy planeaba dormir hasta las 9!

500\

There are no comments yet. Be the first one...