PAST CONTINUOUS

WHEN TO USE PAST CONTINUOUS

1: An action in the past which overlaps another action or a time. The action in
the past continuous starts before and often continues after the other shorter action or
time.
 I was walking to the station when I met John. (I started walking before I met
John, and maybe I continued afterwards.)
 At three o'clock, I was working. (I started before three o'clock and finished
after three o'clock.)

2: In the same way, we can use the past continuous for the background of a story.
 The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in the cafés people were
laughing and chatting. Amy sat down and took out her phone.

3: Temporary habits or habits that happen more often than we expect in

the past. We often use ”always”, ”constantly” or ”forever” here. This is the same as
the way we use the present continuous for habits, but the habit started and finished
in the past. This thing doesn't happen now.
 He was always leaving the tap running.
 She was constantly singing.

4: To emphasise that something lasted for a while. This use is often optional
and we usually use it with time expressions like ”all day” or ”all evening” or ”for
hours”.
 I was working in the garden all day.
 He was reading all evening.

1
HOW TO FORM PAST CONTINUOUS
A. Affirmative sentence: The Past Continuous is formed with ”was”/
”were”+ present participle ”-ing” form of the verb.
SUBJECT AUXILIARY VERB
I was sleeping when George
He/ She/ It arrived.
You when George
We were sleeping arrived.
You
They

B. Negative sentence: We use ”was”/ ”were” + ”not” + present

participle ”-ing” form of the verb or the contracted forms ”wasn’t”/
”weren’t”.
SUBJECT AUXILIARY NOT VERB
I was not sleeping when George
He/ She/ It arrived.
You were not sleeping when George
We arrived.
You
they

C. Interrogative sentence: We form the question by using the auxiliary

”was”/ ”were” + subject + verb with ”-ing”.
(QUESTION AUXILIARY SUBJECT VERB
WORD)
(Where) was I sleeping when George
he/ she/ it arrived?
(Where) were you sleeping when George
we arrived?
you
they

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

I was playing I was not playing Was I playing?
You were playing You were not playing Were you playing?
He was playing He was not playing Was he playing?
We were playing We were not playing Were we playing?
You were playing You were not playing Were you playing?
They were playing They were not playing Were they playing?

2
Examples:
 I was watching TV when she called.
 When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
 While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
 What were you doing when the earthquake started?
 I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm.
 You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off.
 While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.
 Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
 While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off.
 A: What were you doing when you broke your leg?
B: I was snowboarding.
 Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.
 At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.
 Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work.
 I was studying while he was making dinner.
 While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.
 Were you listening while he was talking?
 I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made several
mistakes.
 What were you doing while you were waiting?
 Thomas wasn't working, and I wasn't working either.
 They were eating dinner, discussing their plans, and having a good time.

PAST SIMPLE VS. PAST CONTINUOUS

FORM
PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS
Irregular verbs: see 2nd column of Past form of ”be”+ing form of the verb:
irregular verbs: I spoke I was peaking
Regular verbs: verb-ed: I worked You were speaking

3
USE:
PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS
After another: She came home, switched At the same time: Simon was playing on
on the computer and checked her e- the computer while his brother was
mails. watching TV.
New action: My mobile rang ( while I Action already in progress: While I was
was sitting in a metting). sitting in a meeting, (my mobile
suddenly rang).
Just mentioning: Colin played football Emphasising progress: Yesterday at six
yesterday. o’clock, Colin was playing football.

DON’T FORGET!
The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Past (not in the progressive
form).
 state: be, cost, fit, mean, suit
Example: We were on holiday.
 possession: belong, have
Example: Sam had a cat.
 senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touch
Example: He felt the cold.
 feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, regret, want, wish
Example: Jane loved pizza.
 brain work: believe, know, think, understand
Example: I did not understand him.
 introductory clauses for direct speech: answer, ask, reply, say
Example: “I am watching TV,“ he said.

SIGNAL WORDS:
PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS
first while
then as long as
If (If I talked...)

4
EXERCISES
I. Decide whether to use ”was” or ”were”.
1. Boris ......... learning English.
2. They ......... swimming in the lake.
3. Your father ......... repairing the car.
4. I ......... reading a magazine.
5. You ......... packing your bag.
6. My friends ......... watching the match on TV.
7. It ......... raining.
8. The dog ......... barking.
9. The children ......... brushing their teeth.
10. Anne and Maureen ......... singing a song.

II. Put the verb in brackets into the gaps and form affirmative
sentences in Past Progressive.
1. She ............................. hockey. (to play)
2. They ............................. in the pool. (to swim)
3. We ............................. to music. (to listen)
4. The mobile .............................. (to ring)
5. The students .............................. (to text)
6. Max ............................. with two girls. (to dance)
7. I ............................. in front of the shop. (to wait)
8. The cat ............................. in the basket. (to sleep)
9. He ............................. Gerry's bike. (to repair)
10. I ............................. to my friend. (to talk)
11. He ............................. the beds. (to make)
12. The boys ............................. the parrots. (to feed)
13. We ............................. breakfast at 5:30 this morning. (to have)
14. She ............................. a nice skirt. (to wear)
15. Tom's younger brother .............................. (to cry)
16. You ............................. photos with my new camera, weren't you? (to take)
17. My father ............................. vegetables at the supermarket. (to buy)
18. They on the sofa. (to sit)
19. Robert ............................. on the beach. (to lie)

5
20.He ............................. all day yesterday. (to rest)

II. Make the positive past continuous:

1. (Julie / sleep at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
2. (you / study at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
3. (Luke / read at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
4. (I / work at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
5. (they / eat chocolate at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
6. (John / play tennis at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
7. (we / watch TV at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
8. (he / use the Internet at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
9. (you / cook lunch at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________
10. (we / travel to London at three o’clock)
_______________________________________________________

III. Make the past continuous (you need to choose positive,

negative or question):
1. (he / cook)
_______________________________________________________
2. (she / play cards?)
_______________________________________________________
3. (I / not / cry)
_______________________________________________________
4. (you / not / feel well)
_______________________________________________________

6
5. (where / I / go when I met you?)
_______________________________________________________
6. (she / not / sleeping at midnight)
_______________________________________________________
7. (I / work?)
_______________________________________________________
8. (you / sleep when I got home?)
_______________________________________________________
9. (it / rain at lunchtime)
_______________________________________________________
10. (what / you / do?)
_______________________________________________________

IV. Put the verbs in brackets into the gaps. Use the Past
Progressive/ Continuous.
1. She ......................... a heavy bag. (to carry)
2. ......................... they ......................... hands? (to shake)
3. I ......................... a screwdriver. (not/to use)
4. ......................... the teacher ......................... the exercises? (to explain)
5. He ......................... in the kitchen. (not/to help)
6. The people ......................... themselves. (to enjoy)
7. ......................... in the garden? (Nick/to dig)
8. He thinks you ......................... too fast. (to drive)
9. We .......................... (not/to hurry)
10. ......................... when someone stole your clothes? (you/not/to swim)

V. Put the verbs in brackets into the gap and form negative sentence
in Past Continuous.
1. She ......................... a cheeseburger. (not/to eat)
2. They ......................... pictures. (not/to paint)
3. The teacher ......................... the window. (not/to open)
4. Johnny ......................... his bike. (not/to ride)
5. We ......................... on the computer. (not/to work)
6. Doris ......................... the news on TV. (not/to watch)

7
7. I ......................... the trumpet. (not/to practise)
8. The friends ......................... songs. (not/to sing)
9. Steve ......................... a cigarette. (not/to smoke)
10. Sam and Liz ......................... at a poster. (not/to look)

VI. Correct the sentences below (if necessary) using Past Simple
and Past Continuous.
1. Mary was painting her room when her father came home.
2. What was you doing at 7 o’clock in the evening?
3. Jane bought a very nice dress yesterday.
4. I wrote a letter all the evening.
5. Did you knew the answer?
6. This time last year, we weren’t studying French.
7. Sally was doing her homework while I listened to my favourite radio station.
8. Andrew wasn’t eating pizza yesterday.
9. I didn’t talk to my sister last night
10. Were you played football when your cat fell out of the window?
11. Last night, Martin and Ann was studying from 2 to 6.
12. He did come home late?
13. What were you doing last weekend?
14. Tim didn’t go to Italy last week.
15. When he was breaking this vase yesterday he was watching football.
16. Three days ago, I spend a very interesting evening at my friend’s house.
17. Were you sleeping at midnight yesterday? I called you that time.
18. Did you cook dinner when my sister call you?
19. I was making this project for three days.
20.She had a shower when her mobile rang.

VII. Find the mistakes and correct them.

1. While I chatted to Sue, the phone rang.
_____________________________________________
2. He is passing the ball to Jones and then ran down the pitch.
_____________________________________________

8
3. Who are they play against last summer?
_____________________________________________
4. We didn’t went surfing in Australia last year.
_________________________________
5. I waited for you in the car park when it started to rain.
_____________________________________________
6. When he felt ill, he was taking some medicine. Then, he went to bed.
_____________________________________________
7. While he writing someone knocked at the door.
_____________________________________________
8. The story was started 18th century in a farm house.
_____________________________________________
9. I didn’t driving the car at two yesterday.
_____________________________________________
10.Did you waiting your brother in the park this morning?
_____________________________________________

VIII. Choose the past simple or past continuous:

1. What ________________________ (you / do) when I
________________________ (call) you last night?
2. I ________________________ (sit) in a café when you
________________________ (call).
3. When you ________________________ (arrive) at the party, who
________________________ (be) there?
4. Susie ________________________ (watch) a film when she
________________________ (hear) the noise.
5. Yesterday I ________________________ (go) to the library, next I
________________________ (have) a swim, later I
________________________ (meet) Julie for a coffee.
6. We ________________________ (play) tennis when John
________________________ (hurt) his ankle.
7. What ________________________ (they / do) at 10pm last night? It
________________________ (be) really noisy.

9
8. He ________________________ (take) a shower when the telephone
________________________ (ring).
9. He ________________________ (be) in the shower when the telephone
________________________ (ring).
10. When I ________________________ (walk) into the room, everyone
________________________ (work).
11. While I ________________________ TV, the doorbell
________________________. (watch/ring)
12. Jack ________________________ his presentation when the fire alarm
________________________. (finish/start)
13. Just as I ________________________ my front door, a cat
________________________ inside. (open/run)
14. My mom ________________________ me while I
________________________ dinner. (telephone/eat)
15. While I ________________________ to work, I
________________________ an accident. (walk/witness)
16. When the mailman ________________________, I
________________________ my exercises. (come/do)
17. When I ________________________, my alarm clock
________________________. (wake up/ring)
18. Peter ________________________ me while I
________________________ on the train. (phone/sit)
19. While I ________________________ out the window, it
________________________ to rain. (look/start)
20.As I ________________________ the building, a police car
________________________ through the gate. (leave/drive)
21. While the forest ranger ________________________ in the woods, a fire
________________________. (walk/start)
22. A murder of crows ________________________ by while the farmer
________________________ a scarecrow. (fly/build)
23. While I ________________________ my clothes, I
________________________ my favourite shirt was gone.
(unpack/realize)

10
24. While I ________________________ down the stairs, I
________________________ the phone ring. (run/hear)
25. When her husband ________________________ Sally
____________________dinner. (arrive/cook)
26. There ________________________ an earthquake while Jeff
________________________ to work. (be/drive)
27. Just as Frank ________________________ his homework, he
________________________ another assignment he had to do.
(finish/remember)
28.My husband ________________________ the dishes when I finally
________________________ back home. (wash/come)
29. Someone ________________________ Simon's picture while he
________________________ on a bench. (take/sit)
30.Ted ________________________ about the previous day when I
________________________ into the room. (think/come)

IX. Read Tom’s story and fill in the correct forms of the verbs in
brackets. Use Past Tense (Simple and Continuous).
Something funny happened to me while I ________________ (come) home
yesterday. It ________________ (rain) so I ________________ (take) the
bus. I ________________ (sit) down on a seat in the middle of the bus. The
boy who ________________ (sit) next to me was about my age. He acted as if
he ________________ (know) me.

Ben: Hi! I’m Ben. Do you remember me? We ________________ (meet) at

the football match last Saturday.
Me: Sorry, but I ________________ (not go) to a football matcj last Saturday.
Ben: Well, you weren’t in the crowd, that’s true. You ________________
(play) and I ________________ (play) for the opposite team.
________________(run) down the line with the ball and you
________________ (manage) to take it away from me. You
________________(get) past three of our players and
________________(kick) the ball into the net from twenty metres.

11
Me: Look, you’ve got the wrong person. I ________________ (not play)
football last Saturday afternoon. My brother and I ________________ (take)
part in a sailing event off the coast.
Ben: Ok, whatever you say. I must have got the wrong person.

He ________________ (move) to another seat. Obviously, he

________________(not believe) me! I mush have a double somwhere.

12