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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
Thank god you weren't looking for red wine!	Dieu merci tu n'étais pas entrain de chercher du vin rouge!
It sounds like she was having a mental breakdown.	On dirait qu'elle a eu un crise de nerf.
First she started to mumble about how long my cooking was taking.	D'abord, elle a commencé à marmonner à propos de la longueur de ma cuisson.
But I don't know where he was getting it from.	Mais je ne sais pas où il s'en procurait.
And the girls were too busy ordering.	Et les filles étaient trop occupées à commander.
I was also training new workers how to make coffee.	J'ai aussi entraîné de nouvelles recrues à faire du café.
I thought Diego was taking you somewhere.	Je pensais que Diego t'emmenait quelque part.
I was planning on stirfrying some red peppers and mushrooms!	J'avais prévu de faire une poêlée de piments rouges et champignons!
The only smoke I could see was coming out of her ears.	La seule fumée que j'ai pu voir était celle qui sortait de ses oreilles.
I ran inside to check what was happening...	J'ai couru à l'intérieur pour voir ce qu'il se passait...
Once when Bear was little, we were walking along a dark street...	Une fois, quand Bear était petit, nous marchions dans une ruelle sombre...
I was wondering where that chorizo smell was coming from.	Je me demandais d'où cette odeur de chorizo venait.
And you pretended you didn't know I was living here.	Et tu faisais semblant de ne pas savoir que j'habitais ici.
She was in the kitchen, too, preparing something to cook.	Elle était dans la cuisine aussi, elle préparait quelque chose à cuire.
Noone was paying attention to your "precious" bag.	Personne ne faisait attention à ton "précieux" sac.
Yeah... What was I saying?	Ouais... Je disais?
The other day, you complained about how loud I was snoring.	L'autre jour, tu t'es plaint d'à quel point je ronflais fort.
Really? What was she saying?	Vraiment? Qu'est-ce qu'elle a dit?
Hm, why was he begging the fairy to turn him into a real kid then?	Heu, pourquoi était-il entrain de supplier la fée pour qu'elle le transforme en vrai garçon du coup ?
You were saying something about the wardrobe before.	Tu disais quelque chose à propos de la garde-robe avant.

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