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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 : studyI / He / She / ItYou / We / They
Positive... was studying.... were studying.
Negative... wasn't studying.... weren't studying. 
QuestionsWas ... 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
First she started to mumble about how long my cooking was taking.Prima ha iniziato a mormorare di quanto ci mettevo a cucinare.
Hm, why was he begging the fairy to turn him into a real kid then?Hm, perché implorava la fata di trasformarlo in un bambino vero allora?
I was planning on cooking some meat, originally.Stavo pensando di cucinare un po’ di carne all’inizio.
Noone was paying attention to your "precious" bag.Nessuno teneva d'occhio la tua "preziosa" borsa.
Oh, I see, she was talking about it last night!Oh, capisco, ne parlava ieri sera!
I think she definitely understood I was lying!Penso abbia decisamente capito che stavo mentendo!
I hope you weren't looking for something urgently!Spero tu non stessi cercando qualcosa urgentemente!
She was in the kitchen, too, preparing something to cook.Anche lei era in cucina, che preparava qualcosa da cuocere.
Yes, I already made myself a coffee while you were sleeping.Sì, mi sono già fatta un caffè mentre tu dormivi.
Yeah, it wasn't only Pogo, she was complaining about everything!Già, non era solo Pogo, si lamentava di tutto quanto!
Once when Bear was little, we were walking along a dark street...Una volta quando Bear era piccolo, stavamo passeggiando lungo una strada buia…
And the girls were too busy ordering.E le ragazze erano troppo occupate ad ordinare.
That's what I was planning.È quello che avevo in programma.
No, I wasn't interested at all, I was just trying to be nice to her.No, non ero assolutamente interessata, cercavo soltanto di essere gentile con lei.
Yeah... What was I saying?Già… Cosa stavo dicendo?
I was just trying to be more realistic!Stavo cercando di sembrare più realistica!
I was planning on stirfrying some red peppers and mushrooms!Volevo saltare in padella un po’ di peperoni rossi e funghi!
I was also training new workers how to make coffee.Insegnavo anche ai nuovi dipendenti come fare il caffè.
Thank god you weren't looking for red wine!Grazie al cielo non stavi guardando il vino rosso!
But I don't know where he was getting it from.Ma non so da dove lo prendesse.

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Be going to
Be going to passive
Be used to / Get used to
Comparative
Defining relative clause
Echo tag
Expression
First conditional
Future
Future continuous
Future perfect continuous
Future perfect passive
Future perfect simple
Future simple passive
Greeting
Have/Get something done
Imperative
Implied conditional
Indirect question
Infinitive of purpose
Interjection
Mixed conditional
Modal
Modal passive
Non-defining relative clause
Other
Past continuous
Past continuous passive
Past perfect continuous
Past perfect passive
Past perfect simple
Past simple
Past simple passive
Polite request / offer / suggestion
Present continuous
Present continuous passive
Present perfect continuous
Present perfect passive
Present perfect simple
Present simple
Present simple passive
Question tag
Reduced relative clause
Reported speech imperative
Reported speech question
Reported speech request
Reported speech statement
Second conditional
Short answer
Superlative
Third conditional
Used to / would (past habit)
Was/were going to
Was/were supposed to
Wish
Would rather
Zero conditional