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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
You were saying something about the wardrobe before.	Stavi dicendo qualcosa del guardaroba prima.
I think she definitely understood I was lying!	Penso abbia decisamente capito che stavo mentendo!
And you pretended you didn't know I was living here.	Hai fatto finta di non sapere che io vivessi qui.
Once when Bear was little, we were walking along a dark street...	Una volta quando Bear era piccolo, stavamo passeggiando lungo una strada buia…
Yeah... What was I saying?	Già… Cosa stavo dicendo?
I was also training new workers how to make coffee.	Insegnavo anche ai nuovi dipendenti come fare il caffè.
The other day, you complained about how loud I was snoring.	L’altro giorno, ti sei lamentato di quanto russo forte.
I was wondering where that chorizo smell was coming from.	Mi chiedevo da dove venisse quell'odore di chorizo.
And the girls were too busy ordering.	E le ragazze erano troppo occupate ad ordinare.
How did you know you were knocking on the right door?	Come facevi a sapere di bussare alla porta giusta?
Thank god you weren't looking for red wine!	Grazie al cielo non stavi guardando il vino rosso!
She was in the kitchen, too, preparing something to cook.	Anche lei era in cucina, che preparava qualcosa da cuocere.
First she started to mumble about how long my cooking was taking.	Prima ha iniziato a mormorare di quanto ci mettevo a cucinare.
Alright Nick, what were you saying?	Va bene Nick, cosa stavi dicendo?
The only smoke I could see was coming out of her ears.	L’unico fumo che vedevo era quello che usciva dalle sue orecchie.
Noone was paying attention to your "precious" bag.	Nessuno teneva d'occhio la tua "preziosa" borsa.
I was planning on cooking some meat, originally.	Stavo pensando di cucinare un po’ di carne all’inizio.
When I came, you were at the bar getting yourself a beer.	Quando sono arrivato eri bar, che ti prendevi una birra.
Really? What was she saying?	Davvero? Cosa diceva?
Oh, I see, she was talking about it last night!	Oh, capisco, ne parlava ieri sera!

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