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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
That's what I was planning.	そのつもりだったよ。
She was in the kitchen, too, preparing something to cook.	彼女もキッチンにいて、料理の準備をしてたんだけど。
Oh, I see, she was talking about it last night!	ああ、なるほど。彼女、昨晩そのことを話してたよ！
Really? What was she saying?	ほんとに？何て言ってたの？
And you pretended you didn't know I was living here.	しかも私がいることも知らないふりしてたのね。
I was planning on stirfrying some red peppers and mushrooms!	僕はいくつかの唐辛子とマッシュルームを炒めるつもりだったよ！
I was wondering where that chorizo smell was coming from.	このチョリソーの香りはどこから来てるんだろう。
But I don't know where he was getting it from.	でも彼がどこで買っていたのか分からないわ。
Yes, I already made myself a coffee while you were sleeping.	えぇ、もう自分でコーヒー作ったの、あなたが寝ている間に。
Once when Bear was little, we were walking along a dark street...	かつてベアが小さかった頃、暗いストリートを歩いていたんだ。
No, I wasn't interested at all, I was just trying to be nice to her.	ううん、これっぽっちも興味なんてなかったわよ。あの人に愛想よくしてただけ。
I think she definitely understood I was lying!	彼女、私が嘘ついてるって絶対に分かってるわよ！
I thought Diego was taking you somewhere.	ディエゴがあなたをどこかに連れだしたと思ったわ。
Okay, long story short, I was cooking some chips last night.	分かった、かいつまんで話すよ。昨晩、僕はチップスを揚げてたんだ。
First she started to mumble about how long my cooking was taking.	まず僕の調理がどのくらいかかるのかってボソボソ言い出したんだよ。
I was just trying to be more realistic!	少しでもリアルにしようとしただけよ！
How did you know you were knocking on the right door?	でもどうしてそのドアが彼女の部屋のドアだってわかったの？
Yes, sorry, I was thinking of getting stock powder at the shop.	えぇ、ごめんなさい、お店でパウダーのブイヨンを買うつもりだったのよ。
Yeah, it wasn't only Pogo, she was complaining about everything!	ああ、それだけど、ポゴだけじゃないよ。彼女、どんなことにも文句を言ってたんだ！
Yeah... What was I saying?	それで、何の話をしてたんだっけ？

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