Past continuous 01: Was/ were?

1. Was or were?

1. I _______ in Canberra last spring.

2. We _______ at school last Saturday.
3. Tina _______ at home yesterday.
4. He _______ happy.
5. Robert and Stan _______ Garry’s friends.
6. You _______ very busy on Friday.
7. They _______ in front of the supermarket.
8. I _______ in the museum.
9. She _______ in South Africa last month.
10.Jessica and Kimberly _______ late for school.
11.I _______ at home.
12.Lucy _______ tired.
13.We _______ in the castle.
14.John and Peggy _______ at school.
15.They _______ on the trip.
16._______ you in London?
17._______ you in the garden with my mother?
18. Why _______ they at school yesterday?
19.I _______ feeling very well.
20.She _______ very hungry.

2. Look at the picture and complete the sentence with the past
continuous!

1. I __________________ a film.

2. My father ___________________________a bath.

3. Georgia __________________________ a book.

4. The birds _____________________ the breadcrumbs.

5. We _____________________ chess.

6. The ducks ________________ on the lake.

7. It ______________________ .

8. We ______________________ to music.

9. A butterfly ____________________ .

10. We ______________________ Tango.

 Past continuous 02: affirmative, negative, questions

1. Use the past continuous: Write positive, negative or question

sentences!

+ Julie / sleep / at three o’clock

_________________________________________________

+ you / study / at three o’clock

_________________________________________________

+ Luke / read / a book / all morning

______________________________________________________________

– Mr. Black / not / work in his office /when the murder happened

_________________________________________________

– Miss Jones / not / talk to her brother / when the phone rang

_________________________________________________

– It / not / snow (verb) / because the sun was shining

_________________________________________________

? you / play / golf / this weekend

_________________________________________________

? Where / they / go

_________________________________________________

? Who /cut /the tree

_________________________________________________
 Past continuous 03: Past continuous or Past simple?

Past simple: I ate

Past continuous : I was eating

1. I ______________ to the restaurant and I _____________ my

friends, they ______________ wine. (come, see, drink)
2. While Isaac Newton _______________ under the tree, an apple
__________ on his head and he ___________ the gravity
(=Schwerkraft). (sit, fall, understand)
3. While Galileo ____________ the Moon through the telescope,
he _______________ that it had mountains and craters.
(observe, realize)
4. When we ____________ our car, we _____________ to our
favorite music. (drive, listen)
5. When Sue ______________ to the office, four people
__________ for her outside the office. (come, wait)
6. When I ___________ to the class, the teacher _____________
about the new grammar. (walk, talk)
7. She ______________ me something about the news, but I
_________________ on my computer, so I can’t tell you what
she said. (tell, work)
8. The Titanic ________________ the Atlantic when it
___________ an iceberg. (cross,hit)
9. We ______________ an experiment in the laboratory and then
we __________ an essay about it. (do, write)
 Past continuous 04: Past continuous or Past simple?

1. Past Simple or Past Continuous: Read the paragraph below. Find the 5
mistakes. Circle the mistakes and write the correct sentence.

My friend Steve lives in Newcastle. When I was calling him yesterday, he was
answering immediately. Steve said he was being busy and couldn’t talk. He was
having a lot of work yesterday and didn’t even having time for lunch.

1. ______________________________________

2. ______________________________________

3. ______________________________________

4. ______________________________________

5. ______________________________________

2. Past Simple and Past Continuous: Complete the following sentences with the
correct verb forms. Look for signal words!

1. When you called yesterday at 8:00, I

(clean)______________________________ the floor while Jane (cook)
______________________________ dinner.
2. Before I (come) ______________________________ to the exciting city of
Miami, my life (be) ____________________________ very boring.

3. I (sleep) ______________________________ when she (call)

_____________________________ .