Past Continuous

USO
1. Acción que realizamos en un momento concreto del pasado.
Por ejemplo: I was studying English yesterday afternoon.

ESTRUCTURA
- Afirmativa: sujeto + was/were + verbo acabado en -ing + complementos
- Negativa: sujeto + wasn't/weren't + verbo acabado en -ing +
complementos
- Interrogativa: was/were + sujeto + verbo acabado en -ing +
complementos?

Ejercicios
1) Escribe la forma del pasado continuo del verbo entre paréntesis:
1- While Martha was reading a book John was making dinner (read/make)
2- While your neighbor _________ I ________the guitar (study/ not play)

3- I________ on John’s door. (knock)

4- While Felipe ________ her nose you _______your knees (touch-2)

5- Thomas_________ his teeth (not brush)

6- When Miriam___________her eyes, Joseph _________them (open/close)

7- ________ they __________ their hands? (wash)

8- I________ the TV ________when she ______ (watch/sing)

9- While your neighbor _________ I ________the guitar (study/play)

10- ________ Helen _________ because she had broken her ankle? (suffer)
Completa las frases con la forma correcta del verbo que está entre
paréntesis, separando respuestas con una coma cuando necesario.
Sample
We ____ (play) video games yesterday at 3 o'clock.

Q1 of 7
They ____ (not/do) their homework yesterday at 3 o'clock

Q2 of 7
What _____ he _____ (watch) on television when you arrived?
Q3 of 7
Howard ____ (like) the movie.
Q4 of 7
My parents ____ (work) when I came home.
Q5 of 7
In 2010, ____ (live) in a small flat in London.
Q6 of 7
She ____ (listen) to music when I called.
Q7 of 7
_____ it _____ (rain) when you left?

Put the verbs into the correct form (past progressive).

1. When I phoned my friends, they (play) monopoly.

2. Yesterday at six I (prepare) dinner.
3. The kids (play) in the garden when it suddenly began to rain.
4. I (practice) the guitar when he came home.
5. We (not / cycle) all day.
6. While Alan (work) in his room, his friends (swim) in
the pool.
7. I tried to tell them the truth but they (not / listen ) .
8. What (you / do) yesterday?
9. Most of the time we (sit) in the park.
10. I (listen) to the radio while my sister (watch) TV.
11. When I arrived, They (play) cards.
12. We (study) English yesterday at 4:00 pm .
Write correct sentences:

Yesterday at 6 pm your family were doing different things. Write positive

sentences in past progressive.

1. My mother / read / a novel

2. My father / watch / a movie
3. My elder sister / writing / in her diary
4. My two brothers / listen / to the radio
5. My little sister and I / not / watch / a
movie
6. We / talk / about school

Complete the following sentences with past continuous affirmative, and then turn the
sentences into negative and interrogative. Write short forms:

1. She (play) basketball yesterday at five o’clock.

She basketball yesterday at five o'clock. (negative)

she basketball yesterday at five o'clock? (question)

2. We (study) hard yesterday afternoon.

We hard yesterday afternoon. (negative)

we hard yesterday afternoon? (question)

3. They (watch) TV when I arrived.

They TV when I arrived. (negative)

they TV when I arrived? (questions)

4. The thieves (steal) when the police arrived.

The thieves when the police arrived. (negative)

the thieves when the police arrived? (questions)

5. They (smoke) yesterday in the morning.

They yesterday in the morning. (negative)

they yesterday in the morning? (interrogative)

Escribe la forma del pasado continuo afirmativo de

los siguientes verbos.

1 T he p hone rang w hi l e I ( h a ve) b re ak fas t .

2 It ( ge t) d ark w he n I l e ft t he m at hom e .

3 T he t hi e f di d n´t s t e al m e b ec aus e I ( l oo k ) at
hi m .
4 T om d i d n´t ri de hi s bi k e t o s c hool y e s t erd ay b e c aus e

he ( f e e l) b ad .

5 Y ou ( wa tc h ) T V y e s t e rd ay ni g ht .

6 It ( r a i n ) al l t he d ay .

7 T he y c oul d n´t s l e e p b e c aus e t hey ( dr ink ) c offe e

al l t he aft e rnoon.

8 Hi s s on ( pl a y) c om p ut e r g am e s y e st e rd ay
aft e rnoon.

9 W e ( s i t) on t he g ras s w hi l e havi ng a p i c ni c .

10 Y ou ( s l e e p) m ore t han t e n hours .

1) when I saw you? ¿Estabais bebiendo cuando os vi?

Last week, on Monday, La semana pasada, el Lunes,

2) nosotros estábamos estudiando
we history. historia

Me desperté y él estaba viendo la

3) I woke up and he TV. televisión

4) I . Yo estaba corriendo
 He when I went to Él estaba cantando cuando me fui a
5)
bed. la cama

6) When I saw him, he . Cuando le vi, estaba llorando

What yesterday ¿Que estabas haciendo ayer por la

7)
morning? mañana?

We to music when Nosotros estábamos escuchando

8)
she shouted. música cuando ella gritó

9) ¿Estaba ella durmiendo?

10) They the wall. Ellos no estaban pintando el muro

11) to him when I saw ¿Estabas hablándole cuando te vi?

you?

12) ? ¿Estaba ella riendo?

13) I . Yo estaba saltando

14) She . Ella estaba nadando

They when you Ellos estaban jugando cuando

15)
arrived llegaste.

When we called him, Cuando le llamamos, estaba

16)
he conduciendo

El pasado mes, ¿dónde estabas

17) Last month, where trabajando?
 18) I kissed him while he Le besé mientras estaba bailando
.

19) ¿Estaba mi perro comiendo?

20) They Ellos no estaban cocinando

Cambia los verbos del SIMPLE PAST (pasado simple) al PAST CONTINUOUS (pasado
continuo).
(p. ej. I drove --> I was driving)

1. I spoke to my teacher. I was to my teacher.

2. She listened to the song. She was to the song.

3. My friend laughed at my joke. My friend was at my joke.

4. She was silly. She was silly.

5. I sang. I was yesterday.

6. They did their homework. They were their homework.

7. My boss planned a meeting. My boss was a meeting.

8. We had a party. We were a party.

9. The band played a beautiful song. The band was a beautiful song.

10. I tried to explain. I was to explain.

 1. Yesterday at 5 o'clock I (eat).

2. Last night, at 10 o'clock she (dance).

3. Tim (cook) while Susan (watch) TV.

4. Barbara (paint), and Joe (sleep).

5. While you (rest), I (clean) the house.

6. While we (swim), the other team (run).

7. Jim (always come) late to work.

8. Dorothy (always smoke) in the room.

9. Jack and Bob (always fight) about something.

10. These two (constantly chat).

11. James (read) and Emily (listen) to music.

12. While the singer (sing), the crowd (jump).

13. The teacher (sleep), and the students (laugh).

14. An hour ago I (jog).

15. They (always drink) too much at parties.

Test
Write the ing form of the verbs.

1. live →

2. stay →

3. run →

4. win →

5. cycle →
 Complete the table in past progressive.

positive negative question

It was raining.

They were not playing.

Was I listening?

Caron was not eating.

You were singing.

Was or Were?

1. We dancing.

2. The dog barking.

3. The printer printing out a photograph.

4. The pupils writing a test.

5. Sue and Gareth walking up the hill.

Write sentences in past progressive.

1. he / the car / wash →

2. she / home / go →

3. they / not / the match / watch →

4. you / in the shop / work →

5. I / not / a magazine / read →

Write questions in past progressive.

1. she / on a chair / sit →

2. you / your bag / pack →

3. his head / ache →

4. we / tea / drink →

5. you / the bike / repair →

 PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOS

Complete the sentences with past simple or continuous:

1. Paul (go) to Madrid last week.

2. The boys (play) football yesterday afternoon.

3. While my mum (wash) the dishes, the telephone (ring)

4. While my mum (wash) the dishes, I (tidy) my room.

5. We (want) to go to Buenos Aires last week, but we (not go).

6. I (do) sport when I (see) you.

7. The baby (cry) when Tom (arrive).

8. James (slip) while he (walk) down the street.

9. James (walk) down the street when he (slip).

10. I (watch) TV while he (listen) to music.

1.- Escribe el verbo entre paréntesis en "past simple" o "past

continuous" según corresponda:

1) Last Saturday when my brother arrived, I TV (to watch)

2) The police arrested the murderer when he an old woman

(to attack)

3) My uncle all his fortune playing in casinos (to lose)

4) Yesterday it rained all day and the river almost its banks
(to burst)
5) Last night when I left the party two gangs of hooligans (to
fight)

6) Last Friday my father to Paris to visit my brother, who

works there (to go)

7) They the new bridge in time for the Olympic Games (to
finish)

My girlfriend didn't come with us to the cinema because

8)
she (to study)

9) When the teacher entered the classroom the students very

loudly (to speak)

10) That terrible accident yesterday evening (to happen)

11) Last night when the thieves into my house I was sleeping
(to break)

12) My parents in the Cathedral of Seville 40 years ago (to get

married)

13) The Socialist Party the last elections and is now in power
(to win)

14) The other day when I tennis I hurt my leg (to play)

15) Philip at home in very strange circumstances (to die)

16) Susan Law in the university of Madrid (to study)

 17) Yesterday when you came home I the dog (to walk)

18) The plane into the mountains due to the weather

conditions (to crash)

19) He late at the station and missed his train (to arrive)

20) The mother went to calm her little baby because she (to
cry)

21) My neighbour a heart attack last year and still hasn't fully
recovered (to have)

22) This morning while my friends played football I my

homework (to do)

23) Last summer we to the south of Spain for our holidays (to
go)

24) Yesterday night it was raining when we the Theatre (to

leave)

Complete the sentences with past simple vs continuous:

1. She was sitting/sat on a chair and watching TV.

2. We waved at him, but he didn’t looked/wasn’t looking.

3. When I was Young I wanted/was wanting to be a pilot.

4. What happened/did happened after that?

5. Did you see/Were you seeing Jane last night?

6. She was wearing/wore her new jacket when I saw her.

 7. I was seeing/saw you walking in the park this morning.

8. I got up at seven and then I was having/had a big breakfast.

9. Did you go/did you goed to the restaurant yesterday?

10. I left the cinema before the film ended. I wasn’t enjoing/wasn´t enjoying it.

11. When did she start/was she starting learning English? – Five years ago.

13. Mr. Brown had/was having a shower when I knocked his door.

14. I turn the radio off. Nobody listened/was listening to it.

15. She was a beautiful woman. She always attracted/was attracting a lot of
men.

Exercise 1

Put the verbs into the correct tense (Simple Past or Past Progressive).

1. While Tom (read) , Amely (watch) a documentary on

TV.

2. Marvin (come) home, (switch) on the computer

and (check) his emails.

3. The thief (sneak) into the house, (steal) the jewels

and (leave) without a trace.

4. Nobody (listen) while the teacher (explain) the

tenses.

5. While we (do) a sight-seeing tour, our friends (lie) on

the beach.

6. He (wake) up and (look) at his watch.

7. The receptionist (welcome) the guests

and (ask) them to fill in the form.

8. The car (break) down and we (have) to walk

home.

9. The boys (swim) while the girls (sunbathe) .

10. My father (come) in, (look) around

and (tell) me to tidy up my room.
11. As long as one group (prepare) dinner, the
others (collect) wood for their campfire.

12. While the parents (have) breakfast, their

children (run) about.

13. Martha (turn) off the lights and (go) to bed.