1) Explanation — Forms & Use Past Continuous
What is the past continuous?
The past continuous describes an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past: was / were + verb-ing
Affirmative
- I/He/She/It was studying at 8 pm.
- You/We/They were studying at 8 pm.
- I/He/She/It was not (wasn’t) studying.
- You/We/They were not (weren’t) studying.
Interrogative (Questions)
- Was I/he/she/it studying at 8 pm?
- Were you/we/they studying at 8 pm?
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Was she studying? | Yes, she was. | No, she wasn’t. |
| Were they studying? | Yes, they were. | No, they weren’t. |
Use: 1) Action in progress at a past time (“At 7:30, I was cooking.”) 2) Background action interrupted by a shorter event (“I was cooking when the phone rang.”) 3) Two parallel past actions (“She was reading while he was washing dishes.”)
2) Multiple Choice — Choose the best past continuous form
Q1 At 9 pm yesterday, we ____ a movie.
Q2 She ____ dinner when I called.
Q3 They ____ soccer while it started to rain.
Q4 ____ you ____ when the power went out?
Q5 He ____ to music, not watching TV.
Q6 We ____ because it ____ heavily.
Q7 ____ she ____ when you arrived?
Q8 I ____ my keys. I was sure they were on the table.
Q9 They ____ attention, so they missed the announcement.
Q10 We ____ to call you because our phones ____ working.
3) Fill-in — Type the correct past continuous form
Type the full verb phrase. Contractions are OK (wasn’t / weren’t). Punctuation optional.
1 At 6:15, I .
2 They to the teacher.
3 ____ you at 8:00?
4 She yesterday.
5 We when it started to snow.
6 He while I was cooking.
7 ____ she last Friday?
8 The kids all afternoon.
9 I , so I missed the instructions.
10 We when the doorbell rang.
Tips
- Use was with I/he/she/it; use were with you/we/they.
- Negative: was not (wasn’t) / were not (weren’t).
- Questions invert the verb: Was she … ? / Were they … ?
- Common pair: Past continuous (background) + Simple past (interrupting event): I was walking home when it started to rain.
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