Grammar › Past Continuous

Past Continuous: negative sentences

450 fill-in-the-gap exercises, 45 tests of ten

Not goes between was or were and the -ing form.

The pattern

Not slots in after the auxiliary:

He was not sleeping. → He wasn’t sleeping.

Only one contraction exists for each form, so there is nothing to choose: wasn’t and weren’t.

Correcting an assumption

The negative in this tense very often denies what someone has just assumed, and the correction follows in the same breath:

I wasn’t ignoring you, I was on a call.

Both halves stay Continuous, which keeps the two versions of the same moment side by side.

With when and while

The negative works in either half of the pair:

• When you phoned, I wasn’t working.
• While the others weren’t looking, he left.

State verbs again

Because state verbs take no -ing, their past negative is Past Simple:

I didn’t know. — not I wasn’t knowing.

All forms

Examples

Taken from the 450 sentences in this drill. The answer is highlighted.

• They weren't going for a walk in the park at that time.
• Sarah and I weren't playing soccer at the park last Saturday.
• They weren't having breakfast when the power went out.
• I wasn't going to school yesterday because I was sick.
• The children weren't listening quietly while the teacher was talking.
• James wasn't playing basketball when it started raining.
• My sister wasn't doing her homework yesterday evening.
• He wasn't reading the newspaper when his friend called.
• She wasn't listening to music when I entered the room.
• The cat wasn't sleeping in the living room all day yesterday.
• They weren't eating at the restaurant when I saw them.
• She wasn't watching a movie at the cinema during that time.

Mistakes to avoid

Quick choices from this form

Other forms of Past Continuous