Past Continuous: positive sentences
450 fill-in-the-gap exercises, 45 tests of ten
Was for I, he, she and it. Were for you, we and they. Then the verb with -ing.
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The pattern
The auxiliary agrees with the subject; the -ing form never changes:
I was waiting. You were waiting. She was waiting.
The spelling of the -ing form follows the same three rules as in the present: drop a silent -e, double a final consonant after one short vowel, turn -ie into -y.
Setting a scene
A description of a past moment often uses several Continuous verbs in a row, with the Simple reserved for what finally happened:
The rain was falling, the shops were closing and nobody was waiting at the stop. Then a bus appeared.
That last sentence in the Past Simple is what moves the story on.
At a stated time
With a clock time, the Continuous says the action was already in progress:
- At nine I was driving to work. — the drive began earlier.
- At nine I drove to work. — the drive started at nine.
Two actions running together
While links two long actions, both in the Continuous:
She was revising while her brother was watching television.
All forms
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | was + -ing | I was reading |
| you | were + -ing | you were reading |
| he, she, it | was + -ing | she was reading |
| we | were + -ing | we were reading |
| they | were + -ing | they were reading |
Examples
Taken from the 450 sentences in this drill. The answer is highlighted.
- My friends and I were playing volleyball on the beach.
- They were having lunch at their favorite restaurant.
- Emily was playing her violin at the music concert.
- He was reading the newspaper when I entered the room.
- We were taking a lot of pictures during our vacation.
- I was listening to a podcast while commuting to work.
- She was talking to her grandmother on the phone.
- While we were watching a movie, the power suddenly went out.
- Ron was riding his bike when he saw a dog crossing the road.
- We were eating cake and ice cream.
- We were listening to our favorite songs on the radio.
- The chef was cooking a delicious meal in the kitchen.
Mistakes to avoid
Wrong: The children was playing outside. correct: The children were playing outside.
Children is plural, so it takes were.
Wrong: At six o'clock I had dinner and the phone rang. correct: At six o'clock I was having dinner when the phone rang.
The dinner was already under way, so it takes the Continuous.