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Tenses — Past Continuous

Name: ______________________Class: ________Date: ____________Score: ____ / 20
  1. 1.

    Choose the correct form: 'She ___ a book when I called her.'

    (a) reads(b) read(c) was reading(d) is reading
  2. 2.

    Fill in the blank: 'They ___ (play) football at 3 p.m. yesterday.'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  3. 3.

    Which sentence is in the past continuous tense?

    (a) I ate my lunch.(b) I was eating my lunch.(c) I eat my lunch.(d) I will eat my lunch.
  4. 4.

    Fill in the blank: 'The baby ___ (cry) all night.'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  5. 5.

    Choose: 'We ___ dinner when the doorbell rang.'

    (a) were having(b) was having(c) are having(d) had
  6. 6.

    Fill in: 'He ___ (watch) TV at 8 o'clock last night.'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  7. 7.

    Which helping verb completes the sentence? 'The birds ___ singing in the trees.'

    (a) was(b) were(c) is(d) are
  8. 8.

    Choose the correct sentence:

    (a) She was sleep when I arrived.(b) She was sleeping when I arrived.(c) She were sleeping when I arrived.(d) She was sleeped when I arrived.
  9. 9.

    Fill in: 'While Mother ___ (cook), Father ___ (read) the newspaper.'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  10. 10.

    What is the difference? 'I watched TV.' vs 'I was watching TV.'

    (a) No difference(b) 'Watched' is a completed action; 'was watching' is an ongoing action(c) 'Was watching' is present tense(d) 'Watched' is future tense
  11. 11.

    Fill in: 'It ___ (rain) when we left the house.'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  12. 12.

    Choose: 'At 7 a.m., the students ___ for the bus.'

    (a) wait(b) waited(c) were waiting(d) was waiting
  13. 13.

    Which sentence uses past continuous correctly?

    (a) They was running in the park.(b) She were dancing on stage.(c) He was writing a letter.(d) I were eating lunch.
  14. 14.

    Fill in: 'The children ___ (not listen) to the teacher.'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  15. 15.

    Choose the correct pair: '___ you ___ when the earthquake happened?'

    (a) Was / sleep(b) Were / sleeping(c) Was / sleeping(d) Were / slept
  16. 16.

    Rewrite in past continuous: 'The dog chased the cat.'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  17. 17.

    Choose the sentence where past continuous is used for two actions happening at the same time:

    (a) I was reading and then I slept.(b) While I was reading, my sister was drawing.(c) I read a book yesterday.(d) I was reading a book.
  18. 18.

    Fill in: '___ the wind ___ (blow) hard last night?'

    Answer: ____________________________________

  19. 19.

    Which sentence correctly combines simple past and past continuous?

    (a) I was walking when I was finding a coin.(b) I was walking when I found a coin.(c) I walked when I was finding a coin.(d) I walk when I find a coin.
  20. 20.

    Fill in both blanks: 'While the teacher ___ (explain) the lesson, some students ___ (whisper) to each other.'

Answer key — P3 English: Tenses — Past Continuous

For parents. Step-by-step explanations for every question are free on brightbit.net.

  1. 1.(c) was reading
  2. 2.were playing
  3. 3.(b) I was eating my lunch.
  4. 4.was crying
  5. 5.(a) were having
  6. 6.was watching
  7. 7.(b) were
  8. 8.(b) She was sleeping when I arrived.
  9. 9.was cooking, was reading
  10. 10.(b) 'Watched' is a completed action; 'was watching' is an ongoing action
  11. 11.was raining
  12. 12.(c) were waiting
  13. 13.(c) He was writing a letter.
  14. 14.were not listening
  15. 15.(b) Were / sleeping
  16. 16.The dog was chasing the cat.
  17. 17.(b) While I was reading, my sister was drawing.
  18. 18.Was the wind blowing
  19. 19.(b) I was walking when I found a coin.
  20. 20.was explaining, were whispering
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