Past Continuous Exercises
Past Continuous exercises covering affirmative and negative forms, questions, time expressions, interrupted actions with 'when', parallel actions with 'while', background descriptions in narratives, and comparison with Past Simple. 9 exercise sets with 180 questions (A1 - B1 Level).
Past Continuous exercises: choose your exercise set
Start with Multiple Choice to build confidence with Past Continuous exercises, or try Worksheet to practice all questions on one page.
Prefer to read first? Learn Past Continuous
Affirmative Forms: was/were + -ing
Past Continuous Exercises
Negative Forms: wasn't/weren't + -ing
Past Continuous Exercises
A1 ReadingNEWIndonesia Looks for 140 People
A ship is lost in the sea in Indonesia. It has more than 240 people on it. The ship left on Saturday. There was bad weat…
Yes/No Questions & Short Answers
Past Continuous Exercises
Wh- Questions
Past Continuous Exercises
“What ___ you doing at 10 pm last night?”
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Time Expressions & Context
Past Continuous Exercises
“___ this time yesterday, I was flying to Paris.”
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Interrupted Actions with "when"
Past Continuous Exercises
“I ___ (have) a shower when the doorbell rang.”
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Parallel Actions with "while"
Past Continuous Exercises
“While I ___ (cook), my sister was setting the table.”
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A2 ReadingNEWIndonesia Looks for 140 Missing People
Rescue teams in Indonesia are looking for about 140 people. They were on a passenger ship. The ship had more than 240 pe…
Background Description in Narratives
Past Continuous Exercises
Past Simple vs Past Continuous: Mixed Practice
Past Continuous Exercises
“I ___ (meet) Sarah while I was shopping yesterday.”
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B1 ReadingNEWRescue Teams Search for 140 Missing People
Rescue teams in Indonesia are searching for about 140 people from a missing passenger ship. The ship, the Virgo Transpor…
Why practice Past Continuous exercises?
These Past Continuous exercises take you from basics to confident usage. Start with affirmative sentences (was/were + -ing), then master negatives and questions. You'll learn to describe actions in progress at a specific moment in the past, understand how to use 'when' for interrupted actions and 'while' for parallel actions, practise setting the scene in narratives, and finally compare Past Continuous with Past Simple to know exactly when to use each tense.