Past Continuous Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A2
Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.
1 I ______ in the park when I suddenly saw my old friend, Sarah.
(a) walked
(b) was walk
(c) was walking
2 When David called my name from across the street, I ______ for a taxi.
(a) was waiting
(b) am waiting
(c) waited
3 She ______ a heavy grocery bag when I bumped into her at the supermarket.
(a) was carry
(b) was carrying
(c) carried
4 We ______ coffee at a local café when Mark walked in completely out of the blue.
(a) drank
(b) was drinking
(c) were drinking
5 I ran into my former high school teacher while I ______ apples at the market.
(a) was buying
(b) buying
(c) bought
6 What ______ when you saw your old neighbor at the shopping mall?
(a) did you do
(b) were you doing
(c) you were doing
7 I ______ attention to where I was going when I accidentally bumped into an old classmate.
(a) wasn’t pay
(b) didn’t pay
(c) wasn’t paying
8 When I finally recognized him in the crowd, he ______ a blue jacket and sunglasses.
(a) was wearing
(b) wore
(c) was wear
9 They ______ at the bus stop talking about the old days when it started to rain.
(a) stood
(b) were standing
(c) was standing
10 ______ to music on your headphones when someone tapped you on the shoulder?
(a) Were you listening
(b) Was you listening
(c) Did you listen
11 I saw Tom at the street corner. He ______ to someone, so I didn’t say hello immediately.
(a) talked
(b) were talking
(c) was talking
12 When the lights suddenly went out in the store, we ______ at the fresh vegetables.
(a) were looking
(b) looked
(c) are looking
13 I was so surprised to see him! I dropped my phone while I ______ to catch the train.
(a) was runing
(b) ran
(c) was running
14 She didn’t see me wave at her at first because she ______ at her phone screen.
(a) was stareing
(b) was staring
(c) stared
15 When I heard a familiar voice say my name, I ______ the busy street to go to the bookstore.
(a) crossing
(b) crossed
(c) was crossing
16 To be honest, I ______ a very good day until I unexpectedly met my best friend from university!
(a) wasn’t having
(b) wasn’t have
(c) didn’t have
17 Where exactly ______ when you ran into Mr. Jenkins yesterday morning?
(a) did you go
(b) were you going
(c) you were going
18 The moment I noticed her, she ______ a taxi and looked like she was in a huge hurry.
(a) got into
(b) was getting into
(c) was get into
19 I couldn’t stop to chat with him for long because I ______ to the airport to catch a flight.
(a) was driveing
(b) drove
(c) was driving
20 We ______ past the old bakery when we realized our childhood friend was the new manager there!
(a) walked
(b) was walking
(c) were walking
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was walking” provides the ongoing background action that was interrupted by seeing Sarah.
- Incorrect (a): “walked” is a common mistake. Using the Past Simple makes it sound like a completed sequence (I walked, then I saw), losing the “interruption” feeling.
- Incorrect (b): “was walk” is a basic grammar error (missing the -ing suffix).
2 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “was waiting” establishes the action in progress when David called out.
- Incorrect (c): “waited” is a common mistake (Past Simple does not show an action in progress).
- Incorrect (b): “am waiting” is a basic grammar error (Present Continuous used for a past event).
3 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “was carrying” correctly matches the singular subject “She” to show what she was doing at that exact moment.
- Incorrect (c): “carried” is a common mistake (loses the continuous aspect).
- Incorrect (a): “was carry” is a basic grammar error (missing -ing).
4 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “were drinking” matches the plural subject “We” for the background action.
- Incorrect (a): “drank” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (b): “was drinking” is a basic grammar error (using singular auxiliary “was” for a plural subject).
5 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “was buying” describes the continuous activity happening when the interruption occurred.
- Incorrect (c): “bought” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (b): “buying” is a basic grammar error (missing the “was” auxiliary).
6 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “were you doing” is the correct question format for an action in progress when another action happened.
- Incorrect (a): “did you do” is a common mistake (asks about a completed action rather than an ongoing one).
- Incorrect (c): “you were doing” is a basic grammar error (statement word order instead of question word order).
7 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “wasn’t paying” is the correct negative Past Continuous form.
- Incorrect (b): “didn’t pay” is a common mistake (focuses on a completed failure rather than an ongoing state of distraction).
- Incorrect (a): “wasn’t pay” is a basic grammar error.
8 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “was wearing” is used to describe what someone had on at a specific moment in the past.
- Incorrect (b): “wore” is a common mistake (Past Simple is less natural for describing temporary clothing states at an exact moment of meeting).
- Incorrect (c): “was wear” is a basic grammar error.
9 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “were standing” uses the plural auxiliary for “They”.
- Incorrect (a): “stood” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (c): “was standing” is a basic grammar error (wrong auxiliary).
10 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “Were you listening” forms the Yes/No question correctly for the pronoun “you”.
- Incorrect (c): “Did you listen” is a common mistake (Past Simple).
- Incorrect (b): “Was you listening” is a basic grammar error (wrong auxiliary for “you”).
11 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was talking” is correct for the singular subject “He”. It shows why the speaker couldn’t interrupt.
- Incorrect (a): “talked” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (b): “were talking” is a basic grammar error (plural auxiliary for singular subject).
12 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “were looking” sets the continuous background action before the lights went out.
- Incorrect (b): “looked” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (c): “are looking” is a basic grammar error (Present Continuous).
13 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was running” correctly doubles the consonant ‘n’ for this CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) verb.
- Incorrect (b): “ran” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (a): “was runing” is a basic spelling/grammar error.
14 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “was staring” correctly drops the silent ‘e’ from “stare” before adding -ing.
- Incorrect (c): “stared” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (a): “was stareing” is a basic spelling error.
15 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was crossing” emphasizes the action of being in the middle of the street when the name was called.
- Incorrect (b): “crossed” is a common mistake (implies the entire crossing action finished before or after the name was called).
- Incorrect (a): “crossing” is a basic grammar error (missing the auxiliary).
16 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “wasn’t having” is the correct negative continuous form. “Have” can be continuous when it refers to an experience (having a day).
- Incorrect (c): “didn’t have” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (b): “wasn’t have” is a basic grammar error.
17 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “were you going” correctly asks about the direction/destination in progress at the moment of the meeting.
- Incorrect (a): “did you go” is a common mistake (asks about a completed trip).
- Incorrect (c): “you were going” is a basic grammar error (incorrect word order).
18 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “was getting into” describes the exact visual action in progress at the split second she was noticed.
- Incorrect (a): “got into” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (c): “was get into” is a basic grammar error.
19 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was driving” correctly drops the ‘e’ from “drive” and explains the ongoing reason for not chatting.
- Incorrect (b): “drove” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (a): “was driveing” is a basic spelling error.
20 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “were walking” uses the plural auxiliary “were” for the subject “We”.
- Incorrect (a): “walked” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (b): “was walking” is a basic grammar error (wrong auxiliary).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The “Interruption” Pattern: We frequently use the Past Continuous to describe a longer “background” action that was already happening when a shorter, sudden action (the Past Simple) interrupted it.
- Formula: Past Continuous (Background Action) + when + Past Simple (Interrupting Action).
- Example: “I was walking in the park (long action) when I saw my friend (short interruption).”
- Describing a Scene: In storytelling, the Past Continuous is perfect for painting a picture of what was happening at a specific moment in time (e.g., He was wearing a blue jacket).
- Structure Reminder:
- Was + V-ing (I, he, she, it) -> She was carrying…
- Were + V-ing (We, you, they) -> They were standing…
- Watch your spelling! Remember to drop the silent ‘e’ (stare → staring) and double the final consonant for short CVC words (run → running).