Past Continuous Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A2
Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.
1 Yesterday evening, my mom was cooking dinner while my dad ______ TV.
(a) watched
(b) was watch
(c) was watching
2 I ______ a book in my room at 8 PM last night.
(a) was reading
(b) read
(c) am reading
3 While we were eating, the dog ______ under the table.
(a) was sleep
(b) was sleeping
(c) slept
4 My sister and I ______ board games together in the living room.
(a) played
(b) were playing
(c) was playing
5 Grandma ______ a sweater for me while Grandpa was reading the newspaper.
(a) knits
(b) was kniting
(c) was knitting
6 ______ your brother doing his homework while you were playing video games?
(a) Was
(b) Did
(c) Were
7 We ______ talking loudly because the baby was sleeping.
(a) didn’t
(b) weren’t
(c) wasn’t
8 While my parents were cleaning the kitchen, I ______ my bed.
(a) was making
(b) made
(c) was makeing
9 What ______ while the rest of the family was watching the movie?
(a) did you do
(b) you were doing
(c) were you doing
10 My cat ______ a toy mouse while the dog was chewing a bone.
(a) was chasing
(b) was chassing
(c) chased
11 While my father was washing the dishes, my mother ______ them.
(a) dried
(b) was driing
(c) was drying
12 I was listening to music, and my sister ______ on the phone with her friend.
(a) was chating
(b) chatted
(c) was chatting
13 We ______ to go out; we were just relaxing at home.
(a) weren’t planning
(b) wasn’t planning
(c) didn’t planned
14 Who ______ the piano so beautifully while we were having dessert?
(a) were playing
(b) did play
(c) was playing
15 While my parents were discussing their day, my brother and I ______ to them carefully.
(a) was listening
(b) were listening
(c) listened
16 I was setting the table while the soup ______ on the stove.
(a) boiled
(b) was boilling
(c) was boiling
17 ______ snowing outside while you and your family were sitting by the fire?
(a) It was
(b) Was it
(c) Did it
18 While everyone else was relaxing, my older sister ______ for her final exams.
(a) was studying
(b) studied
(c) was studing
19 My aunt and uncle ______ with us, so they were telling us funny stories all evening.
(a) stayed
(b) was staying
(c) were staying
20 The wind ______ strongly outside while we were safely enjoying our family time indoors.
(a) blew
(b) was blowing
(c) were blowing
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was watching” correctly forms the Past Continuous to describe an action happening at the same time as the cooking.
- Incorrect (a): “watched” is a common mistake (using Past Simple loses the feeling of a continuous, parallel action).
- Incorrect (b): “was watch” is a basic grammar error (missing the -ing suffix).
2 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “was reading” shows an action in progress at a specific time in the past (8 PM).
- Incorrect (b): “read” is a common mistake (Past Simple sounds like a fast, completed event, not an ongoing one at 8 PM).
- Incorrect (c): “am reading” is a basic grammar error (Present Continuous used in a past context).
3 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “was sleeping” correctly matches the singular subject “the dog” for an ongoing action.
- Incorrect (a): “was sleep” is a basic grammar error (missing -ing).
- Incorrect (c): “slept” is a common mistake (Past Simple does not match the parallel continuous action introduced by “while”).
4 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “were playing” is correct because the subject “My sister and I” is plural (we).
- Incorrect (a): “played” is a basic grammar error in this context (we need continuous to set the scene).
- Incorrect (c): “was playing” is a common mistake (using the singular auxiliary “was” for a plural subject).
5 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was knitting” is correct. The verb “knit” requires doubling the final consonant (CVC rule) before adding -ing.
- Incorrect (a): “knits” is a basic grammar error (Present Simple).
- Incorrect (b): “was kniting” is a common spelling mistake (forgetting to double the ‘t’).
6 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “Was” is the correct auxiliary verb for the singular subject “your brother”.
- Incorrect (b): “Did” is a basic grammar error (mixing Past Simple auxiliary with continuous verb “doing”).
- Incorrect (c): “Were” is a common mistake (wrong auxiliary for a singular subject).
7 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “weren’t” is the correct negative auxiliary for the plural subject “We”.
- Incorrect (a): “didn’t” is a basic grammar error (cannot be used with V-ing).
- Incorrect (c): “wasn’t” is a common mistake (using singular auxiliary with a plural subject).
8 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “was making” correctly drops the ‘e’ in “make” before adding -ing.
- Incorrect (b): “made” is a common mistake (Past Simple).
- Incorrect (c): “was makeing” is a basic spelling error (keeping the silent ‘e’).
9 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “were you doing” uses the correct question word order (Wh-word + was/were + subject + V-ing).
- Incorrect (a): “did you do” is a common mistake (asking about a completed action rather than an ongoing one).
- Incorrect (b): “you were doing” is a basic grammar error (statement word order instead of question word order).
10 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “was chasing” drops the ‘e’ from “chase” correctly.
- Incorrect (b): “was chassing” is a basic spelling error (unnecessarily doubling the ‘s’).
- Incorrect (c): “chased” is a common mistake (Past Simple instead of continuous).
11 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was drying” is correct. For verbs ending in ‘y’ like “dry”, just add -ing.
- Incorrect (a): “dried” is a common mistake (Past Simple).
- Incorrect (b): “was driing” is a basic spelling error (incorrectly changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ before -ing).
12 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was chatting” correctly doubles the consonant ‘t’ (chat is a CVC word).
- Incorrect (a): “was chating” is a common spelling mistake.
- Incorrect (b): “chatted” is a basic grammar error (breaks the parallel structure).
13 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “weren’t planning” is the correct negative Past Continuous form for “we”.
- Incorrect (b): “wasn’t planning” is a common mistake (wrong auxiliary for plural subject).
- Incorrect (c): “didn’t planned” is a basic grammar error (double past markers).
14 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was playing” correctly uses the singular auxiliary “was” for the subject question word “Who”.
- Incorrect (a): “were playing” is a common mistake.
- Incorrect (b): “did play” is a basic grammar error.
15 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “were listening” is correct because the subject “my brother and I” is plural.
- Incorrect (a): “was listening” is a common mistake (ignoring the compound subject).
- Incorrect (c): “listened” is a basic grammar error.
16 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “was boiling” is correct. “Boil” has two vowels before the consonant, so we do NOT double the ‘l’.
- Incorrect (a): “boiled” is a common mistake (Past Simple).
- Incorrect (b): “was boilling” is a spelling error (doubling a consonant when not needed).
17 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “Was it” is the correct question inversion for “It was snowing”.
- Incorrect (a): “It was” is a common mistake (using statement word order for a question).
- Incorrect (c): “Did it” is a basic grammar error.
18 (a)
Explanation: * Correct (a): “was studying” is correct. Keep the ‘y’ and add -ing.
- Incorrect (b): “studied” is a common mistake (Past Simple).
- Incorrect (c): “was studing” is a basic spelling error (dropping the ‘y’).
19 (c)
Explanation: * Correct (c): “were staying” matches the plural subject “My aunt and uncle”.
- Incorrect (a): “stayed” is a basic grammar error (loses the continuous feeling of their visit).
- Incorrect (b): “was staying” is a common mistake (wrong auxiliary).
20 (b)
Explanation: * Correct (b): “was blowing” uses the singular auxiliary for “the wind” to describe ongoing background weather.
- Incorrect (a): “blew” is a common mistake (Past Simple).
- Incorrect (c): “were blowing” is a basic grammar error (plural auxiliary for singular uncountable noun).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Parallel Actions: We often use the Past Continuous with the word “while” to talk about two or more actions that were happening at the exact same time in the past.
- Example: “I was reading a book while my brother was playing games.”
- Structure: * Positive: Subject + was/were + V-ing.
- Negative: Subject + wasn’t/weren’t + V-ing.
- Question: Was/Were + Subject + V-ing?
- Choosing Was vs. Were:
- Use was for singular subjects (I, he, she, it, the dog).
- Use were for plural subjects (we, you, they, my sister and I).
- Tricky Spelling Rules for V-ing:
- Words ending in a silent -e: Drop the ‘e’ (make → making).
- Words ending in -y: Do NOT drop the ‘y’ (study → studying, dry → drying).
- Short words ending in CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant): Double the last consonant (chat → chatting, knit → knitting). But if there are two vowels, do not double (boil → boiling).