Activity 2: Past Continuous Tense

Welcome back time travelers! Prepare to zoom in and focus on actions that were happening at a specific moment in the past. It’s time to get acquainted with the Past Continuous Tense. This tense adds life and motion to your past narrative, highlighting ongoing actions. 🎢

The Motion Picture Structure:

The Past Continuous Tense captures the action in the middle of its occurrence, giving the sense of something that was unfolding when something else happened.
The past tense of the “to be” verb, which is ‘was’ or ‘were’;
The base verb with an -ing ending (present participle).

Formulas:

  • Affirmative Sentences: Subject + was/were + present participle
    • Example: She was studying when the phone rang. 📱
  • Negative Sentences: Subject + was/were + not + present participle
    • Example: They were not sleeping when you called. 😴
  • Interrogative Sentences: Was/Were + subject + present participle?
    • Example: Were you reading all night? 📖

Instructions:

Construct sentences using the Past Continuous tense form of the verbs in brackets. Think about actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past. Remember to make some sentences negative or questions for variety. Lights, camera, action!

Question 1

You ________ your bike when I saw you yesterday. (ride)

Question 2

The children ________ in the park all morning. (play)

Question 3

During the 1990s, they ________ in a small town. (live)

Question 4

She ________ when the earthquake struck. (sleep)

Question 5

What ________ she ________ when you called her? (do)

Question 6

We ________ to the podcast when the internet went down. (listen)

Question 7

He ________ his homework, so he couldn’t join us for the movie. (not do)

Question 8

It ________ and the roads were slippery. (rain)

Question 9

The cat ________ on the fence when the dog started barking. (sit)

Question 10

At the office, Jane ________ reports when the system crashed. (write)

Question 11

________ they ________ for the results when we arrived? (wait)

Question 12

While I ________ a shower, someone took my clothes! (take)

Question 13

My parents ________ a party for my tenth birthday. (organize)

Question 14

The audience ________ patiently for the show to begin. (wait)

Question 15

Were they ________ the new restaurant when we drove past? (build)

Question 16

He ________ the guitar in the band when he was younger. (play)

Question 17

I ________ to my playlist when suddenly my headphones stopped working. (listen)

Question 18

She ________ at the stars when she noticed a shooting star. (look)

Question 19

They ________ at the deli during their high school summer break. (work)

Question 20

Why ________ you ________ at the computer screen for so long? (stare)

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