Past Continuous Explained – Formation, Usage and Grammar Practice (B1)

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This is a free grammar lesson level (B1) available to ESL teachers to help them teach English Grammar easier. Below you will find detailed explanation on Past Continuous (Past Progressive) tense and see how to form, and when to use it. There are some exercises which will help you practice the current grammar lesson.
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Formation

Affirmative (Positive)

Subject	To Be	Verb + ing
I	was	babysitting	my niece.
You	were	blogging.
He	was	cooking	dinner.
She	was	ordering	takeaway.
It	was	barking
We	were	arguing.
You	were	checking	her homework.
They	were	smiling.

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Negative

Subject	To Be	Verb + ing
I	was not (wasn’t)	babysitting	my niece.
You	were not (weren’t)	blogging.
He	was not (wasn’t)	cooking	dinner.
She	was not (wasn’t)	ordering	takeaway.
It	was not (wasn’t)	barking
We	were not (weren’t)	arguing.
You	were not (weren’t)	checking	her homework.
They	were not (weren’t)	smiling.

Interrogative (Question)

To Be	Subject	Verb + ing
Was	I	babysitting	my niece?
Were	you	blogging?
Was	he	cooking	dinner?
Was	she	ordering	takeaway?
Was	it	barking?
Were	we	arguing?
Were	you	checking	her homework?
Were	they	smiling?

Negative Interrogative (Contracted Form)

To Be	Subject	Verb + ing
Wasn’t	I	babysitting	my niece?
Weren’t	you	blogging?
Wasn’t	he	cooking	dinner?
Wasn’t	she	ordering	takeaway?
Wasn’t	it	barking?
Weren’t	we	arguing?
Weren’t	you	checking	her homework?
Weren’t	they	smiling?

Negative Interrogative (Not Contracted)

Was I not babysitting my niece?
Were you not blogging?
Was he not cooking dinner?
Was she not ordering takeaway?
Was it not barking?
Were we not arguing?
Were you not checking her homework?
Were they not smiling?

Usage

We use past continuous:
[adrotate banner=”9″] 1. to talk about an action or a situation which lasted for some time in the past.
e.g. Last night my wife and I were watching TV.
2. When one action in progress was interrupted by another action.
e.g. Tom was reading a book when Jane knocked on the door.
3. to talk about many activities happening at the same time in the past.
e.g. Peter was washing the dishes while Sue was cleaning the floor.

Review:

How to form Present Participle (-ing form)?

	Verb	+ ing	Present participle
Usually	go	go + ing	going
Verbs ending in – e	take	drop the -e, and + ing	taking
one syllable verbs	run	double the last consonant and + ing	running

For irregular forms there is no rule. These must be memorized.
Eg. lie – lying

Past Continuous Grammar Practice:

1. Write down the correct present participle.

e.g. stand → standing

• sit →
• play →
• smoke →
• breathe →
• achieve →
• marry →
• control →
• swim →
• push →
• win →

2. Underline the correct word.

1.  I was/ were trying to make you laugh.
2. He was/ were studying English when I called him.
3. Vanessa and I was/ were travelling together.
4. He was/ were running a catering business when we moved to town.
5.  Kosara was/ were painting the walls, while we was/ were putting a new carpet.
6.  My dog was/ were barking.

3. Put the words in order to make a sentence.

1.  the wallpaper/ saw her/ changing/ when you/ yesterday?/ was Sally/
2.  was/ a lot of/ drinking/ Shamik/ water/
3. travelling/ was/ north/ family/ my/
4. was fishing/ having/ Sunday/ we/ were/ a tea party/ on/ while/ John/
5. looking/ were/ a new / car?/ you/ to buy/
6. they/ were/ their/ homework?/ finishing/

4. Make a question.

e.g. They were watching a famous movie. → Were they watching a famous movie?

1. Her heart was beating fast.
2. We were celebrating our 30th anniversary.
3. Their crew was filming that piece for quite some time.
4. The detective was following a lead.
5. Tobias was swimming quite well.
6. My cat was hiding behind the door.

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