Past Continuous Tense Examples, Exercises Worksheets with Answers

Past Continuous Tense: The past continuous tense is used to indicate that an activity was going on when another activity took place. The Past Continuous Tense denotes an action going on in the past. In order to form Past Continuous Tense, we add Present Participle to was or were.

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Past Continuous Tense Examples, Exercises Worksheets with Answers PDF

Past Tense
Past Continuous Tense Formula:

Past Continuous Tense is used:
The Past Continuous Tense is used to express an action that was happening in the Past at the time of speaking. The time of the action may or may not be mentioned.

1. For something which continued before and after another action:
Examples:

• The children were doing their homework when I got home.
• As I was watching television the telephone rang.

This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:

• The other day I was waiting for a bus when……
• Last week as I was driving to work……..

2. For something that happened before and after a particular time:
Examples:

• It was eight o’clock. I was writing a letter.

3. To show that something continued for some time:
Examples:

• My head was aching.
• Everyone was shouting.

4. For something that was happening again and again:
Examples:

• I was practicing every day, three times a day.
• They were meeting secretly after school.
• They were always quarreling.

5. With verbs which show change or growth:
Examples:

• The children were growing up quickly.
• Her English was improving.
• My hair was going grey.
• The town was changing quickly.

Past Continuous Tense Worksheets

Fill in the following blanks with the Past Continuous Tense of the verbs given in brackets:
1. The baby ……….. in the room. (weep)
2. Children ……….. a noise in the class. (make)
3. Why ……….. you ……….. at her? (look)
4. We saw the aeroplane while it ………… (take off)
5. The students ……….. their morning prayer when I reached their school. (say)
6. I ……….. my beard when the telephone bell rang. (shave)
7. My mother ……….. when I returned home. (sleep)
8. The old lady ………… the Gita when the guests arrived. (read)
9. Mother ………… tea for us when the school bus homed. (prepare)
10. She found that the baby ………… bitterly. (cry)