Past continuous

A Complete the sentences by putting the verbs in brackets () into the Past Continuous.

► It was snowing …… (snow) when I left home this morning.

1. I tried to explain my problem to her, but she …… (not/listen).

2. He …… (talk) on the phone when I arrived.

3. A lot of people …… (wait) for the 7.30 bus last night.

4. I …… (live) in London when I met them.

5. I nearly had an accident this morning. A car …(come) towards me, but I moved quickly out of the way.

6. At the end of the first half of the game, they …… (win).

7. It was a sunny afternoon and people … (sit) on the grass in the park. Then it suddenly started to rain.

8. Which hotel …… (you/stay) in when you lost your passport?

9. Fortunately, I …… (not/drive) too fast when the child walked into the road in front of me.

10. I looked out of the window, and I saw that it …… (not/rain) any more.

11. What …… (you/do) at three o'clock yesterday afternoon?

В Use the past progressive in the sentences below.

1. I …… so I missed what he said. (not listen)

2. We stayed because we …… ourselves. (enjoy)

3. … … …… tennis yesterday? (they/play)

4. He …… all weekend. (garden)

5. … … … television all evening? (you/watch)

6. It …… hard all day. (rain)

7. I whether you could lend me some money. (wonder)

8. … … still ……when I left? (you/work)

9. I lived in France at the time you …… in Spain. (live)

10. When she was younger, she …… things for other people. (always/do)

11. Bill and Sue …… their house, before they moved. (constantly/improve)

12. … … …… when I rang you? (you/read)

13. Just as I …… to an interesting part of the story, the doorbell rang. (get)

C Describe what the people in the picture were doing when Rick came into the room. Ask a general question and a special question starting with Who…?

D Jill and George have been watching a cowboy film in a foreign language. They are not sure what was happening in it. Now they are discussing the film. Complete the conversation using the words in brackets.

JILL: In the desert scene, I thought ^1(the girl – try) the girl was trying to escape from the cowboy. GEORGE: No, ^2(she – not try) …… escape from him. ^3(They – ride) …… off together to escape from the baddies. JILL: I don't think so. I'm sure ^4(he – chase) …… her.
GEORGE: What ^5(they – do) …… in that scene on the cliff? ^6(They - climb) …… up the cliff to surprise the bandits? JILL: Surely not. ^7(not – they – climb) …… down into the old mine to find the gold?
JILL: Those men in the bar ^8(make) …… plans to rob the bank, weren’t they? GEORGE: Yes. But one of them ^9(work) …… for the sheriff all the time. JILL: Oh no! ^10(He – not – work) …… for the sheriff. ^11(He – plan) …… to rob the bank.
GEORGE: In the final shoot-out, why ^12(not – he – aim) …… at the leader of the bandits? Did you notice that? ^13(He – shoot) …… above his head. JILL: That’s right! ^14(He – hope) …… to capture the leader alive and find out where the girl was.
JILL: I’m afraid! ^15(I – not – watch) …… the film all the time. GEORGE: Why ^16(not – you – watch) …… it? I thought it was rather fun. JILL: Oh George, ^17(you – not – watch) …… either! In fact ^18(you – snore) …… in the middle of it!

E Circle the simple past and the past progressive verbs in this story.