In this post, we will be focusing on practicing and improving your understanding of the past continuous tense.
The past continuous, also known as the past progressive, is a verb tense that is used to indicate that an action was in progress at a specific point in the past.
These are some examples of past continuous sentences:
| Affirmative | She was teaching a lesson |
| Negative | You were not doing much |
| Closed Question | Were they feeling bad? |
| Open Question | What were they doing? |
We will provide a variety of exercises and examples to help you get comfortable using the past continuous in your own speaking and writing.
Table of Contents
Past Continuous: Structure
This is the structure to make affirmative sentences with the past continuous/ past progressive:
| Structure | Example |
| Subject | We |
| Verb to Be | were |
| Verb + Ing | playing |
| Complement | video games |
This is the structure to make negative sentences with the past continuous/ past progressive:
| Structure | Example |
| Subject | We |
| Verb to Be | weren’t |
| Verb + Ing | playing |
| Complement | video games |
This is the structure to make closed questions with the past continuous/past progressive:
| Structure | Example |
| Verb to Be | Were |
| Subject | We |
| Verb + Ing | Playing |
| Complement | Video Games? |
This is the structure to make open questions with the past continuous/ past progressive:
| Structure | Example |
| Wh-Question | Why |
| Verb to Be | Were |
| Subject | They |
| Verb + Ing | Playing |
| Complement | Video Games? |
Past Continuous: Examples
These are 7 examples of affirmative sentences with the past continuous/past progressive:
- I was listening to a podcast
- You were collecting Pokemon Cards
- She was selling programming courses
- He was fixing his old computer
- They were recording the event
- We were taking care of your dogs
These are 7 examples of negative sentences with the past continuous/past progressive:
- I was not studying French
- You were not working hard enough
- She was not following the rules
- He was not watching Netflix
- They were not sleeping hours a week
- We were not making any progress
These are 7 examples of closed questions with the past continuous/past progressive:
- Was I doing the presentation today?
- Were you working today?
- Was she playing volleyball?
- Was he flying to London?
- Were they cooking something delicious?
- Were we traveling to London?
These are 7 examples of open questions with the past continuous/past progressive:
- Why was I leaving?
- Where were you working?
- What was she doing?
- Why was he sleeping?
- Why were they making lemonade?
- What were we investing in?
Past Continuous: Video Guides
Let’s explore the present continuous verb tense through a series of instructional videos.
Watch any or all of these YouTube videos before attempting to complete any of the Past Continuous Exercises
| Name | Channel |
| Past Progressive | Ellii (formerly ESL Library) |
| Past Continuous | Learn English with Rebecca |
| Past Continuous Tense | Shaw English Online |
| Past Continuous Tense for Kids | Sanook English ESL Activities |
Past Continuous: Exercises
These are exercises that will help you test what you know about affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences with the past continuous
The first set of exercises comes from Agenda Web:
| #01 | Past continuous – Exercise |
| #02 | Past continuous – Exercise |
| #03 | Past continuous – Exercise |
| #04 | Past Continuous – Exercise |
The Second Set of Exercises comes from different websites
The third set of exercises from English 4U
More Exercises in English
I hope these past continuous exercises help you master this tense well
These are other collections of resources for different grammar topics
