Past Simple or Past Continuous

Exercise 1
Examine each verb in italics in the following sentences. Rewrite the verb as a past
continuous.

At midnight, I sleep.
At midnight, I was sleeping.

1. The chef bake the pie when the guests came.

_____________________________________________________________
2. As she walk down the street yesterday, she noticed the stray dog.
_____________________________________________________________
3. All last month, the teacher grade tests.
_____________________________________________________________
4. At the time of the hurricane, they live on the west side of the city.
_____________________________________________________________
5. The police control the rioters when the convention began.
_____________________________________________________________

Exercise 2
Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Simple or Past Continuous.

1. Mr. Smith never ____________ (wake) up in time in the morning and

always ____________ (get) into trouble for being late ; so one day he
_____________ (go) to town and _____________ (buy) an alarm clock.

2. Why ____________________ (you/interrupt) me just now ? I

______________ (have) a very interesting conversation with Mr. Pitt.

3. I _____________ (see) Sue in town yesterday, but she

______________ (not/see) me. She _______________ (look) the other
way.

4. When I ______________ (look) through your books I

_______________ (notice) that you have a copy of “The Satanic Verses”.

5. She said that she ____________ (not like) her present flat and
____________ (try) to find another.

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6. She said that she ____________ (be) on holiday. I ____________ (say)
that I _____________ (hope) that she _____________ (enjoy) herself.

7. I ____________________ (just/write) a cheque when I

______________ (remember) that I ______________ (have) nothing in
the bank.

8. When I last ______________ (see) her, she ____________ (hurry)

along the road to the station. I ______________ (ask) her where she
____________ (go) and she ______________ (say), “London”, but I
don’t think she ______________ (speak) the truth because there
______________ (not be) any train for London at that time.

9. I lit the fire at 6 and it ______________ (burn) brightly when Tom came in
at 7.

10. When I arrived she ______________ (have) dinner. She apologized for
starting without me but said that she ____________________
(always/dine) at 8 o’clock.

11. It’s strange that you ______________ (call) because I

____________________ (just/think) about you.

12. Sharon was I the room when John ______________ (tell) me what had
happened, but she _______________ (not/hear) anything because she
____________________ (not/listen).

13. I _______________ (watch) a mystery movie on T.V. when the electricity

_______________ (go) out. Now I’m never going to find out how it ends.

14. We ______________ (be) in a very difficult position. We

______________ (not/know) what to do.

15. The Titanic ______________ (cross) the Atlantic when it

______________ (strike) an iceberg.

16. After I ______________ (find) the wallet full of money, I

____________________ (immediately/go) to the Police and
______________ (turn) it in.

17. The doctor _____________ (say) that Tom was too sick to go to work and
that he ______________ (need) to stay at home for a few days.

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18. Sebastian ______________ (arrive) at Susan’s house at a little before 9
p.m., but she ______________ (not/be) there. She ______________
(study) at the library for her final examination in French.

19. When I _______________ (come home, Sandy was in the living room
watching television. At this time yesterday, she ___________________
(also/watch) television. That’s all she ever does !

20. While he ______________ (make) a speech, the Prime Minister suddenly

_______________ (faint). But someone _______________ (bring) him
a glass of water, so after a few minutes he _______________ (rise) and
_______________ (go) on with his speech.

Exercise 3
Choose the ‘Past Simple’ or ‘Past Continuous’ of the verbs in brackets.

1. Yesterday afternoon, Sarah __________________ (go) to the station to meet

Paul. When she __________________ (get) there, Paul
_____________________ (already / wait) for her. His train had arrived early.

2. When I got home, Bill _______________________ (lie) on the sofa. The

television ________________________ (be) on, but he
_______________________ (not / watch) it. He had fallen asleep and
________________________ (snore) loudly. I _______________________
(turn) the television off and just then he ___________________ (wake) up.

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3. Last night, I had just gone to bed and I ______________________ (read) a
book when suddenly I _____________________ (hear) a noise. I _______
_________________ (get) up to see what it was, but I _________________
(not / see) anything, so I ______________________ (go) back to bed.

4. Lisa ____________________ (have) to go to New York last week, but she

________________________ (almost / miss) the plane. She ___________
_____________________ (stand) in the queue at the check-in desk when she
______________________________ (suddenly / realise) that she had left her
passport at home. Fortunately, she lives near the airport, so she _________
_____________________ (have) time to take a taxi home to get it. She
______________________ (get) back to the airport just in time for her flight.

5. I _______________________ (meet) Peter and Lucy yesterday as I _______

_________________________ (walk) through the park. They had been to the
Sports Centre where they had been playing tennis. They _________________
_________________ (go) to a café and ____________________ (invite) me
to join them, but I had arranged to meet another friend so I ______________
_______________ (not / have) time.

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KEY
Exercise 1
1. was baking
2. was walking
3. was grading
4. were living
5. were controlling

Exercise 2
1. woke - got - went - bought
2. did you interrupt - was having
3. saw - didn’t see - was looking
4. was looking - notices
5. didn’t like - was trying
6. was - said - hoped - was enjoying
7. was just writing - remembered - had
8. saw - was hurrying - asked - was going - said - spoke - wasn’t
9. was burning
10. was having - was always dining
11. called - was just thinking
12. was telling/told - didn’t hear - wasn’t listening
13. was watching - went
14. were - didn’t know
15. was crossing - struck
16. found - immediately went - turned
17. said - needed
18. arrived - wasn’t - was studying
19. came - was also watching
20. was making - fainted - brought - rose - went

Exercise 3
1. went - got - was already waiting
2. was lying - was - wasn’t watching - was snoring - turned/was turning - woke
up
3. was reading - heard - got - didn’t see - went
4. had - almost missed - was standing - suddenly realised - had - got
5. met - was walking - were going - invited - hadn’t

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