Today we are going to do exercises in past and past continuous tenses. Revise the grammar to make sure you completely understand the difference between an ongoing action and one that happened in a definite moment.

 

1		Fill in the blanks using the indicated verbs, some of which are in the past continuous tense: (were making, looked, was watching, used, were not listening, were doing, listened, followed, was watching, were doing, was looking, did, was playing, were wearing, was obeying, were listening)

I _______________ TV the whole evening.
You _______________ pullover or shirt; I don’t remember.
I thought they ________ soup, but it turned out porridge.
We _______________ our exercises when he came.
She __________ at me, and I did not know what to answer.
He _______________ traffic regulations, but they arrested him for some reason.
The teacher saw they _______________ to him, but he didn’t want to stop his lesson.
I _______________ your dictionary last week, thank you.
Yesterday we __________ a lot of work in the garden while she _______________ with her dolls.
I __________ her through the window when I saw her fall.
He __________ for new information about architecture.
They __________ their homework while they chatted.
We _____________ to the radio that evening.
They __________ to my last fairy tale, then I said that I was going to sleep, and they __________ my example.

2		You are going to conduct an investigation! Yesterday you met your friend and asked him some questions. Use past simple and past continuous tenses to ask questions and express your reactions:

(Example: Your friend is wearing a dirty T-shirt. You might ask him: What have you been doing? You look messy!)

Your friend is looking unhealthy.
He says he just came from a party.
He says that people at the party were making jokes about him.
He says that there were too many people there.
He claims they were drinking only fruit juice and sodas.
He says that he got lost on his way home.

3		Change the following phrases to the negatives:

You were listening to me.		He was trying to sleep.

I was making a cheesecake when my phone rang.		They were swimming underwater at 8 am.

We were talking too much.		He was wearing his best suit yesterday.

 

I was asking her about her personal life during the interview.

4		Answer the following questions:

What were you doing yesterday morning?
Where was your sister at 9 pm?
Why were you tired after school?
Were you dancing tonight?
Did you enjoy it?
Where was he yesterday when we were in the theater?

 

Lesson 7

 

1		Fill in the blanks using the indicated verbs in the right tense:

I was watching TV the whole evening.
You were wearing a pullover or shirt; I don’t remember.
I thought they were making soup, but it turned out porridge.
We were doing our exercises when he came.
She looked at me, and I did not know what to answer.
He was obeying the traffic regulations, but they arrested him for some reason.
The teacher saw they were not listening to him, but he didn’t want to stop the speech.
I used your dictionary last week, thank you.
Yesterday we did a lot of work in the garden while she was playing with her dolls.
I was watching her though the window when I saw her fall.
He looked for new information about architecture.
They were doing their homework while they chatted.
We were listening to the radio that evening.
They listened to my last fairy tale, then I said that I was going to sleep, and they followed my example.

 

2		Conduct your own investigation. Yesterday you met your friend and asked him some questions. Use past simple and past continuous tenses to ask questions and express your reactions.

What have you been eating? You look unhealthy!
Where was the party?
Who was making jokes about you?
So you didn’t know the people there?
What did you drink?
Why did you come home so late?

 

3		Change the following phrases to the negatives:

I was not making a cheesecake when my phone rang.
You weren’t listening to me.
I wasn’t asking her about her personal life.
They weren’t swimming under water at 8 am.
He wasn’t trying to sleep.
She wasn’t wearing her best suit yesterday.
We weren’t talking too much.

 

4		Answer the following questions:

Yesterday morning I was sleeping!
My sister was at the play at 9 pm.
There was a lot of work to do.
We danced in a beautiful way. I liked it very much.
He was repairing his old car.