Past Continuous vs. Simple Past

Can you use past simple and past continuous correctly? Test what you know with this interactive exercise.

Fill in the blanks.

1. When I ..................... in the morning, it ........................

was waking up, rained

woke up, rained

woke up, was raining

Correct! Wrong!

We use the past continuous for the longer background action that was going on when another shorter action interrupted it. The simple past is used for the shorter action.

2. I .......................... dinner when you .......................... me.

had, phoned

was having, phoned

was having, were phoning

Correct! Wrong!

3. What ................................... at 7 o'clock yesterday evening?

were you doing

did you do

were you done

Correct! Wrong!

4. I ........................ up at 6 am.

got

was getting

Correct! Wrong!

5. At that time, she ........................... as a receptionist in Mumbai.

worked

was working

Correct! Wrong!

Use the past continuous to say that an action or situation was going on at a particular point of time in the past.

6. He ............................... at 110 miles/hour when the accident ..........................

drove, occurred

was driving, occurred

was driving, was occurring

Correct! Wrong!

7. That ........................... a long time ago.

happened

was happening

Correct! Wrong!

8. This time last week, he ............................ in the Bahamas.

holidayed

was holidaying

Correct! Wrong!

9. She ......................... chemistry at university.

studied

was studying

Correct! Wrong!

Use the simple past to talk about finished events.

10. He ........................... his leg while he ........................... football yesterday.

injured, was playing

injured, played

was injuring, was playing

Correct! Wrong!

11. He .......................... at a young age.

died

was dying

Correct! Wrong!

12. She ........................... the call because she ...........................

didn't answer, was driving

was not answering, was driving

didn't answer, drove

Correct! Wrong!

Answers

When I woke up in the morning, it was raining.
I was having dinner when you phoned me.
What were you doing at 7 o’clock yesterday evening?
I got up at 6 am.
At that time, she was working as a receptionist in Mumbai.
He was driving at 110 miles/hour when the accident occurred.
That happened a long time ago.
This time last week, he was holidaying in the Bahamas.
She studied chemistry at university.
He injured his leg while he was playing football yesterday.
He died at a young age.
She didn’t answer the call because she was driving.