Past simple / past continuous

Complete the sentences with the correct Past simple form of be.

1 Who _____were______ the best characters in the drama series?

2 The participant __wasnt_________ very good.

3 There ____were_______ a lot of people in the audience.

4 The viewers _____werent______ interested in the new show.

5 She ____was_______ really excited when she got her new flat-screen TV.

Complete the dialogue with the correct Past simple form of be or there was/there
were.

James Were there many TVs in the 1950s, Grandma?

Grandma No, 1____there werent______ many.

James What 2__were________ your favourite programmes at that time?

Grandma Music shows. But they 3__werent________ like music shows today.
4___There were_______ famous singers, but also other variety acts. My favourite show
5____was______ American and my favourite singer 6________was__ Dean Martin.

Write sentences or questions in the Past simple.

You watch the reality show

> () __You watched the reality show_______________________________

1 () __________You didnt watch the reality show_______________________

2 (?) __________Did you watch the reality show_______________________

He sees the film.

3 () ______He saw the film___________________________

4 () _______He didnt see the film__________________________

5 (?) _______Did he see the film?__________________________

1
Complete the sentences and questions with the correct Past simple form of the
verbs.

1 _____Did you enjoy________ (you/enjoy) the film?

2 Dan ___didnt know__________ (not know) the answer.

3 What __did he have___________ (he/have) for dinner?

4 They __went___________ (go) to Egypt last summer.

5 Jenny ___met__________ (meet) a friend yesterday.

6 We ______didnt win_______ (not win) any prizes.

Write questions for these answers using the Past simple.

1 __What did you have for dinner___________________________________?

We had fish and chips for dinner.

2 ____Where did they went for their holiday_________________________________?

They went to Cyprus for their holiday.

3 ___Why were you angry?__________________________________?

I was angry because we didnt win the prize.

4 ____Who did he meet last night?_________________________________?

He met Sally last night.

Write sentences or questions in the Past continuous.

1 you/watch/TV ?

___Were you watching TV__________________________________

2 the students/speak/French

____The students were speaking French_________________________________

3 the cat/sleep

_______The cat was sleeping______________________________

4 who/you/talk to ?

_____Who were you talking to________________________________

2
7

A police ocer is interviewing Jack about his friend Tony, who disappeared last
night. Read Jacks statement. Then write the questions and answers using the Past
continuous.

I left home at 6.45 p.m. and walked to the caf. Iarrived at 7.15 p.m. My friend, Tony, sat
with me and we had a drink together. Then my other friends arrived and they went to play
video games. When I left the caf at 10.30 p.m., Tony started speaking to the waitress.

Q What were you doing at 7 p.m.?

1 I_____was walking to the caf___________________________.

2 why/you and Tony/sit/together

Q _Why were you and Tony sitting together_______________________________?

We ___were sitting together because we are friends / because we were having a

drink together_____________________________.

3 what/your/other friends/do

Q __What were your other friends doing______________________________?

They _____were playing videogames___________________________.

4 what/Tony/do/at 10.30 p.m.

Q __What was Tony doing at 10.30 pm?______________________________?

He ___was speaking to the waitress_____________________________.

Complete the mini-dialogues with the correct past simple form of suitable verbs.

they / get up Suzy / go not go be (x2) not see you / do stay not buy chat

1 A What time (1) ___did they get up________ this morning?

B At about 6.30.

2 A I (2) __didnt see_________ Mel at the party last night.

B Oh, she (3) _didnt go__________. She was ill.

3 A What (4) ____did you do_______ last night?

3
 B Nothing much. I just (5) ______stayed_____ at home and (6)
____chatted_______ to my parents.

4 A (7) ___Did Suzy go ________ shopping at the weekend?

B Yes, but she (8) __didnt buy _________ anything.

5 A (9) __Was _________ Joe in class today?

B No. There (10) __wasnt____

Correct the mistakes. One sentence is correct.

1 What were your sister doing in the park?

_________What was your sister doing in the park?___________________________

2 Jamie slept when the postman was coming.

__________Jamie was sleeping when__________________________

3 While I did my homework, my brother was arriving home.

________While I was doing my homework., my brother arrived

home____________________________

4 This time last week, I swam in the sea.

___________This time last week, I was swimming in the sea________________________

5 Why were you staring at that man? BIEN

____________________________________

6 I wasnt going to school yesterday because I were ill.

________I didnt go to school yesterday because I was ill____________________________

7 Were you seeing the sports programme last night?

_____Did you see the sports programme last night?_______________________________

Complete the text with verbs in the past simple or the past continuous. Sometimes
more than one answer is possible.

leave go realize say visit notice drop run wear pick

Last month I was visiting a museum in Glasgow with my class. While we (1) ___were
visiting________ around on the guided tour, I (2) ___noticed________ an attractive woman.
She (3) ____was wearing_______ sunglasses, so I couldnt see her face very well. As she

4
(4) _was leaving__________ the room, she (5) ___dropped________ her scarf so I (6)
_____picked ______ it up and (7) ___went________ after her. When she(8) ____said_______
thank you, I (9) __realized_________ who she was my favourite actress!

Complete the sentences with the correct form of used to and the verbs.

1 My aunt __used to wear__________________ (wear) platform boots in the 1970s.

2 Children ___didnt use to play_________________ (not play) with electronic toys.

3 My dad ___used to have_________________ (have) a black and white TV.

4 I _____didn`t use to speak_______________ (not speak) to my friends on a mobile

phone.

5 _____Did_____ you __use to like________ (like) vegetables when you were younger?

Complete the text with the correct form of used to and the verbs from the box.

not be have play not contact watchwrite talk

Things were very dierent in the 1980s. People used to drive TVs, and the lucky ones
1_used to watch_______________ videos on them. People 2____used to play____________
very simple games on their computers, but the games 3_____didnt use to be___________
colourful or look very exciting very dierent from today! My dad 4__used to
talk_____________ to people on his mobile phone, but the phone was really big and
looked very silly. The Internet didnt exist in the 1980s, so teenagers 5________didnt use
to contact________ each other through social networking sites. Instead, they 6_____used
to write__________ letters to their friends in the holidays. It seems hard to believe now!

Tick () the correct questions. Then correct the wrong questions.

1 _x__ Who did write a letter to you? Who wrote a letter to you?

2 __x_ What your parents did yesterday? What did your parents do yesterday?

3 _v__ Why did they go to the library?

4 __v_ How many people came to the barbecue?

5 _x__ What they bought for her birthday? What did they buy for her birthday?

5
Read the text and complete the questions about the missing information. Then
match the questions (15) to their answers (af).

Sarah got home from school. She went into the kitchen and found her parents there.
They looked excited. They sang 1 Happy birthday to Sarah. Her mum laughed 2
because Sarah looked surprised. It was strange because her dad usually came home 3
at six oclock. There was a box 4 on the table . Dad said, Open it! Suddenly, 5 a
little dog jumped out of the box and licked Sarahs face!

1 ___ What ____did they sing _________________ to Sarah?

2 ___ Why ___was Sarah surprised__________________?

3 ___ What time ______did her dad usually come home_______________?

4 ___ Where ______was_______________ the box?

5 ___ What _____came________________ out of the box?

a a little dog

b on the table

c her parents

d because Sarah looked surprised

e Happy Birthday 1

f at six oclock

Tick () the correct sentences. Then correct the wrong sentences.

1 _v__ I was reading my book and I was eating.

2 _v__ Mozart died while he was writing an important piece of

music.

3 _x__ We moved to Madrid when my dad got a new

job.

4 _x__ Paul won the lottery while he was studying at university.

5 __v_ Helen turned o the TV and went to bed.

6
Complete the sentences and questions with the correct Past simple or Past
continuous form of the verbs.

1 They ____were living_________ (live) in London when the new millennium

____began_________ (begin).

2 What ___were you doing__________ (you/do) when Barack Obama

_____won________ (win) the election?

3 I _____was waiting________ (wait) for the bus and I _____was listening________

(listen) to my MP3 player.

4 I ______went_______ (go) upstairs and I _______closed______ (close) the door.

5 My mum ____met_________ (meet) my dad while she ______was working_______

(work) in a bank.

Complete each question with the Past simple and Past continuous forms of the
verbs. Then match the questions (14) to their answers (ae).

1 _E__ Where ____was Amelia Earhart flying____________ (Amelia Earhart/fly) when

_her plane disappeared_______________ (her plane/disappear)?

2 _A__ What ___fell_____________ (fall) on Sir Isaac Newtons

head while ____he was sitting____________ (he/sit) under a tree?

3 _C__ When ______Antoni Gaud died__________ (Antoni Gaud/die), what

__was he building______________ (he/build)?

4 _B__ Who ____started____________ (start) painting while

__she got better______________ (she/get better) after an accident?

a an apple

b Frida Kahlo

c the Sagrada Famlia in Barcelona

d Requiem, a piece of church music

e over the Pacific Ocean

7
Correct the mistake in each question.

1 Who did finish the cola in the fridge?

__Who finished the cola in the fridge?__________________________________

2 What time they got home yesterday?

_____What time did they get home yesterday?_______________________________

3 Who did buy that present for Rachel?

_____Who bought that present for Rachel_______________________________

4 Why you argued with Lisa yesterday?

_____Why did you argue with Lisa yesterday_______________________________

5 Who did eat all the cake?

________Who ate all the cake____________________________

Write sentences using the past continuous and the past simple.
1 while / Pete / help / his dad / he / fall over

____While Pete was helping his dad, he fell over________________________________

2 she / not meet / him / while / they / work / in a bar

_She didnt meet him while they were working in a

bar___________________________________

3 we / watch / a film / when / my mobile / ring

____We were watching a film when my mobile

rang________________________________

4 they / have the idea / while / they / camp / ?

___Did they have the idea while they were camping?

_________________________________

5 I / lose / my passport / when / I / stay / in a hostel

_______I lost my passport when I stayed in a hostel_____________________________

8 Complete the sentences and questions with the correct form of used to and the
verbs from the box.

like be not have go work

1. Life __used to be__________ much simpler.

2. We __didnt use to have__________ any gadgets.

3. I _____used to like_______ going dancing on Saturday nights.

4. His granddad __used to work__________ as a postman.

5. _____Did_______ you __use to go__________ on holiday abroad when you were

young?