Past simple or past continuous: what were you doing when it happened? Past simple vs past continuous exercises
About this lesson
This A2 drill lesson gives past simple and past continuous exercises: a long action in progress, a short action that interrupts it, when and while, and actions one after another.
- Grammar
- Was / were + -ing for the background, the past simple for the interruption or the next step, when and while, and know or believe without -ing.
- Topic
- A storm at an Oregon campground: Maya's diary, the ranger's report, Sam's messages, Mom's post and Olivia's texts about your own camping trip.
- Activities
- Long-or-short sorting, gap-fills, choices, drag-and-drop, matching, word order, a while-to-when table, quizzes, an anagram, a memory game and a chat.
What's inside
Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: past simple or past continuousGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the actions: long or short?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose the right formChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: past simple or past continuousFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2Interrupted!
- Fill in the gaps: the long action (was / were + -ing)Fill in the gapsTry it
- Fill in the gaps: the short action (past simple)Fill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the right form: long or short?Choose the optionUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: long and short actionsDrag and dropUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endingsMatchUnlock
- Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the right answer: long or short action?QuizUnlock
Chapter 3While and when
- Fill in the gaps: while + was / were + -ingFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: When + past simple, past continuousFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: from while to whenFill in the tableTry it
- Choose the right form: while and whenChoose the optionUnlock
- Match the questions and the answersMatchUnlock
- Put the words in order to make questionsUnjumbleUnlock
Chapter 4What happened next?
- Sort the sentences: interrupted or one after another?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: one action after anotherFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the right form: what happened next?Choose the optionTry it
- Fill in the gaps: long, short, or one after another?Fill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
- Read Ben's story and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Write the questions: the long action or what came next?Fill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: Storm at the campsite
- Read Maya's camping diaryReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the diary again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read the ranger's report and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Sam's messages and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read Mom's post and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Olivia texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right form: at work and at schoolChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: Kim's busy morningFill in the gapsUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: what happened?UnjumbleUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endings: little accidentsMatchUnlock
- Fill in the table: questions and short answersFill in the tableUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: verb and past simpleMemory gameUnlock
- Write the questions for the answersFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
- Unscramble the past simple formsAnagramUnlock
- Sort the sentences: correct or wrong?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: Nora and the lost puppyFill in the gapsUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: what were they doing?Drag and dropUnlock
- Read the hotel review and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the news story and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Find the mistake in each sentenceQuizUnlock
Grammar: past simple or past continuous: long and short actions
When two past actions meet, the longer one in progress takes the past continuous and the short one takes the past simple: We were sleeping when the storm started. A sequence of short actions stays in the past simple: When the phone rang, I answered it.
Past simple or past continuous: long and short actions
A long action in progress → was / were + -ing. A short action that interrupts it, or comes next → past simple.
Long action + when + short action
The long action is the background and the short one cuts into it: She was driving when she saw a deer. On the timeline, the cooking covers a stretch and the phone call is a single point inside it.
Long action + when + short action
long action: was / were + -ingwhenshort action: past simple
We were sleeping when the storm started.
She was driving when she saw a deer.
They were playing tennis when Ana fell.
On a timeline
- I was cooking (long)
- the phone rang (short)
- now
When or while: the patterns
While goes with the long action: While I was cooking, the phone rang. When + a short action can open the sentence too: When I got home, Mom was cooking means the cooking was already in progress. Short after short means one after another.
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| long action + when + short action | I was cooking when the phone rang. |
| While + long action, short action | While I was cooking, the phone rang. |
| When + short action, long action (already in progress) | When I got home, Mom was cooking. |
| short action, then short action (one after another) | When the phone rang, I answered it. |
| two long actions at the same time (lesson 04) | While I was cooking, Dad was washing the dishes. |
The forms, side by side
The reminder table lines up both tenses: She wasn't reading but She didn't call; Were they reading? but Did they see it? Spelling still counts: sitting, riding, stopped, tried, and irregular fell.
| Form | Past continuous (long) | Past simple (short) |
|---|---|---|
| + | I / he / she / it was reading. · You / we / they were reading. | I called. · She left. · They saw it. |
| − | She wasn't reading. · They weren't reading. | She didn't call. · They didn't see it. |
| ? | Was she reading? · Were they reading? | Did she call? · Did they see it? |
| Short answers | Yes, she was. · No, they weren't. | Yes, she did. · No, they didn't. |
| Spelling | sit → sitting · ride → riding (no e) · swim → swimming | stop → stopped · try → tried · fall → fell |
Which tense? Background or event
Ask what the question wants: What were you doing when I called? – I was taking a shower asks for the background, while What did you do? asks what came next. Suddenly, then and after that signal the past simple.
Which tense?
Past continuous: the long action
- It was in progress. It is the background of the story.
- While + the long action: While I was cooking, …
- What were you doing when …? → I was reading.
Past simple: the short action
- It happened at one moment. It interrupts the long action, or it comes next.
- when + a short action · suddenly · then · after that
- What did you do when …? → I called for help.
Examples
- We were swimming in the lake when it started to rain.long action + short action
- While Dad was fishing, Sam fell into the water.while + the long action
- When we got to the cabin, everybody was sleeping.the long action was already in progress
- When the storm started, we ran to the car.one action after another
- What were you doing when I called? — I was taking a shower.a question about the long action
- I knew his face, but I didn't remember his name.no -ing: know
No -ing, and common mistakes
Know, understand, believe and have meaning own take the past simple even for a long time: I knew the way. Watch for when the doorbell was ringing and a list of steps in the continuous: First we packed the car, not were packing.
Verbs with no -ing
know, understand, believe, have (= own) take the past simple, even for a long time: I knew the way. (Not: I was knowing the way.) She had a red bike. (Not: She was having a red bike.) But have a meal or a shower is an action: We were having dinner when the lights went out.
Common mistakes
Nina was reading when the doorbell was ringing.
Nina was reading when the doorbell rang.
the short action → past simple
While they was playing, the ball broke a window.
While they were playing, the ball broke a window.
I / he / she / it was · you / we / they were
I was knowing the answer.
I knew the answer.
know, understand, believe → no -ing
First we were packing the car, then we were driving to the lake.
First we packed the car, then we drove to the lake.
one action after another → past simple
More lessons on this grammar: Past continuous lessons and exercises · Past simple lessons and exercises
Try the past simple and past continuous exercises
Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.
What's in the lesson
- 40 auto-checked exercises
- 5 games
- 1 real-life document
- 1 grammar scheme
- 1 picture
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- use the past continuous for the long action and the past simple for the short one: I was cooking dinner when I dropped an egg on the floor.
- start with while or when: While Dad was parking the car, Mom bought the tickets. When I arrived at the party, everybody was dancing.
- tell actions one after another in the past simple: When the phone rang, Grandpa picked it up, not was picking
- ask about the background or the next step: What were you doing when the storm started? What did you do when the storm started?
- Grammar:
- past simple vs past continuous · when / while · interrupted actions · What were you doing when…?
- Topic:
- grammar practice · camping · storm · stories
Teaching tips
- Act out the interruption: one student mimes a long action (brushing teeth, reading) and another bursts in with a short one; the class describes it: Ana was reading when Leo dropped a book.
- Draw the timeline on the board: a long wavy line for the past continuous and an X for the past simple, then let students place sentences from Maya's diary on it.
- Retell the storm in a chain: students go around the room adding one sentence each to the family's night, switching between a background (It was raining…) and an event (…when a branch fell).
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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · A2
English Grammar Practice · A2 has 28 drill lessons, one grammar point each: the past simple and continuous, used to, comparatives, going to and will, the present perfect, modals, the zero and first conditionals and questions. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course
- 1Past simple with -ed: moving day!
- 2Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought
- 3Past simple negatives and questions: where did the cake go?
- 4Past continuous: what were you doing at 9 p.m.?
- 5Past simple or past continuous: what were you doing when it happened?
- 6Used to: how things were back then
- 7Comparatives: which one is better?
- 8Superlatives: the best in town
- 9As … as, too, enough: is it the right size?
- 10Adverbs of manner: how did she drive?
- 11Much, many, a few, a little: how much do we need?
- 12Possessive pronouns: whose is it?
- 13Be going to: what's your plan?
- 14Will: what will the future bring?
- 15Present continuous for plans: what are you doing tonight?
- 16Will vs going to: decided before or right now?
- 17Present perfect: have you ever tried it?
- 18Just, already, yet: have you done it yet?
- 19For and since: how long have you known her?
- 20Present perfect or past simple: up to now or finished time?
- 21Must and have to: what are the rules?
- 22Should: what should I do?
- 23Can, could, may: could you help me, please?
- 24Verb + to or -ing: what do you enjoy doing?
- 25Zero conditional: what happens if…?
- 26First conditional: what will you do if it rains?
- 27Articles: a, the or no article?
- 28Subject and object questions: who won the quiz?