The English Instructor

PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS

Practice exercises
Circle the correct answer
1. I ___________________(go) down the street when it begin to rain
A. went B. was going
2. At this time last year, I ___________________an English course (attend)
A. attended B, was attending
3. In 1986 they (build) __________ this house.
A. built B. were building
4. The boy fell and hurt himself while he _________________ a bicycle (ride)
A. rode B. was riding
5. ________ you (go) to the cinema yesterday?
A. Did you go B. Were you going?

6. Mary and I___________________ (just leave) the house when the telephone______ (ring)

A. left/rang B. were leaving/rang

7. My brother and sister ________________ (talk) about something when I

________________ (walk) into the room.

A. talked/walked B. were talking/walked

8. My father ________(watch) TV when I got home.

A. watched B. was watching

9. At this time yesterday, I _________(prepare) for my son's birthday party.

A. prepared B. was preparing

10. What you________ (do) at 8 pm yesterday?

A. did you do B. were you doing

11. Where_______ you __________-(go) when I saw you last weekend?

A. did you go B. were you going

The English Instructor

12. Ten years ago, the government _______________ (decide) to begin a food programme.
At that time, many people in the rural areas _______________ (starve) due to several years
of drought.

A. decided/ was starving B. was deciding/starved

13. Tom went to his friends ‘house, but the boys ___________________ (not be) there. They
(play)_____________soccer in the vacant lot down the street.

A. weren’t/ played B. weren’t/ were playing

14. My father __________ tired when I __________ home.

A. was – got B. is – get C. was – getted D. were – got

15. Where __________ your family __________ on the summer holiday last year?

A. do – go B. does – go C. did – go D. did – went

16. They _________ (wait) for the plane when I spoke to them.

A. waited B. were waiting

17. My sister _______(read) books while my brother______ (play) football yesterday

afternoon.

A. read/played B. was reading/were playing

18. When he_________(work) here, he was always _______(make) noise

A. worked/made B. worked/ was making

19. I (come)_______ last night, (have) ______ lunch and went to bed.

A. came/had B. was coming/ was having

20. While my mother (water)______ the plants in the garden, my father suddenly (come)
______ in.

A. watered/came B. was watering/came

1. Yesterday, I (go)______ to the restaurant with a client.

A. was going B. went C. goed D. gone

2. I (lend) __________ my penknife to someone, but I can't remember who it was now.
The English Instructor

A. was lending B. lent C. lended D. did lend

3. He (break) ___________ the biscuit in half and handed one piece to me

A. was breaking B. broke C. broken

4. When I (come) _________ he (play) _________ in his room

A. come/was playing B. came/was playing C. came/played

5. She (talk)_______to me on the phone and it suddenly went dead.

A. was talking B. talked C. was talked

6. John _________________ (have) a car accident last week. He __________________

(drive) down the street when suddenly a lorry __________________ (hit) his car from
behind.

A.had/was driving/hit B. had/drove/hit C. was having/frove/hit

7. At this time last year, they _______ (build) this house.

A. built B. were building C. builded

8. She (start)_______ working as an accountant 5 years ago

A. was starting B. started C. stort

9. The wind __________________ (blow) very hard when I________________(go) out this
morning.

A. blew/went B. was blowing/ went C. blew/was going

10. I really enjoyed my holiday last January. While it_______________(snow) in Iowa, the
sun ______________ (shine) in Florida.

A. was snowing/was shining B. snowed/shone C. snowed/was shining

11. I ________________ (call) Mr Wilson at 9 last night, but he (not

be)_________________at home. He (study) _______________ at the library.

A. was calling/wasn’t/ was studying

B. called/wasn’t/ was studying

C. called/was not being/was studying

The English Instructor

12. We __________________ in the café when they saw us (sit)

A. was sitting B. sat C. sitted

13. It (be)______-beautiful yesterday when we (go) _______for a walk in the park.

A. was/went B. was being/went C.was/ was going

14. The little boy _______________ (fall) asleep while his mother___________________
(read) him a story.

A. felt/read B. fallen/read C. was falling/was reading

15. I used to (swim)_______ very fast when I was a child.

A. swim B. swam C. swum

Bài tập 1: Chọn đúng thì của các câu sau (quá khứ đơn và quá khứ tiếp diễn):

1. Alice saw/ was seeing the accident when she was catching the bus.

2. What were you doing/ did you do when I called?

3. I didn’t visit/ weren’t visiting my friends last summer holiday.

4. It rained/ was raining heavily last July.

5. While people were talking to each other, he read/ was reading his book.

6. My sister was eating/ ate hamburgers every weekend last month.

7. While we were running/ ran in the park, Mary fell over.

8. Did you find/ Were you finding your keys yesterday?

9. Who was she dancing/ did she dance with at the party last night?

10. They were watching/ watched football on TV at 7 p.m. yesterday.

Bài tập 2: Sửa lỗi sai trong các câu sau (quá khứ đơn và quá khứ tiếp diễn):

1. I was play football when she called me.

2. Was you study Math at 5 p.m. yesterday?

3. What was she do while her mother was making lunch?

4. Where did you went last Sunday?

The English Instructor

5. They weren’t sleep during the meeting last Monday.

6. He got up early and have breakfast with his family yesterday morning.

7. She didn’t broke the flower vase. Tom did.

8. Last week my friend and I go to the beach on the bus.

9. While I am listening to music, I heard the doorbell.

10. Peter turn on the TV, but there was nothing interesting.

Bài tập 3: Hoàn thành các câu sau sử dụng thì quá khứ đơn và quá khứ tiếp diễn:

1. Where/ you/ go?

2. Who/ you/ go with?

3. How/ you/ get/ there?

4. What/ you/ do/ during the day?

5. you/ have/ a/ good/ time?

6. What/ your parents/ do/ while/ you/ go/ on holiday?

Bài tập 4: Chia đúng các động từ sau ở thì quá khứ đơn và quá khứ tiếp diễn:

In my last holiday, I went to Hawaii. When I (go) (1) …………to the beach for the first time,
something wonderful happened. I (swim) (2) …………in the sea while my mother was sleeping
in the sun. My brother was building a sand castle and my father (drink) (3) …………. some
water. Suddenly, I (see) (4) …………a boy on the beach. His eyes were blue like the water in the
sea and his hair (be) (5) …………beautiful black. He was very tall and thin and his face was
brown. My heart (beat) (6) …………fast. I (ask) (7) …………him for his name with a shy voice.
He (tell) (8) …………me that his name was John. He (stay) (9) …………with me the whole
afternoon. In the evening, we met again. We ate pizza in a restaurant. The following days we
(have) (10) …………a lot of fun together. At the end of my holiday when I left Hawaii I said
goodbye to John. We had tears in our eyes. He wrote me a letter very soon and I answered him.