THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

�Exercise 1�Make the following negative and interrogative.�1) She was standing alone before the fire.�2) They were crossing the street at the wrong place.�3) I was listening to their conversation.�4) They were talking about our party.�5) George was preparing for his examination the whole day.�6) She was playing the piano when you came in.�7) The children were doing their homework at six.�8) Their son was going to be a painter.����

�Exercise 2�Change the following into the Past Continuous.�1) The man is standing near the door.�2) Tom told a story.�3) The children swam in the river.�4) Is Mary wearing a white dress?�5) She went to the cinema.�6) They did not work in the garden.�7) We are not sitting by the window.�8) The workers built a bridge.�9) The girl tried on a dress.�10) The old man spoke in a low voice.��

�Exercise 3�Put questions to the italicized words.�1) The man was reading a magazine when somebody knocked at the door.�2) He was waiting for a bus.�3) The boy was skating.�4) The students were dancing when I opened the door.�5) The girl was eating ice-cream when we came in.�6) She was looking after her little brother.�7) The pupils were discussing a story.�8) The man was passing the theatre when the clock struck ten.�9) It was snowing when we went out.�10) The boy was running very fast.

�Exercise 4�Complete the sentences with when or while.�1) Ron was watching TV … his neighbour rang the doorbell.�2) … Jessica was typing a report, Henry was surfing the Net in search of some information for the History project.�3) Roger was having a cup of coffee … his wife was drying her hair.�4) … the rescue brigade found the injured man, he was lying unconscious on the ground.�5) … Monica was sunbathing, Mick and Tom were playing beach volleyball with some other boys.�6) Mr Stevens was looking through some documents … the light in the office suddenly went out.�7) … I was vacuuming the carpet in the living room, my sister was dusting the furniture in the bedrooms.�8) The travellers were walking through the wood … they heard a loud rumble of thunder.�

�Exercise 5�Paraphrase the following sentences as in the model.�M o d e l: He intended to work there. – He was going to work here.�1) We intended to spend our holidays at a camp.�2) She intended to visit the picture gallery.�3) I intended to call on him on Sunday.�4) His son intended to enter an agricultural college.�5) They intended to congratulate him.�6) The taxi driver intended to buy a new car.�7) We intended to take a taxi.