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Past Continuous Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans ESL

If you’re looking for some Past Continuous games, activities, worksheets and lesson plans, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep on reading for the best ideas, along with past simple vs past continuous teaching tips.

What is the Past Continuous?

The past continuous is used to describe actions or events which began in the past and were still happening when something else occurred. It’s often used for background information in a story in the past tense. English teachers and ESL textbooks often teach the past continuous and the simple past together.

Here are some examples of the past continuous:

• I was driving to the beach but then I saw some huge storm clouds so I turned around.
• They were waiting for the bus when they saw the big car accident.
• When he came over, I was taking a shower and didn’t hear the doorbell.

ESL Past Continuous Games and Activities

Let’s get into the best past continuous exercises to consider doing with your students.

#1: What’s Everyone Doing?

This activity sounds complicated but it’s actually quite simple once you get going! Make up a bunch of action cards (sleep, eat ice cream, drink, jump, jogging, doing yoga, etc.). Divide the class into two teams.

One student from each team goes outside. Another student gets a card and has to start doing the action. The person outside the class from team #1 comes into the class. His team has to make a correct sentence:

• Tony was doing yoga when Tim came into the classroom.

Repeat the process with the second team:

• Jenny was eating ice cream when Jerry came inside.

Each team gets a point for a grammatically correct sentence. It’s possible to increase the difficulty by requiring the person coming into the classroom to do a specific action as well (run, skip). For example:

• Tony was doing yoga when Tim ran into the classroom.
• Jenny was eating ice cream when Jerry skipped into the class.

#2: What can you Remember?

Find a picture that shows some action with people getting interrupted. Assign names to each person in the picture. A park is a good example. Students have to study the picture for two minutes, and then hide the picture. It’s basically a memory activity.

In teams, students have to make as many factually true and grammatically correct sentences as they can using the target grammar. For example:

• Kim was jogging when she got tripped by a dog.
• Terry was eating ice cream when the ice cream fell off the cone.
• The kids were hiding when their Mom found them.

#3: Past Continuous Board Game

It’s easier than you might think to make your own board games for just about any topic or grammatical concept, including this one. Have a look at this video to find out all the details that you need to know:

#4: What were you Doing?

This is a simple activity that can be done in small groups of 3. The first student chooses a time in the past (7:30 last night). The next student makes a true statement about what they were doing (At 7:30, I was watching TV). The next student takes that information and makes a sentence using the past continuous, adding information of their own (While Tim was watching TV, I was eating dinner).

Continue until all students have a chance to do all roles and then repeat once more.

#5: Running Dictation

This is one of my favourite ESL games and works really well for this unit. Find, or write a short story that contains lots of examples of the past continuous and simple past.

Students have to work together to dictate the story, sentence by sentence. After that, they have to put the story in the correct order. The first team to do this correctly wins. Check it out:

ESOL Running Dictation Game .

#6: Error Correction Relay Race

This is a nice activity for students to practice the simple past and past continuous.

#7: Basketball Game Challenge

This is a fun game that’s ideal for playing if you have a large classroom or access to something like a gymnasium. Make teams of three for the students to play in. Instead of having to make a sentence related to a flashcard, do this:

• The teacher says a time in the past (3:30 pm yesterday)
• Student A says what they were doing (coming home from school)
• Student B says what they were doing (going to my dentist appointment)
• The third student makes a sentence (Tim was coming home from school while Tony was going to his dentist appointment).

Try it out:

ESL Basketball Game .

#8: Teaching Ideas for the Past Tenses

#9: Concentration Memory Game

Make, or find a bunch of cards that show action. For example:

• ride a bike
• cook dinner
• starts to rain

In small groups, students have to place the cards face down in an organized fashion. The first student has to take two cards and then try to make a past continuous sentence. If correct, they can keep the cards and get one point. For example (ride bike/fall):

• I was riding my bike when I fell off.

Some don’t make sentences (ride bike, cook dinner) that make sense and the student can return the two cards to their original place and the next student goes. The teacher can act as a referee. Find out more:

ESL Concentration Game .

#10: Dialogue Substitution

Try out this activity as an introduction to the past simple vs past continuous.

Maybe your students are kind of like mine? Whenever I ask them to read a dialogue from the textbook, they read it but don’t pay close attention to what they’re reading. Of course, it’s totally my own fault! I haven’t given them a reason to pay attention.

To turn this into an activity more focused on meaning, I remove some of the key words or grammatical features. In this case, things related to the past continuous or simple past.

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Bolen, Jackie (Author)
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• 137 Pages - 09/27/2020 (Publication Date)

#11: Convince Me

This is a simple card game best played in groups of 4. Make up a deck of cards filled with simple daily actions such as

• brush teeth
• eat breakfast
• check cellphone
• talk on phone

The first student has to choose another student and ask a question related to time. I generally make a rule that you can’t ask questions for between 11 pm and 7 am because almost everyone is sleeping during that time.

• What were you doing at 6 pm?

The student has to choose a card and make a sentence:

• At 6 pm, I was exercising.

The three students vote on whether or not it sounds likely. If yes, the person that made that sentence gets the card and a point. If not, the person that asks the questions gets the cards and a point. Some sentences won’t make sense such as:

• At 7 pm, I was eating breakfast.

#12: Past Continuous Charades

Charades is a fun game that requires pairs of students to act out things that the rest of their team can guess. For example:

• I was eating pizza when someone grabbed it.
• I was sleeping when someone woke me up.

#13: Information Gap Activities and the Past Continuous Tense

I love to use information gap or jigsaw activities for units like this. Find out what they are and how to use them with your students in the Let’s Talk TEFL podcast:

#14: Picture Prompt

It’s often the case that students already know a fair bit about a given vocabulary set or grammatical point unless they are absolute beginners. If you suspect that this might be the case, then picture prompt is a nice warmer activity that helps students activate their prior knowledge.

Show a picture with lots of action and elicit the students what they see.

• What’s happening?
• The man is jogging.
• Tripping him with the leash.
• Oh…the man is jogging when his dog tripped him with his leash.

#15: Dictogloss

This is a challenging listening activity that’s ideal for higher-level students. Find, or write a story in the past tense using lots of examples of the target grammar.

Put students into pairs and then read it out at a faster than normal pace. Students have to take notes and with their partner, attempt to recreate what they heard. Repeat the process and then students can compare what they have with the original story. Have a look:

ESL Dictogloss .

#16: Sentence Building Activities

Time spent working on sentence structure in a TEFL class is never wasted time! Sentences are the foundation of any language and the past continuous can certainly be a little bit tricky. For some of the best ideas, have a look here:

ESL Sentence Building Activity Ideas .

#17: Vocabulary Auction

This activity does require a bit of preparation but I find that it’s totally worth it to do it at least once during the semester. This is particularly true if I can recycle the activity from class to class.

Write a bunch of sentences using the past continuous and then cut out each word. In groups, students have to bid on words that they think will help them make past continuous sentences. After that, students make their sentences and can trade with other groups if necessary.

#18: Hot Potato Past Continuous TEFL Game

#19: Puzzle Finder

This is a nice activity for beginners who are learning this for the first time. Make some sentences and put the first action and the second action on separate puzzle pieces. Students have to circulate around the class, trying to find their match. After that, spend some time helping students make grammatically correct sentences with the puzzle pieces.

#20: Time Travel Interview

Divide the class into pairs, with one student as a reporter and the other as a famous historical figure. The reporter interviews the historical figure, asking questions about what they were doing at specific points in the past. The historical figure responds using the past continuous tense to describe their activities. Students can take turns playing different roles.

#21: Who Am I? – Past Continuous Edition

Write the names of various people (e.g., professions, characters from books or movies) on individual sticky notes or index cards. Stick one note on each student’s forehead without showing them the name. Students walk around the classroom asking yes/no questions about what they were doing in the past. For example, “Was I dancing at a party?” or “Was I studying in a library?” The students try to guess their identity and the corresponding past continuous action.

#22: Past Continuous Bingo

Create bingo cards with past continuous sentences in each square, using different verbs and subjects. The teacher reads out sentences in random order. Students listen and mark the corresponding square if they have the sentence on their card. The first student to get a line or complete the entire bingo card shouts “Bingo!” and wins.

Past Simple vs Past Continuous Games and Activities

Check out some of these past simple and past continuous activities.

Give each student a sentence strip with either a past continuous or past simple sentence on it. Have them come up one by one and place their sentence in the correct order to create a story. This can be a fun way to practice both tenses in context.

Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a set of cards with sentences written in either the past continuous or past simple tense. One student from each team must race to the board and correctly categorize the sentence under the correct tense. The team with the most correctly categorized sentences wins.

Create a dice with different subjects (e.g., I, you, he/she/it, we, they). Create another dice with different verbs. Students roll both dice and create a sentence using the subject and verb shown, using either the past continuous or past simple tense as indicated by the teacher.

Sentence Mix-up

Write sentences on separate cards, mixing up the order of the words. Some sentences should be in the past continuous tense and others in the past simple tense. Students must unscramble the sentences and then categorize them based on the tense used.

These games can make learning about past continuous and past simple tenses more engaging and enjoyable for ESL learners.

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous Explanation

The past simple and past continuous are both used to talk about actions or events that happened in the past, but they are used in slightly different ways.

Past Simple:

• Used for completed actions in the past.
• Often used for actions that happened at a specific time.
• Formed with the base form of the verb + -ed for regular verbs (e.g., walked, talked) or with the irregular verb form (e.g., ate, went).

Example: “I visited my friend yesterday.”

Past Continuous:

• Used for actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past or for actions that were happening over a period of time.
• Often used to set the scene or describe background actions in a story.
• Formed with was/were + the base form of the verb + -ing (e.g., was walking, were talking).

Example: “I was studying when the phone rang.”

In summary, the past simple is used for completed actions in the past, while the past continuous is used for actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past or for background actions.

FAQs about Teaching the Past Continuous Tense

There are a number of common questions that people have about teaching this concept. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

How can I teach the past continuous tense effectively?

Effective teaching strategies for the past continuous tense include providing clear explanations, offering plenty of examples, engaging students in speaking and writing activities, and providing opportunities for practice and reinforcement.

What are some activities to practice the past continuous tense?

Activities like storytelling, role plays, picture descriptions, and completing sentences or dialogues using the past continuous tense can help students practice and reinforce their understanding of this tense.

What are some common mistakes learners make when using the past continuous tense?

Some common mistakes include overusing the past continuous tense, using it in inappropriate situations, and not using the correct form of the verb “to be” in the past tense.

How can I help students differentiate between the past continuous and simple past tenses?

Provide clear explanations and examples that highlight the differences between the two tenses. Engage students in activities where they can compare and contrast the usage of the past continuous and simple past tenses.

Past Continuous Worksheets

I love to use some worksheets in my classes or to assign them for homework. The good news is that other people have done the hard work. Here are some of my favourites:

ISL Collective

English Worksheets

Past Continuous ESL Lesson Plans

If you’re a teacher, then you already know how much time it can save to use lesson plans that other teachers have already created. Here are some of the top picks, including ones for past simple vs past continuous:

Lingua House (simple past vs. past continuous)

TEFL Handbook

Online Practice for the Past Continuous

If students want some extra practice with this verb tense, here are a few online resources that I like to recommend:

Perfect English Grammar

English Club

Did you like these ESL Past Continuous Games and Activities?

• 87 Pages - 10/24/2019 (Publication Date)

Yes? Then you’re going to love this book on Amazon: 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Grammar Activities and Games. The key to better TEFL classes is a variety of engaging, student-centred activities and this book will help you get there in style.

You can find the book in a variety of formats. Consider keeping a copy on the bookshelf in your office to use as a handy reference guide. Or, taking the digital version with you to your favourite coffee shop for some lesson planning on the go. Or, listen to the audio version on your way to work for a dose of inspiration.

Whatever the case, get ready to level up your English teaching game! Have a look here:

Have your Say about teaching the Past Continuous

Do you have any tips or tricks for teaching past continuous? A game or activity that you’d like to share with us? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also, be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy teachers find this useful resource.

Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 60 books for English teachers and English learners, including Business English Vocabulary Builder and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook Pinterest TikTok LinkedIn Instagram

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Past Continuous ESL Games, Activities, and Lesson Plan Ideas

If you’re looking for some of the best past continuous games and activities for ESL (also known as the past progressive), then you’re in the right place. Keep on reading for the activities, along with worksheets and lesson plans.

Here are some of the best past continuous games that you’ll want to check out. Or, keep reading for more than 20 options!

Past Continuous Games for ESL

Try out some of these past progressive games and activities.

#1: Last Night

Put students into groups of 3. Then:

• Student A says a time last night (8:00).
• Student B says what they were doing (watching TV).
• Student C makes a statement, including their information (While Jen was watching TV, I was working out).

#2: Past Progressive Board Game

It’s easy to make your own board game on just about any topic or grammatical point, including the past progressive. Check out the details here:

Board Games ESL .

#3: What do you remember?

Find a picture where people are doing something but get interrupted by something else. Give a name to each person in the picture. Students can study the picture for 1-2 minutes, and then take it away.

In teams, students have to come up with as many factually true, and grammatically correct past progressive statements as they can. For example:

• Jen was running when she got tripped by a dog.
• Bob was eating ice cream when it fell off the cone.
• The kids were hiding behind the tree when their mom found them.

Past continuous ESL games

#4: Running Dictation

This is one of my favourite 4-skills ESL activities that works well with the past continuous. Find, or write a conversation between two people with numerous instances of the target grammar. Then, students have to work together to put the conversation together by moving around the classroom and dictating it. Find out more about this activity here:

How to do Running Dictation.

#5: What are people doing?

This activity is quite simple, but fun. Make some action cards (sleep, eat pizza, drink, jump, drink beer, do yoga, etc.). Divide the class into two teams.

One student from each team goes outside. Another student gets a card and starts doing the action. The person outside the class comes into the class. His or her team has to make a correct sentence:

• Tony was drinking beer when Tim came into the classroom.

Repeat the process with the next team.

• Jenny was doing yoga when Jerry came inside.

Each team gets a point for a grammatically correct sentence. It’s possible to increase the difficulty by requiring the person coming into the classroom to do a specific action. For example:

• Tory was doing yoga when Ted ran into the classroom.
• Jen was eating ice cream when Ken skipped into the class.

#6: Charades

I’m sure you’ve done this game before! In this case, write down some sentences with the target grammar and students have to act it out for their teammates. Check it out:

Charades for English Learners.

• Bolen, Jackie (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 88 Pages - 09/28/2020 (Publication Date) - Independently published...

#7: Got to Hand It to You

If you want to focus on forms in a fun and interesting way, try out this error correction relay race. It takes something old (error) correction and makes it new by turning it into a friendly competition. Check it out:

Got to Hand It to You .

#8: Picture Prompt

Try out this simple activity for a warmer. Show students a picture with lots of things happening, including people getting interrupted. Then, elicit some responses from students about what they see. Reformulate the sentences using the past continuous. Find out all the details here:

Picture Prompt ESL .

#9: Sentence Building Activities

Time spent helping students build better sentences will never be wasted time. Check out some of my favourite activities for this:

#10: ESL Hot Potato Game

If you want to have some fun in the classroom, try out the hot potato game! Students pass around an object and when the music stops, the person holding the object has to do something. In this case, make a past continuous sentence. Show students two flaschards, or say two actions. Check it out:

ESL Hot Potato Game.

#11: Past Continuous Video Clips

Search on YouTube for “past continuous video clip” and you’ll see lots of options from TV shows and movies. Show students some of them and elicit from them what they heard and saw. This is a nice review activity to round off the lesson or for a warmer. In this latter, you’ll have to reformulate the sentences into the past continuous. If done for review, students should be able to come up with the sentences themselves.

#12: Pictionary

A nice option to review this grammar concept is to play Pictionary. Write down a bunch of sentences that use the past continuous and then students have to draw them, while their teammates guess what they are.

#13: Dictogloss

This is one of my favourite listening activities for higher-level students. It’s challenging, has an element of competition to it and students really enjoy it. Find out more here:

ESL Dictogloss Activity .

#14: Storytelling

Have students work in pairs or small groups to create and tell stories using the past continuous. Encourage them to include details about actions that were happening at specific times in the past.

#15: Picture Sequence

Provide students with a series of pictures showing different actions. They must describe the actions in each picture using the past continuous tense.

#16: Baskeball Game Challenge

I use this game to teach just about anything to kids, including this concept! Find out everything you need to know here:

ESL Basketball Game.

#17: Time Capsule

Ask students to imagine they are creating a time capsule of their lives. They write or talk about what they were doing at different times in the past and why those moments were important.

#18: Role Playing

Set up scenarios where students have to use the past continuous to describe what they were doing. For example, a doctor describing a patient’s symptoms, or a detective recounting their actions during an investigation.

#19: Dialogue Substitution

#20: Sentence Mix-Up

Write sentences on separate cards, mixing up the order of the words. Some sentences should be in the past continuous tense and others in the past simple tense. Students must unscramble the sentences and then categorize them based on the tense used.

These games can make learning about past continuous and past simple tenses more engaging and enjoyable for ESL learners.

When Can I Use the Past Continuous?

The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in the past. Here are some examples:

• What were you doing at 9 p.m. last night? I was getting ready for bed. This means that I started getting ready before 9 pm and I continued after 9 pm.
• What were you doing this morning at 10? I was playing soccer. This means that you started playing soccer before 10, and continued to play after that time.

Teaching the Past Progressive FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about the past progressive tense. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

 What is the past continuous tense used for?

It is used to describe actions that were in progress at a specific point in the past.

How is the past continuous formed?

It is formed with the past tense of “to be” (was/were) + the present participle (-ing form) of the main verb.

Can you give an example of a sentence in the past continuous?

Sure! “I was studying when she called me.”

When do we use the past continuous instead of the simple past?

We use the past continuous for actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past, or for actions that were happening around a particular time in the past.

How can we practice the past continuous tense?

We can practice by creating sentences about what people were doing at a specific time in the past or by describing past events in more detail using the past continuous.

Teaching English Grammar

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• 87 Pages - 10/24/2019 (Publication Date)

If you want to teach English grammar like a boss, then you’re going to want to get a copy of this book: 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Grammar Activities and Games . The key to better TEFL classes is a wide variety of activities and this book will help you get there in style.

You’ll have a ton of fun activities and games that are ideal for a range of grammar concepts, including the past progressive. Pick up a copy today, and get ready for better English classes tomorrow:

Past Continuous ESL Worksheets

Why make your own worksheets when there are a ton of great resources already? Here are some nice choices:

ISL Collective

English Worksheets

Live Worksheets

Past Continuous Lesson Plans for ESL

It can save a ton of time to use a lesson plan that another teacher has created. Here are some of my top options:

TEFL Handbook

Premier Skills English

Online Practice for Past Continuous

I love to recommend these resources to my students for some extra practice with this grammar concept:

Perfect English Grammar

English Club

Past continuous ESL activities

Join the Conversation

Do you have any games or activities that you’d us to add to the list? Leave a comment and let us know! We’d love to hear from you.

Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook TikTok Pinterest Instagram

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How To Teach The Past Continuous | Step By Step

Once students have a good understanding of the past simple tense and the present continuous tense , teaching the past continuous tense is relatively easy. Once your students understand this grammatical concept, they will be able to accurately convey their experiences and construct detailed narratives about things that were ongoing at a specific point in the past. In this guide, we will show you step-by-step how to teach the past continuous tense using clear explanations, relatable examples, and lots of opportunities to practice. First, let’s take a look at exactly what the past continuous tense is and how to form it.

What Is The Past Continuous Tense?

The past continuous tense, also known as the past progressive tense, is a verb tense used to express actions or situations that were ongoing, continuous, or in progress at a specific point in the past. For example,

• She was reading a book when I called her.
• They were playing soccer in the rain.

In these examples, the actions ( reading a book , playing soccer ) were in progress at a specific moment in the past when another event occurred ( when I called her , in the rain ).

How To Form The Past Continuous

To form the past continuous tense, the auxiliary verb “to be” should be in its past form (was/were), followed by the present participle of the main verb (the -ing form). The structure for the past continuous tense is:

Subject + was/were + verb(-ing)

• He was playing soccer.
• They were watching a movie.

How To Form Past Continuous Negative Sentences

To make negative statements in the past continuous tense, simply add “not” after the auxiliary verb:

Subject + was/were + not + verb(-ing)

• She was not studying for the exam.
• We were not attending the conference.

Past Continuous Usages

The past continuous tense has several usages, which include:

• Describing an ongoing action in the past: The past continuous is used to indicate that an action was in progress at a specific time or during a period in the past. Example: At 6 pm yesterday, she was cooking dinner.
• Indicating two simultaneous past actions: When two actions were happening at the same time in the past, the past continuous can be used for both actions. Example: While I was doing my homework, my sister was watching TV.
• Interrupted past actions: The past continuous is used to describe an action that was in progress when it was interrupted by another action or event, which is usually expressed in the simple past tense. Example: I was taking a shower when the phone rang.
• Describing the background or setting of a past event: The past continuous can be used to provide context or background information for a story or event that took place in the past. Example: The sun was shining, and the birds were singing as they walked through the park.
• Showing a repeated or habitual action in the past (often with ‘always’, ‘constantly’, or ‘continuously’): The past continuous can emphasize a repeated or habitual action in the past, often to express annoyance or criticism. Example: He was always complaining about his job.

These are some of the main usages of the past continuous tense. Remember, the important point to convey to students is that the past continuous is used to talk about actions or situations that were ongoing or in progress at a specific time in the past.

How To Teach The Past Continuous: Step By Step

Step 1: introduce the tense.

The first step to teaching the past continuous tense is to introduce what it is and when to use it. Tell students that the past continuous tense is used to describe an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. Be sure to provide some examples to illustrate what you mean. Here are some examples you can use:

• Yesterday at 8 am, Tom was brushing his teeth.
• They were eating breakfast when the phone rang.
• S he was walking the dog when it started to rain.

Step 2: Explain the Structure

Once students have a basic understanding of what the past continuous is, the next step is to show students how to form the past continuous tense. Explain that the past continuous tense is formed with the past form of the verb “to be” (was/were) followed by the main verb in the “-ing” form. Write the following structure on the board to help them understand:

Step 3: Practice Making Sentences

Next, it’s time for students to try and make their own past continuous sentences. Have students change some present tense sentences into the past continuous tense.

You can find ready-made exercises and example sentences that you can use for this step in our Easy Guide To English Tenses .

Step 4: Introduce Time References

Once students understand how to form the past continuous, teach phrases like “while,” “when,” and “as” so that students can make more complex past continuous sentences that incorporate time references. Show students many examples so they can see how to use these time references correctly. Here are some examples you can use:

• She was reading a book while waiting for the bus.
• They were playing video games when their friends arrived.
• He was listening to music while working on his project.
• She was cooking dinner when the doorbell rang.
• They were watching a movie while enjoying some popcorn.

Step 5: Speaking and Listening Practice

The next step is to have students practice more with speaking and listening activities. Here are 6 activity ideas for teaching the past continuous tense:

• Storytelling: Have students create and share short stories that incorporate past continuous sentences. They can focus on describing background scenes, interrupted actions, or simultaneous past events.
• “What Were You Doing?” Game: In pairs or small groups, students can take turns asking each other, “ What were you doing at [specific time] yesterday/last week/last month? ” The other students should respond using past continuous sentences.
• Mime And Guess: One student acts out an action while the other students try to guess what the person was doing in the past continuous tense. For example, if a student pretends to play guitar, others can say, “ You were playing the guitar. “
• Two Actions, One Story: Divide students into pairs or small groups. Give each group two action cards (e.g., “ cooking dinner ” and “ talking on the phone “). Students must create a sentence or short story using both actions in the past continuous tense.
• Picture Description: Show a picture depicting a scene with multiple ongoing actions. Students take turns describing the scene using past continuous sentences. For example, if the picture shows a busy park, students can say, “ People were playing soccer, and children were laughing on the playground. “
• Interrupted Actions Roleplay: In pairs, students can create short roleplay scenarios where one student is engaged in an ongoing action, and the other student interrupts the action with a simple past event. They should use past continuous sentences to describe the ongoing action.

Common Mistakes Students Make With The Past Continuous Tense

English language learners often make a few common mistakes when learning the past continuous tense. Some of these mistakes include:

• Incorrect auxiliary verb usage: Learners might use the incorrect form of the auxiliary verb “to be” (was/were) for the subject or use another auxiliary verb instead (e.g., “did” or “had”). Example mistake: I were studying. (Correct: I was studying. )
• Forgetting the -ing form: Students may forget to use the present participle (-ing form) of the main verb. Example mistake: She was read. (Correct: She was reading.)
• Misusing “when” and “while”: Learners might mix up or misuse the conjunctions “when” and “while” when describing interrupted actions or simultaneous actions in the past. Example mistake: He was eating breakfast when watching TV. (Correct: He was eating breakfast while watching TV. )
• Overusing the past continuous: Students may use the past continuous tense when the simple past tense would be more appropriate, especially for completed actions or single events in the past. Example mistake: I was going to the store. (Correct: I went to the store. )
• Confusing the past continuous with the present continuous: Learners might mix up the past continuous tense with the present continuous tense due to the similarity in their structure. Example mistake: * She is studying when I called. (Correct: She was studying when I called. )

Related Resources

Thanks for reading! I hope you found this guide to teaching the past continuous tense useful. Before you go, here are some related resources you might also like: Past Continuous Exercises Past Continuous Negative Exercises Past Continuous Worksheets

2.4.1 Past Progressive: Interrupted Action Lesson Plan

In the BrainPOP ELL movie, Strange Weather (L2U4L1) , something very strange is going on with the weather. One moment it’s warm and sunny, and the next there’s a blizzard. In this lesson plan, adaptable for grades K-8, students use listening and picture prompts to describe events in the past progressive, use the past progressive with an interrupted action, and find the correct sequence of a storyboard.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:.

• Describe an image using the past progressive.
• Identify the difference between the past simple and the past progressive.
• Ask and answer questions in the past progressive using listening prompts.
• Match sentence parts in a storyboard and put the sentences in order.
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• At the Park Action Image
• Suddenly It Started Storyboard Activity

Preparation:

Lesson procedure:.

• What was Happening in the Park? Tell the class that you went to the park at 11 o'clock yesterday morning, and there were a lot of people there doing different activities. Project the At the Park Action Image , and ask the class to describe what was happening in the park when you arrived. They should answer using the past progressive. For example: Ben was working on the computer. A baby was crying. A boy was swimming.
• Sequence or Interruption? Elicit the difference between the following sentences: a. I put on my shoes and then it started to rain. b. While I was putting on my shoes, it started to rain. Point out that the time expressions while, as , and when are often used with the past progressive. Ask students to finish the sentences you start. Suggested prompts: a. When I went out, the wind was… b. The phone suddenly rang while I was… c. It started to rain while we were... d. Something strange happened while we were… e. My mom came home as I was…
• Ask and Answer. For this activity, use the first seven sentences of the Hear It, Say It feature. Working in pairs, have students listen to the prompts and then ask and answer questions. For example: Question: What happened while he was getting ready? Answer: It suddenly started to rain. To differentiate, have students write the sentences, as in a dictation. When they have finished, ask them: Which sentence in the past doesn’t have an interrupted action? (#6) Add an interrupted action to that sentence. Which sentence in the past is different from the others and how?(#2 is inverted, and doesn't need a comma.)
• Storyboard . Distribute copies of the Suddenly It Started Storyboard to each pair of students. Instruct them to cut out the six images, with the captions attached, and lay them out on the desk in random order. There are three pairs of cards that make up three sentences from the movie. There are several variations to differentiate this activity: 1) Students can watch the movie to find the sentences and the correct order, and retell the story. They will have to watch very closely to recognize the images and captions. 2) They can guess the sentence matches and the order, and watch the movie to confirm their answers, and retell the story. 3) You can separate the captions for the students to match them to the pictures. 4) Have the students write their own captions. 5) Students can make up their own stories, draw the storyboards, and write captions using the past progressive and past simple.

BrainPOP ELL Movies Looking for Lucky (L2U4L2) We Might Babysit (L2U4L5) Butterfly Life Cycle (L2U6L2)

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Homework: Past Continuous

Pre-intermediate

Just as students heave a sigh of relief for having finally mastered the past simple, along comes the Past Continuous! And with a different auxiliary verb and structure, it can be a tough tense to get the hang of. It is nevertheless essential for recounting past events, so it’s vital that they get it right. This helpful homework sheet helps students practise the Past Continuous in a number of different ways.

After downloading your PDF: print it immediately or save and print later. Answers are provided for teachers on the second page.

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• A Past Continuous Activity

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• past tense of verb ‘to be’ + verb + ing
• used to describe an action taking place at a certain time in the past
• I was watching TV when the phone rang.
• Yesterday at 3 o’clock I was doing my homework.

The past continuous is a grammar structure usually taught at the pre-intermediate level. Though it is a relatively simple structure to form, students need practise using it in order to make it more natural. This is a fun activity which can be used to do exactly that.

Activity : Alibi

Preparation : Write activities on slips of paper, one for each student. A few papers must have guilty written on them .

Procedure : Tell the students that a crime has been committed – make up a crime with reference to the class to make it more realistic eg the library was burned down; Mrs Turner’s cat was stolen. A few people in the class are guilty, responsible for committing the crime.

Put the students into groups.

Hand out the slips of paper. Tell the students their paper will either tell them their alibi or if they are guilty. One group must all be given the guilty papers.

Tell the students they are about to be questioned by the police so they need to make sure their alibis are flawless. Give them a few minutes to think of details they can add to their alibis and to discuss their stories within their groups. This gives the guilty group some time to come up with their own alibi.

Taking turns, each group is interviewed by the police (ie the rest of the class). So while one member of the group is interviewed, the other members of the group are kept outside. The police must take turns asking questions to try to figure out if their alibi is real.

For example: Where were you at 4 o’clock yesterday? What were you doing?

They must try to use the information from other members to try to outsmart the other group members.

For example: Kim says you went to the cinema with her yesterday. What was she wearing?

Once all the groups have been questioned, the police must decide who they think is the guilty group and the offenders must own up to the crime.

Students love the idea of trying to trick their fellow classmates so they really seem to enjoy this game. It can also be altered into a class mingle rather than a whole class activity.

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How to Effectively Teach the Past Continuous to EFL and ESL Students

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The main concept to relay when teaching the past continuous is the idea that the past continuous expresses an interrupted action. In other words, the past continuous speaks about what was going on when something important happened. The past continuous can be used by itself to express what happened at a precise moment in the past. However, the most common use is together with the past simple  ​(when something happened) .

You might want to consider teaching the past simple together with the past continuous for intermediate level classes, as the past simple will be review for students.

Introduction

Start by speaking about what was interrupted. Describe an important past event and then fill in the details as a painter would fill in background details by using the past continuous form. This immediately illustrates the idea that the past continuous is used to set the context of what was happening at that moment in time.

I'd like to tell you about the day I met my wife. I was walking through the park, the birds were singing and it was raining just a little bit when I saw her! She was sitting on the bench and reading a book at that moment. I'll never be the same.

This example is exaggerated for a reason. It boldly conveys the point. Continue introducing the past continuous by asking students simple questions in the past simple about events. Follow up these questions with a question asking what was happening when the event occurred.

• When did you leave home this morning - At nine o'clock.
• What was your sister doing when you left home?
• Where did you meet your girlfriend? - At school.
• What were you doing when you met her?

The next step in teaching the past continuous is to include simultaneous actions using "while." Explain that "while" is used when two actions happen at the same time in the past. It's a good idea to point out the difference between "while" and "during," to help avoid confusion.

Explaining the Past Continuous on the Board

Use a past continuous timeline to illustrate interrupted action. Contrasting this timeline with the past continuous for something happening at a specific point in the past may help illustrate the difference between the two uses. Make sure that students understand the use of time clauses with "when" and "while" to help them use the past continuous in context.

Comprehension Activities

Comprehension activities such as using photos in magazines will help with the past continuous. In this case, make it clear to students that they are to describe the event in the past. You can model this by using a photo in a magazine to describe such an event. Dialogues beginning with "What were you doing?" will help students practice. A creative writing exercise on the past continuous will also help students build their ability to integrate the past continuous into more advanced structures.

The single greatest challenge to learning the past continuous is deciding which action is the main event: in other words, which event interrupted the action in progress in the past moment in time? Other challenges can include the use of the past continuous to express an activity that happened over a period of time. It's crucial for students to understand that the past continuous describes a particular moment in time, and not a completed event.

Here are examples of this type of issue:

• I was studying science yesterday.
• She was cooking dinner last night.

In other words, the past continuous needs the context of another event when stopped the action in progress at the time.

• How to Teach the Present Continuous to ESL Students
• Past Continuous Lesson Plan for ESL Learners
• How to Teach the Past Simple to ESL Students
• How to Teach the Present Perfect
• Past Continuous Worksheets
• English Grammar: Past Auxiliary Verbs
• Guide to Past Simple and Past Continuous
• English Tenses Timeline Reference
• Visual Explanations of Each English Tense
• Guide to Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous for ESL
• How to Teach Present Perfect Continuous to English Learners
• How to Teach the Past Perfect Continuous
• How to Teach the Present Simple
• Grammar Lesson: Tense Review
• Beginning Level Curriculum for ESL Classes
• How to Conjugate Verbs

Past Continuous Activities

1. Past Continuous Accusations

This is not only a classic activity for the Past Continuous, but also an all time classic TEFL game. Students are given a list of strange actions and ask their partners to come up with innocent reasons why they were doing those things, e.g. “When I saw you, you were painting over your windows. Why were you doing that?” “I was turning my whole house into a big flag to celebrate Independence Day”. It is important that they say the “When I saw you…” part each time, to make the use of the Past Continuous realistic.

2. Past Continuous Alibi Game

This is another all time classic TEFL game. Students are divided into suspects and alibis and they have to concoct a story of where they were together at the time of the crime. They are then questioned separately, and too many differences between their stories mean that the suspect is guilty. You can make this more specific to Past Continuous by only allowing the detectives to ask questions about the time of the murder, e.g. “What were you talking about?” and “Where was the waitress standing?”

3. Past Continuous Mimes

Students mime an action and when their partner is sure what it is they shout “Stop!” They then guess the action with the sentence “When I shouted stop, you were + ing…”, e.g. “When I shouted stop, you were polishing your fingernails on your shirt to show how proud you are”. It is important to use the “When I shouted stop” part of the sentence each time to make this the right tense, as otherwise “You polished your fingernails…” is more natural.

4. Random pelmanism

Students take two cards at random and try to make a sentence including those words or expressions with the Past Simple and Past Continuous. For example, if they pick the words “alligator” and “wallpaper”, they could say “When I was covering my son’s bedroom with teddy bear wallpaper, he suddenly came in and said he wanted alligator patterns instead”.

5. Past Continuous Things in common

Students try to find times when they were doing the exact same thing, e.g. “What were you doing at 7 o’clock this morning?” “I was taking a shower” “So was I!” They can’t use the same action more than once, e.g. only one sentence about sleeping!

6. All kinds of actions

Put a list of actions on the board, e.g. “tapping your fingers” and “yawning”. Ask students to do any of the actions in any order they like and at some point shout “Stop!” The students then test each other on what their classmates were doing at the time the teacher shouted stop with questions like “Who was polishing her fingernails?” and “What was Juan doing?”

7. Past Continuous picture memory

Give students a picture that shows lots of people doing different actions, e.g. a page from Where’s Wally? (=Where’s Waldo?) When they turn over the picture so that they can’t see it, test them on what people were doing with questions like “What was the old lady doing?”, “How many people were smoking?” and “Who was standing next to the counter?” You can make the use of the Past Continuous more natural by using a picture with a clock in or by making it a situation that people might really be asked these questions about, e.g. the moment before a bank robbery.

8. Past Continuous memory challenge

Students try to ask each other “What were you doing when you first/ last…?” questions that their partners can’t remember the answer to, e.g. “What were you doing when you first tasted wine?” or “What were you doing when you last saw a double-decker bus?” You can also make this into a bluff game by asking students who don’t remember to make something up, e.g. “I was cleaning up after my parents’ birthday party” or “I was flying low over London”. Their partners then guess whether the answer is true or not.

9. Past photos

Students pretend that a blank piece of paper is an important photo of theirs and describe it to their partners. As it is just as natural to use the Present Continuous to describe the actual actions in the picture, they should also describe what they were doing when the photo was taken (e.g. having their honeymoon), what people in the photo were doing at that time (e.g. studying at university), what was happening outside the frame of the photo, etc.

10. Continual nagging

Students take turns complaining that they did all the work to prepare for something like a party or presentation, e.g. “While I was making the sandwiches you answered your mobile three or four times” or “While I was cleaning the tables you were staring at pretty women out of the window”. The other person should also say they their action was more useful than it seemed, e.g. “Actually, I was waiting for the delivery van to arrive so that I could bring the paper plates upstairs”, or retaliate with a worse accusation like “While I was typing up the Powerpoint document, you were playing poker on your computer”.

11. Who was doing that?

Students make true sentences about what someone was doing when they saw that person, and the other students guess who it was, e.g. “He was pulling across two lanes of traffic” for a taxi driver or “She was writing something down in a notebook” for a traffic warden.

12. Video task 1 – When the screen went blank

While students are watching a video, the teacher suddenly presses the stop button. Students have to describe what was happening in as much detail as they can, and then check when the teacher presses play.

13. Video task 2 – Detailed viewing

When students have finished watching a short clip, test them on things that were happening in the background, e.g. “What was the window cleaner doing when the hero was taking out his walkie talkie?”

14. Video task 3 – Complicated cutting

Every time a character reappears on the screen, pause the video and test students on what that person was doing last time we saw them.

You may also like:

• Continuous Aspect Activities
• 15 Fun Activities for Present Simple/Present Continuous
• 21 Fun Present Perfect Continuous Activities

21 Comments

Nice ideas. Thanks

It was so helpful thanks

Great ideas,thank you for sharing!!!

thanks so much. These ideas are great!!!!

thank you for sharing these fabulous ideas. kids love to play games while learning and they won’t even notice that they are learning a new grammer.

The ideas are great!!! Thank you very much for this useful information!

Thank you very much for sharing these ideas of teaching. Those are very entertaining way for the students to learn about past continuous tense.

Great ideas. Thanks very much.

I really liked your ideas .. thank you for sharing your ideas . l now have something to teach and the students will Like this .

thank you! great ideas here!

I thought I wasn’t going to find good activities with these tenses (Simple past vs. Past continuous) but I was wrong. I loved the suggestions given in this page. Keep up the good work!!

Awesome! This was exactly what I was looking for! thanks a lot!

This is fabulous! I needed something to wake up my students while doing verb tenses!

Can’t wait to try them out. Thanks so much

This is brilliant! Will do these with my 5th grade student. What I love most is that your activities provide an opportunity to contrast Past Simple and Past Continuous.

Love it. Straight forward, fun activities. So helpful.I got my Richard Scarry’s book out for the actions one.

Thanks a lot, Alex! I particularly liked Things in Common.

Have a great day!

it was so helpful thanks

This is soooooo helpful! I am a teacher in Germany for year 6 and want my students to have fun learning English. Thanks a lot!

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A2 ESL - Interrupted Actions (Past Simple/Past Continuous)

Subject: English language learning

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

10 May 2020

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Lesson Type: Grammar Lesson Aims:

• To introduce and practice the past continuous to describe interrupted actions in the past.

Lesson Objectives:

• Students will understand and know how to form the past continuous (to describe interrupted actions only) in an appropriate context;
• Students will learn to contrast the use of the past continuous and past simple (Action 1 was happening when Action 2 interrupted it);
• Students will make controlled and freer practice of the past continuous and past simple in this function.

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Just a note that in A6 the verb should be 'break' not 'brake'.

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this is amazing thank you

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Well explained - excellent work

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