4th Grammar Practice

Past Simple or Past Continuous

Exercise 1.

1.      I __________ (fall down) while I ___________ (go) down the stairs.

2.      He _________ (drive) very fast when the police _________ (stop) him.

3.      It ___________ (snow) when we ________ (leave) home.

4.      I ___________ (answer) your call because I (work) _____________.

5.      This morning I _____________ (get up) and I ____________ (make) breakfast for everybody.

6.      When I ____________ (see) her, she __________ (wear) a really nice purple dress.

7.      Last Saturday we ____________ (get up) late and we _________ (miss) the train.

8.      I _____________ (stay) hello because you _____________ (work) very fast.

9.      I _____________ (sleep) happily when a loud noise ____________ (wake me up).

10.   What _____________ (do) when I ____________ (call) you last night?

Exercise 2.

When I ________  (arrive) at the station, Raimond __________ (wait) for me. He ___________ (wear) a nice black suit and he __________ (hold) a red rose in his right hand. When I ___________ (get off) the train, he ___________ (run) up to me and ____________ (kiss) me passionately.

It _____________ (rain) heavily so he _____________ (take off) his jacket and ___________ (put) it over my head. I __________ (tell) Raimond to go to a café so that we could talk, but he _____________ (insist) on going to another place.

While he _____________ (drive), I ___________ (throw) a look at him. He ________ (smile), but he also ____________ (look) nervous.

He finally __________ (stop) his car on the top of a hill with fantastic views. It was so wonderful. We ________ (get out) of the car, and he ________ (kneel) in front of me and ________ (take) a ring out of his pocket. “Kathy, will you...” he said. “Listen, Raimond, I want to break up with you,” I interrupted.

Exercise 3.

1. Harry ___________ (scream) when the ghost appeared.

2. Then, I _________ (lock) the door and left.

3. The windows suddenly ___________ (break) while I was watching a horror film.

4. Ian __________ (read) a detective novel when the storm started.

5. Meanwhile, Jessica _____________ (explore) the haunted house.

6. Suddenly, we _________ (hear) a loud crash and the ceiling collapsed.

Exercise 4. Find and correct the mistakes.

1. The children were thinking that the film was too scary.

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2. While I was looking for a horror DVD, I was losing my wallet.

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3.  Miranda watched a documentary when her mother called her.

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4. We looked for treasure when the policeman appeared.

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5. Herbert reached for the phone and was dialing the number.

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6. We tried to rescue the cat when suddenly the tree branch broke.

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