Past Simple Or Past Progressive?

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| By Sarah Suzanne
Sarah Suzanne, English Language
Sarah is a lecturer in English language at the University of Bologna, specializing in ELT course design. She is also a freelance translator.
Quizzes Created: 5 | Total Attempts: 12,811
| Attempts: 927 | Questions: 10
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1. While I ____________________ to work a dog ran across the road.

Explanation

The correct answer is "was driving." This is because the sentence is in the past continuous tense, indicating an ongoing action in the past. The verb "drive" needs to be conjugated in the past continuous form, which is "was driving."

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About This Quiz
Past Tenses Quizzes & Trivia

This quiz assesses understanding of the past simple and past progressive tenses through practical sentence completion exercises. It helps learners distinguish between actions completed at a specific time... see moreand ongoing actions in the past, enhancing their grammatical precision and fluency in English. see less

2. I saw that during the exam the students __________________ .

Explanation

During the exam, the students were copying. This is the correct answer because the verb "saw" is in the past tense, indicating that the action of seeing occurred in the past. Additionally, the word "students" is plural, so the verb should also be in the plural form "were copying" to agree with the subject.

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3. She ______________ to talk to a friend.

Explanation

The correct answer is "stopped" because it is the past tense form of the verb "stop." In the given sentence, the action of talking to a friend has already been completed in the past. Therefore, "stopped" is the appropriate verb form to indicate this.

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4. What ________________ at six o'clock this morning?

Explanation

The correct answer is "were you doing". This is the correct answer because the question is asking about an action that was happening in the past at a specific time (six o'clock this morning). The phrase "were you doing" is the correct past continuous tense form of the verb "do" to use in this context.

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5. I ________________ in England when I ______________ John.

Explanation

The correct answer is "was living - met". This is because the verb "was living" is in the past continuous tense, indicating an ongoing action in the past. The verb "met" is in the simple past tense, indicating a completed action in the past. This combination suggests that the speaker was in the process of living in England when they had the specific encounter with John.

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6. Elizabeth came into the room and ___________________ the door.

Explanation

Elizabeth came into the room and shut the door.

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7. What _______________________ for breakfast this morning?

Explanation

The correct answer is "did you have". This is because the question is asking about what the person had for breakfast this morning, and the phrase "did you have" is the correct way to form a question in the past tense.

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8. When she ____________________ the news she ________________ crying.

Explanation

The correct answer is "saw - started". This is because the past tense "saw" indicates that she witnessed or became aware of the news at a specific point in the past. The verb "started" in the past tense indicates that she began crying immediately after learning the news.

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9. She _________________ some was fish and ______________ ill immediately.

Explanation

The correct answer is "ate - felt" because the past tense form of "eat" is "ate" and it indicates a completed action. The word "felt" is the correct verb to describe the immediate consequence of eating the fish, indicating that the person became ill after eating it.

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10. When Osel Torres was 2 he ______________ to India.

Explanation

When Osel Torres was 2, someone else took him to India. This implies that Osel did not go to India on his own, but rather someone else was responsible for taking him there. Therefore, the correct answer is "was taken".

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  • Nov 20, 2012
    Quiz Created by
    Sarah Suzanne
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While I ____________________ to work a dog ran across the road.
I saw that during the exam the students __________________ .
She ______________ to talk to a friend.
What ________________ at six o'clock this morning?
I ________________ in England when I ______________ John.
Elizabeth came into the room and ___________________ the door.
What _______________________ for breakfast this morning?
When she ____________________ the news she ________________ crying.
She _________________ some was fish and ______________ ill...
When Osel Torres was 2 he ______________ to India.
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