Past Continuous Questions - Word Order - Part 5

Put the words in the correct order to make questions use the past continuous

laughing
they
Were
?
Rule: Past Continuous and Past Simple ShowHide

Past Continuous

was / were + -ing – an action in progress at a moment in the past.

At eight o'clock we were watching a film.
It wasn't raining.
Were your parents watching TV?

Past Simple

A short, finished action, or one action after another.

The doorbell rang.
Jill got up and had breakfast.

Together

A longer action (Past Continuous) is interrupted by a short one (Past Simple).

  • when + Past Simple: I was doing my homework when the doorbell rang.
  • while + Past Continuous: While Steve was driving, his phone rang.
  • Two long actions at the same time: While Mum was cooking, Dad was reading.

was with I / he / she / it, were with you / we / they: The dog was chasing the cat. Kate and John were eating dinner.

Twenty-six questions to build out of tiles. Every word is needed: the point here is the order - was or were first, then the person, then the -ing form.

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