Past Continuous Questions Exercises

To form a past continuous question, move was or were to the front of the sentence, before the subject. For yes/no questions: "Were you waiting for me?" "Was she working late?" For wh-questions, place the question word first, then was/were, then the subject: "What were they doing?" "Where was he going?" The main verb always keeps its -ing ending — never drop it in questions.

Short answers follow the pattern "Yes, I was" or "No, they weren't" — you do not repeat the -ing verb in a short answer. A common mistake is adding "did" to past continuous questions: "Did you were working?" is incorrect because "was/were" already marks the past tense. Only past simple questions use "did." Another frequent error is forgetting to change the subject order: "You were sleeping?" is technically understood but is an informal spoken form, not a proper question structure. For exams, always use the inverted form: "Were you sleeping?" This question pattern appears regularly in Cambridge A2 and B1 examinations.