Was/Were vs Did Part 3 — Complex Sentences

This third exercise presents complex sentences where choosing between "was/were" and "did" requires careful attention to sentence structure. You will encounter dependent clauses, reported speech contexts, and sentences where the subject is separated from the verb by additional information. For example: "The woman who was sitting next to me didn't say a word" — here "was" describes an ongoing state while "didn't say" describes an action. Recognising multiple verb patterns in longer sentences is a B1-level skill.

At this level, you also need to handle "there was/were" constructions correctly: "There were many people, but nobody did anything." Watch for passive-looking structures that actually use "was" plus an adjective: "The door was locked" describes a state (the door was in a locked condition), not a passive action. This distinction between states described with "was/were" and actions described with "did/didn't" becomes more challenging as sentences grow longer. Practising these complex patterns prepares you for the kinds of sentences you will find in Cambridge B1 reading and listening papers and in natural written English.