ESL Grammar: PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE (5) – “while” & “as”

In this ESL grammar worksheet, students learn to use the past continuous tense with phrases starting with “while” and “as” to talk about two things that were happening at the same time.

ESL Grammar: Using “While” with the Past Continuous Tense

“While” is used to describe two actions that were happening at the same time in the past. It links an ongoing action in the past continuous tense with another action that was also ongoing during the same period. Here are some examples:

• I was reading a book while my brother was watching TV.
• She was cooking dinner while her children were playing outside.

ESL Grammar: Using “As” with the Past Continuous Tense

“As” is used to describe two actions occurring simultaneously, often with a focus on the moment when one action takes place in relation to another. It links an ongoing action in the past continuous tense with another action. Here are some examples:

• He was writing an email as the phone rang.
• They were studying for their exams as their friends were preparing for a party.

The English grammar lesson below introduces how to construct past continuous tense sentences with “while” and “as” to talk about something that was happening over a specific period of time in the past. Our series of ESL grammar lessons on subjects and verbs introduce these concepts and reinforce them through helpful and instructive exercises.

This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many more English grammar lessons focusing on advanced aspects of English grammar (past continuous tense, present perfect tense, present perfect continuous tense, passive voice, embedded questions, relative clauses) in our comprehensive, intermediate- to advanced-level ESL grammar textbook Great, Great Grammar! (Book 3: Tenses and More!).