“The receptionist printed the form” presents a completed event. “The receptionist was printing the form when the phone rang” places another event inside an activity already in progress. The difference helps the reader understand the sequence.
The past-continuous chapter and answer key in Jobin Thomas’s Tense and Passive Voice in OET Writing for Physiotherapists practise this relationship. This guide uses original administrative examples, allowing you to work on the language without making clinical assumptions.
Separate the background activity from the event
Start by identifying what was already happening and what occurred during it. In “I was explaining the timetable when the visitor arrived,” the explanation provides the background activity. The arrival is presented as an event within that period.
The sentence does not necessarily mean the explanation stopped permanently. Past continuous places the activity in progress at that time; the wider context tells you whether it continued afterwards.
Original timeline practice
Information: At ten, the administrator was checking the bookings. During that work, a confirmation email arrived.
Combined: “The administrator was checking the bookings when a confirmation email arrived.”
Different viewpoint: “The administrator checked the bookings and then opened the email.”
The second version presents a sequence of completed actions. It should only be used when that sequence matches the information supplied.
Build the continuous form completely
Use “was” or “were” with the “-ing” form: “was checking,” “were waiting” and “was explaining.” “Was checked” is a different construction, while “was check” does not form the past continuous correctly.
Match the auxiliary to the subject. “The learner was waiting” is singular; “The learners were waiting” is plural. Keep that agreement when another phrase separates the subject from the verb.
Do not rely on when or while alone
“While” often introduces an activity in progress, but choosing a tense is not a word-matching exercise. “While the office was closed, staff completed the records” describes a state with “was closed” and a completed action with “completed.”
A past-continuous sentence also does not need an interruption: “At nine yesterday, the team was discussing the timetable” is complete. The specific past time establishes the point at which the activity was in progress.
Choose the forms that match the situation
Situation: A learner was already filling in a form when the tutor entered.
Complete: “The learner ___ the form when the tutor ___.”
Answer: “The learner was filling in the form when the tutor entered.”
Repair this error: “The tutor did not entered.” The correct form is “The tutor did not enter”: after “did not,” use the base form.
Check what the sentence does and does not establish
Two events occurring together do not prove that one caused the other. “The email arrived while we were checking the records” gives timing. Replacing “while” with “because” would add a reason that may not be supported.
For your next practice paragraph, underline each past event and identify its role: background activity, completed event or sequence. Choose the verb form after making that decision, then check that the finished account preserves the original information.
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OET Grammar — Course 18
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Source: GRA PHYSIO - 20.epub, Jobins Training. Examples labelled original or illustrative were written for this article. Independent exam preparation; no affiliation with or endorsement by the examining body. Practice does not predict an official score.