The past continuous describes an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. It focuses on the middle of the action, not the beginning or end. Use it to set background situations, to show two actions happening at the same time, or to describe an ongoing action interrupted by a shorter event. It often answers the question What was happening at that time?

Form the past continuous with the past tense of be plus the -ing form: was or were + verb-ing. Choose was with I, he, she, it, and were with you, we, they. The -ing form is used for all verbs and does not change with the subject.

Subject	Form	Example
I	was + verb-ing	I was studying at 8 pm.
you	were + verb-ing	You were driving home then.
he	was + verb-ing	He was sleeping when I called.
she	was + verb-ing	She was cooking all evening.
it	was + verb-ing	It was raining heavily.
we	were + verb-ing	We were watching a movie.
they	were + verb-ing	They were working late.

Use past continuous statements to describe what was in progress at a past moment. Time expressions like at 7 o’clock, at that moment, all day, and while help show the action as ongoing. The meaning is about duration in progress, not completion.

Make negatives by adding not after was or were: was not or were not + verb-ing. In informal English, contractions are common: wasn’t and weren’t. The negative focuses on what was not in progress at that time.

Rule	Example
Put not after was or were	She was not listening.
Use wasn’t or weren’t in informal speech	They weren’t waiting for us.

Form questions by inverting be and the subject: Was or Were + subject + verb-ing. Use short answers with was or were, not with the -ing verb. Add question words like what, where, why, and who at the beginning when needed.

Rule	Example
Invert was or were and the subject	Were you working yesterday?
Use was or were in short answers	Yes, I was. No, they weren’t.
Put a question word first for information questions	What were you doing at 9?

Past continuous usually needs a past time reference, either stated directly or understood from context. It commonly appears with specific points in time like at 6 pm or at that moment, and with background periods like all morning or all night. This helps the listener locate the action in the past as an ongoing process.

Use past continuous for the longer background action and simple past for the shorter interrupting event. The interruption can be sudden or just the next event that happened. This pattern emphasizes that one action was in progress when another happened.

Rule	Example
Background in past continuous, interruption in simple past	I was walking home when it started to snow.
Use when to introduce the interrupting event	She was leaving when the phone rang.

Use past continuous to show two actions happening at the same time in the past. While and as often introduce the simultaneous actions, especially when both are ongoing. This highlights that the actions overlap in time.

Rule	Example
Use while or as for overlapping actions	While I was reading, he was cooking.
Use past continuous for both actions when both are in progress	They were talking as we were walking.

Past continuous is common in storytelling to set the scene and describe what was happening in the background. It gives context before important events in simple past. This creates a contrast between ongoing situations and completed actions.

Most action verbs work naturally in the past continuous because they describe activities in progress. Some state verbs, which describe conditions or mental states, are less common in continuous forms because they are not usually seen as actions in progress. In many contexts, simple past is preferred for state meanings, but speakers sometimes use continuous forms to express a temporary or changing situation.