Definition:

The Past Continuous describes actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past. It shows ongoing, temporary, or interrupted actions.

Formation:

Type	Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
All Verbs	Subject + was/were + verb-ing	Was/Were + Subject + verb-ing?	Subject + was/were not (wasn’t/weren’t) + verb-ing

I / He / She / It → was                                              You / We / They → were

Spelling Rules (-ing Form):

Rule	Base Form	-ing Form
Add -ing	walk, play	walking, playing
Drop -e → add -ing	write, make	writing, making
CVC → double consonant + -ing	run, swim	running, swimming
Ends in -ie → -ying	die, lie	dying, lying

Uses:

Use	Example
Action in progress at a specific time	At 8 PM, I was watching TV.
Longer action interrupted by shorter one	I was sleeping when the phone rang.
Two actions happening at the same time	She was cooking while he was reading.
Background in a story	The sun was shining, birds were singing…
Repeated annoying action	He was always complaining.

Example:

Subject	Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
I	I was reading.	Was I reading?	I wasn’t reading.
She	She was cooking.	Was she cooking?	She wasn’t cooking.
They	They were playing.	Were they playing?	They weren’t playing.