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The past continuous tense is used to describe an action that went on for a certain
duration at a particular time in the past.

Uses

We use the past continuous tense

1. to express an action that was happening at a particular time in the past. The action
started before that moment and had not finished at that moment. For example,

y At 10:00 p.m., I was watching television.
y They were playing football at 9:00 a.m. this morning.

2. to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted by a shorter action.

For example,
y I was watching television when he called.

y She was sleeping last night when the thief stole her car.

3. We often use the past simple and past continuous together, to talk about something
that happened while another action was in progress.

We use the past continuous for the action that was in progress.

We use the past simple for the shorter action. For example,
y They were going home when we saw them.

y It was raining when I got up this morning.

We often use when before the shorter action. For example,
y They were going home when we saw them.

y When we saw them, they were going home.

Structure

The structure of the past continuous tense is given.

Ø For declarative sentences

Subject Helping verb Main verb

I was reading.

You were reading.

He/She/It was reading.

We were reading.
You were reading.

They were reading.

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