The Past Continuous Tense

We form the past continuous tense with the past simple of Be and the present participle
"was/were + V.ing"

The past continuous tense is used to mention an action which was in progress at a moment in the past.

1. What were you doing at 10 last night? ~ I was chatting with my friend.
2. What was he thinking about at the dinner?
3. At three o'clock this afternoon, we were watching a movie.

We also use the past continuous to talk about an action (the past continuous) interrupted by the another action (the past simple).

1. While I was concentrating on the solution, my boss rang me and asked me to go to his office.
2. We were having dinner when we heard a bang on the door.
3. Were you listening when I explained?

This tense can be used to described the background in a story in the past tense.

• When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing beautiful songs,...

Forming the Past Continuous Tense