English grammar for proficiency: The Past Continuous Tense.

The Past Continuous Tense is usually used to talk about events that were happening at a certain time in the past. It is not a matter of when the event in the past started and ended, but that it continued to happen in the mentioned time period.

• We started playing tennis at 3 o'clock. We stopped playing tennis at 5 o'clock.

• We were playing tennis at 4 o'clock.

Affirmative	I/He/She/It + was + Ving
	You/We/They + were + Ving
Negative	I/He/She/It + was + not + Ving
	You/We/They + were + not + Ving
Question	Was + I/He/She/It + Ving
	Were + You/We/They  + Ving

	Example	Short Form
+	I was working.	––
	They were working.	––
−	He was not working.	He wasn't working.
	We were not working.	We weren't working.
+?	Was she working?	––
	Were you working?	––
-?	Was he not working?	Wasn't he working?
	Were we not working?	Weren't we working?

	Time Expressions
	when, while, as, just as, all morning/night/afternoon (+ long), yesterday, yesterday morning/evening, this time yesterday, this time last year/month/week, yesterday at 7 o'clock, last night at 8 o'clock, at the time, at that time, from...to..., during

Usage

It is used to talk about events that took place at a certain time in the past.

・ It was raining yesterday morning.

・In 2015 they were living in Germany.

・They were talking on the phone all night.

・It was nine o'clock. I was doing my homework. 

・We were watching a movie at 9 o'clock last night.

・This time last year, I was working in a different company.

It is used when talking about events that continued for an unspecified period of time in the past.

・She was sleeping.

・He was looking for his keys.

It is used when talking about events that took place between two time periods in the past.

・He was studying from nine to eleven yesterday morning.

・The workers were building the bridge between April and September.

The 'Past Continuous + Simple Past' structure indicates that something happened while another event in the past was ongoing.

・When I got up, the sun was rising.

・You were sleeping when I got home.

・My phone rang while I was having breakfast.

The 'Past Continuous + Past Continuous' structure indicates that two events were happening at the same time in the past.

・He was watching TV when I was reading a book.

・He was listening to music while he was working.

・We were walking in the park as the sun was setting.

It is used in storytelling.

・Once upon a time, a young woman named Rachel was walking through the forest...

・It was a beautiful summer evening. We were talking about our dreams as we were walking in the park...

It is used to describe changing or developing events in the past.

・The city was changing quickly.

・My English was improving.

It is used to indicate that repetitive actions or events in the past are disturbing or excessive.

・They were always quarreling.

・She was doing yoga every day.

Generally, stative verbs are not used in the past continuous tense.

 ✗ I was knowing him.
 ✓ I knew him.

 ✗ I was wanting to be a doctor.
 ✓ I wanted to be a doctor.