The past continuous tense is used for past actions that continued for some time in the past. It is formed by using was/were+ present participle of verb.

Affirmative                          Negative

I was talking.                     I was not talking.

She was dancing.        She wasn’t dancing.

It was raining.                It was not raining.

You were working.    You weren’t working.

We were going.             We weren’t going.

They were begging.      They weren’t begging.

Interrogative         Negative interrogative 

Was I talking?           Was I not talking?

Was she dancing?   Wasn’t she dancing?

Was it raining?           Was it not raining?

Were you working?  Weren’t you working?

Were we going?        Were we not going?

Were they begging?  Weren’t they begging?

* The past continuous is also used to indicate gradual development of an action in the past.

e.g. It was getting colder.

        The temperature was dropping.

* The past continuous tense also expresses an action that started before a given point of time and continued till or after that time.

e.g. He was having lunch when I called.

       She was talking on phone when I reached.

* A combination of simple past and past continuous is used in descriptions and narratives.

… The fire was burning on hearth and it was getting warm. The girl who had got drenched in rain was sitting in the front and was feeling better. Suddenly there was a knock....

* At some places, past continuous is preferred over simple past.

e.g.’What were you sharing with her?’ sounds more polite than ‘What did you share with her?’

     ‘What were you doing in my room?’  better conveys the feeling of being offended than ‘What did you do in my room?’