The Past Continuous Tense, also known as The Past Progressive Tense, refers to a continuing action
or state that was happening at some point in the past.
Structure: Subject + was/were + Present participle (-ing) form
Here's the positive form:
I was sleeping
She was reading 'War and Peace'
It was raining
We were shopping
They were watching a film
Here's the negative, just add 'not':
I was not (wasn't) sleeping
She was not (wasn't) reading 'War and Peace'
It was not (wasn't) raining
We were not (waren't)shopping
They were not (waren't) watching a film
To make a 'yes / no' question, put 'was / were' in front of the subject:
Was I listening?
Were you working?
Was he living in Paris at the time?
Were we eating?
Were they studying?
To make a 'wh' question put the question word at the beginning:
Why was I working?
Where were you living?
How was she travelling?
What were we eating?
Why were they studying?
Usage:
To express actions that were ongoing in past.
He was playing tennis yesterday.
Two or more ongoing past actions at the same time.
He was watching movie while he was was eating chips.