The Past Continuous (also known as the Past Progressive) is your "storytelling" tense. It’s used to describe actions that were already in progress at a specific moment in the past.
Think of it as the "slow-motion" tense of the English language.
1. The Sentence Structure
The formula is simple: you combine the past tense of "to be" with the present participle (the -ing form of the verb).

Subject	Auxiliary (Was/Were)	Main Verb (+ing)	Example
I, He, She, It	was	working	She was working late.
You, We, They	were	sleeping	They were sleeping.

Negative & Question Forms
Negative: Just add "not."
I was not (wasn't) looking.
We were not (weren't) listening.
Question: Swap the subject and the auxiliary verb.
Was she driving?
Were they playing music?
2. When to Use It
We don't use the Past Continuous for just any past event; we use it to set a scene or show duration.
Interrupted Actions: Use it with the Past Simple to show an ongoing action was "hit" by a shorter event.
I was taking a shower when the phone rang.
Parallel Actions: When two things were happening at the exact same time.
While I was cooking, my roommate was watching TV.
Atmosphere/Background: Setting the stage in a story.
The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and everyone was happy.
3. The "State Verb" Exception
A common trap is trying to use the Past Continuous with stative verbs (verbs about feelings, senses, or possession). We generally avoid "-ing" with these:
Incorrect: I was wanting a coffee.
Correct: I wanted a coffee. (Past Simple)
Pro Tip: Use the word "While" to trigger the Past Continuous and "When" to trigger the Past Simple.
While I was walking...
When I tripped...