Meaning - Rule

Reminder
We use the past continuous:
1. For something that happened in the past. 
 
2. To show that something continued for a period of time.
 
3. To describe a scene or situation in the past.
4. To talk about an action which happened for some time in the past and was
then interrupted. Use the past simple tense to talk about the interruption.

Example
1. I was playing the piano at 6pm. 
2. My mum was cooking all afternoon.
3. We were walking in the forest.
4. I was running and I fell over. 

Form - Rule
Important
The past continuous of any verb is made of two parts: the past tense of the verb
"to be" (was/were), and the base of the main verb +ing. 

Positive                                                     

I
He
She
was + base verb+ing
It

You
We
were + base verb+ing
They
Example
I was sitting in the garden all morning. 
We were listening to music at 7 o'clock last night.

Negative                                                     

I
He
She was not / wasn't + base 
It                   verb+ing

You
were not / weren't + base  
We
                    verb+ing
They

Example
He wasn't playing football this morning.
They were not swimming in the lake at 8 o'clock.

Important
In negative sentences wasn't / weren't is more common in spoken English.

Questions

I
He
Was / Wasn't
She
It

You
Were / Weren't We
They

Example
Was he playing tennis this morning?
Wasn't she working today?
Were they swimming in the lake at 8 o'clock?
Weren't you listening to the radio?

Reminder
Spelling Rules:
If a verb ends in 'e', delete the 'e' before you add –ing.
have =>I was having lunch.
If a verb ends consonant-vowel-consonant, double the consonant (except w and y).
get =>He was getting up.
play =>We were playing.

Tips and Tricks

There are some verbs that we don’t usually use in the continuous form, for
example: hear, see, smell, hate, know, understand, believe, notice, want, need,
seem, wish.
For these verbs use the past simple. E.g. I saw my mum this morning.