Past Continuous

Here's the positive form:

I was sleeping
you were working
he was coming
she was reading 'War and Peace'
it was raining
we were shopping
they were watching a film

Next, here's the negative - it's very easy, just add 'not':

I was not (wasn't) sleeping

you were not (weren't) working
he was not (wasn't) coming
she was not (wasn't) reading 'War and Peace'
it was not (wasn't) raining
we were not (weren't) shopping
they were not (weren't) watching a film

And, just like the past simple with 'be', to make a 'yes / no' question, put 'was /
were' in front of the subject:

Was I listening? Yes, I was. No, I wasn’t.

Were you working?
Was she working?
Was he living in Paris at the time?
Was it snowing when you arrived?
Were we eating?
Were they studying?

To make a 'wh' question (of course) put the question word at the beginning:

Why was I working?

Where were you living?
How was she travelling?
Where was he going?
Why was it snowing in the summer?
What were we eating?
Why were they studying?
When we use Past Continuous
1: An action in the past which overlaps another action or a time. The action in the
past continuous starts before and often continues after the other shorter action
or time.
I was walking to the station when I met John. (I started walking before I met John,
and maybe I continued afterwards.)
At three o'clock, I was working. (I started before three o'clock and finished after
three o'clock.)
2: In the same way, we can use the past continuous for the background of a story.
(We often use the past simple for the actions.) This is really a specific example of
Use 1.
The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in the cafés people were laughing
and chatting. Amy sat down and took out her phone.
3: Temporary habits or habits that happen more often than we expect in the past.
We often use 'always', 'constantly' or 'forever' here. This is the same as the way
we use the present continuous for habits, but the habit started and finished in the
past. This thing doesn't happen now.
He was always leaving the tap running.
She was constantly singing.
4: To emphasize that something lasted for a while. This use is often optional and
we usually use it with time expressions like 'all day' or 'all evening' or 'for hours'.
I was working in the garden all day.
He was reading all evening.
Remember you can't use this tense or any continuous tense with stative verbs.

Past Simple or Past Continuous

Choose the past simple or past continuous:

1. He was sleeping (sleep) when the doorbell rang (ring).
2. We were eating (eat) dinner at 8pm last night (we started eating at
7:30).
3. Yesterday I went (go) to the post office, bought (buy) some fruit at the
supermarket and read (read) a book in the park in the afternoon.
4. We were watching (watch) TV when we heard (hear) a loud noise.
5. Julie was (be) in the garden when Laurence arrived (arrive).
6. A: What were you doing (you / do) at 3pm yesterday? B: I was cleaning
(clean) my house.
7. Last year I visited (visit) Paris and Rome.
8. They were having (have) dinner when the police came (come) to the
door.
9. He was working (work) in the garden when he found (find) the money.
10. Laura was studying (study) at 11pm last night.
11. I was walking (walk) along the road when I met (meet) an old friend.
12. It was (be) a day in December. Snow was falling (fall), children were
singing (sing) carols and people were doing (do) their Christmas shopping.
13. My ex-boyfriend was being (be) so annoying! He was always missing
(always / miss) the bus and was arriving (arrive) late.
14. When I called (call) Julie, she was working (work).
15. Why were you crying (you / cry) when I arrived (arrive)?
16. When he got (get) home, we started to eat dinner.
17. At 10am yesterday I sat (sit) on a bus.
18. I was enjoying (enjoy) my book so much that I didn’t notice (not / notice)
the train had stopped.
19. David wasn’t sleeping (not / sleep) when I arrived (arrive), he was
studying (study)!
20. Mr Black wasn’t working (not / work) in the garden at 10pm last night

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-paspro