Past continuous tense describes in progress action in the past when another past action takes place.
Pattern: Subject+ was/were + ing form of main verb
Which has the following rules
1. If Pronunciation of verb has silent “e” at the end, that will be removed and ing will be added
Example:
The sun was shining in the sky.
2. If Verb ends with CONSONANT and just before it, there is VOWEL which is strongly pronounced, then CONSONANT will be doubled and ing is added.
Example:
Jack was swimming in the pool.
3. Otherwise, just append ing in the end
Example,
Alex was playing video games when his mother arrived home.
Seema was waiting at the airport when her brother got off the plane.
It was raining at this time yesterday
Michael was reading when I came
The boys were flying kites yesterday
Read our next article on Past Perfect Tense
Read our previous article on Simple Past Tense
Read about 12 Basic Verb Tenses with Examples