The past continuous

The past continuous is used in English to talk about actions or events that were in progress at some time in the past.It is formed with was or were and a present participle.

different

1. Past simple I knocked on your door at noon,but you weren't at home. What were you doing?

2. Past Continuous I was eating lunch with a friend.

The past continuous for scene-setting.

The past continuous is often used in storytelling to set a scene of describe a situation.

It was a beatiful day. The sun was shining and the birds were singing.Children were laughing and playing in the street.

The past continuous and the past simple

When English uses the past continous and past simple together, the past continous describes a longer,background action, and the past simple describe shorter action that interrupts the background action.

I was taking a photo when a monkey grabbed my camera.

The monkey broken take a photo.