1. FUNCTIONS:
1.1. often to describe the context in a story written in the past, eg "The sun was shining and the birds singing Were as the elephant meat out of the jungle. The other animals Were relaxing in the shade of the trees, but the elephant Moved very quickly. She was looking for her baby, and she did not notice the hunter Who Was Through His binoculars watching her. When the shot rang out, she was running towards the river
1.2. to describe incomplete action that was interrupted by another action or event, eg "I was Having a beautiful dream When the alarm clock rang."
1.3. to express a change of mind: e.g. "I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've DECIDED to get my homework done instead." to 'wonder', to make a polite request: eg "I was wondering if Could you baby-sit for me tonight
2. The past continuous is used for actions that occurred at a specific time in the past. As the present continuous, it is formed with the auxiliary verb "to be" and the gerund.
3. GRAMMATICAL RULES:
3.1. -Form:
3.1.1. To be continued past the auxiliary verb "to be" and the gerund (infinitive + "-ing") of the verb is used. The auxiliary verb "to be" is in the simple past, but keep in mind that "to be" is an irregular verb.
3.2. -Estructure:
3.2.1. 1. Affirmative Sentences 2. Negative sentences 3. Interrogative sentences
3.3. -Uses:
3.3.1. *The past continuous use it for a long action and in the past was interrupted. The action is constantly interrupted past and action is causing disruption in the past simple. "When" and "while" indicate the use of simple and continuous past. In general, we use the simple past directly after "when" and continued past after "while".
3.3.2. *Past continuous is used to talk about actions at a specific time in the past.
3.3.3. *Continued last two actions were happening at the same time last used.