Grammar - Beginner - The Past Progressive Tense

The Past Progressive Tense 
Use the past progressive tense to talk about actions that were going on at a certain moment in the past.

Miss May was cleaning the chalkboard.
Sally was packing her books into her schoolbag.
Jenny and I were tidying the classroom.
The twins were fighting in the corner.
Michael and John were washing the paint brushes.
Mom was cooking our supper when I came home.

You form the past progressive tense like this:
was + present participle
were + present participle
In the examples above, was and were are called helping verbs, or auxiliary verbs. They help to form the past progressive tense when you join them to the present participle (the form of verbs ending in -ing) . For example:
Ben was doing his homework.
Peter was making a model of a bridge.

I was                 watching
You were          working
He was              playing
She was             talking
It was                 eating
We were            hanging
You were           acting
They were          dancing

We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

for something which happened before and after another action:

The children were doing their homework when I got home.

Compare: The children did their homework when (= after) I got home.

This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:

The other day I was waiting for a bus when …
Last week, as I was driving to work, …

for something that happened before and after a specific time:
It was eight o'clock. I was writing a letter.

Compare: At eight o'clock I wrote (= started writing) some letters.

to show that something continued for some time:
My head was aching.
Everyone was shouting.

for something that happened again and again:
I was practising every day, three times a day.
They were meeting secretly after school.
They were always quarrelling.

with verbs which show change or growth:
The children were growing up quickly.
Her English was improving.
My hair was going grey.
The town was changing quickly.

We do not normally use the past continuous with stative verbs. We use the past simple instead:

When I got home, I really needed (NOT was needing) a shower.

Affirmative                                         Negative                                Interrogative
I was playing                                     I was not playing                     Was I playing?
You were playing                            You were not playing           Were you playing?
He was playing                              He wasn't playing                Was he playing?
We were playing                             We weren't playing                 Were we playing?
They were playing                             They weren't playing             Were they playing?

Keywords to indicate the presence of Simple Past Tense :
Yesterday

Last (week, month, year,..)

Ago, Once, Once upon a time

In those days

One day

Then

In 1980s / 1985 / like this

In ancient times

In early days

In my childhood

In my boyhood days

Today morning…