The Past Continuous describes an action that was IN PROGRESS at a specific moment in the past. 🔹 Formation: Subject + WAS / WERE + verb + -ING • I / He / She / It → WAS • You / We / They → WERE 🔹 Examples: • I was reading when you called. (Je lisais quand tu as appelé.) • They were playing football at 4 PM. (Ils jouaient au foot à 16h.) • She was cooking dinner when the light went out. 🔹 Negative and questions: • He was not (wasn't) sleeping. • Were you studying last night? — Yes, I was. / No, I wasn't. 🔹 Past Continuous + Simple Past (when / while): • The longer action (background) → Past Continuous • The shorter, interrupting action → Simple Past • I was walking to school WHEN it started to rain. (marchais = en cours / a commencé = interruption) • WHILE he was studying, his phone rang. (étudiait = en cours / sonna = interruption) 🔹 Two simultaneous actions (while): • While I was reading, she was watching TV. (deux actions se déroulaient en même temps)

📝 Examples: • At 8 PM yesterday, Aminata was doing her homework. • While I was sleeping, my brother was playing football. • We were having dinner when the electricity went off. • It was raining heavily when I left school. • What were you doing at 6 o'clock this morning? 💡 Past Continuous vs Simple Past: • Simple Past: action terminée / événement ponctuel It rained yesterday. (ça a plu — c'est fini) • Past Continuous: action en cours à un moment précis It was raining when I arrived. (il pleuvait au moment où j'arrivais)