https://www.grammarly.com/blog/past-continuous-tense/

What are the SIGNAL WORDS that go with this tense? 

While, when, at 5 pm yesterday etc 

Do we use the past continuous for actions in progress at a particular moment in the past?

What were you doing at 10 pm last night? 

What were you doing at this exact time last week?

Do we use the past continuous for actions in progress around a particular moment in the past?

What kinds of discoveries were we making at the turn of the century? 

Where were you living when you first started going to school?

Do we use the past continuous for temporary situations and series of actions in the past?

What do you think I enjoyed about the experience when I was living in Barcelona for a few months? 

What do you think I learnt when I was working as an intern?

Do we use the past continuous for changing and developing situations in the past?

Who do you think helped me when I was going through my adolescence? 

What were my options when I was getting frustrated with my last job?

Do we use the past continuous for two actions in progress at the same time?

What were you doing the last time your partner/mum or dad was making dinner?

Were you paying attention the last time you were in class and your teacher was explaining something?

Do we use the past continuous for an action in progress which is interrupted by another action which is in the past simple?

When was the last time you were running and fell down?

When was the last time you were talking to a friend and got interrupted?

Do we use the past continuous for annoying or amusing past habits (usually with ALWAYS)?

What was something that you were always doing as a child that your parents didn’t like?

What was something your parents were always saying/doing that you didn’t like as a teenager/kid?

Do we use the past continuous for background information in a story?

Tell a story using the past continuous for background information and the past simple for the main points like this:

A woman stood at the top of the mountain. The sun was shining and there were a lot of vultures flying around. She thought really hard and decided not to jump.

Do we use the past continuous to represent the present and the future in conditional sentences?

Do you wish you were going abroad for the coming holidays?

A couple with kids is getting divorced: Would their kids rather their parents weren’t getting divorced?

Conversation Questions

Were you doing the same thing as now at this exact time yesterday?

What were you doing at 5 p.m. yesterday?

What were you doing at 10 a.m. yesterday?

What were you doing between 10 am and 5 pm yesterday? 

What were you doing at 11 a.m. last Friday?

Were you doing the same thing as now at this exact time the day before yesterday?

Were you studying at school when man landed on the moon?

Where were you living when I moved here 9 years ago?

Where were you working/studying when Spain won the world cup?

Were you listening carefully when I explained things to you?

What were you doing when Barcalona played against Real Madrid last?

Were you always paying attention in class while the teacher was explaining things at school?

Were you always paying attention in class while the teacher explained things at school?

What were you doing while I was enjoying myself at the beach last Saturday afternoon?

What were you doing while I enjoyed myself at the beach last Saturday afternoon?

What was your best friend doing last night?

What were you wearing last Monday?

Were you sleeping at 10 p.m. the day before yesterday?

“I was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing. Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, I saw you run into a hotel…”