past continuous (I was doing)

Yesterday Karen and Jim played tennis. They began at 12 o'clock and finished at 13.30. So, at 12.30 they were playing tennis. They were playing = 'they were in the middle of playing'. They had not finished playing.

Was/were -ing is the past continuous:

I/he/she/it	was	playing doing cooking   etc.
we/you/they	were

We use the past continuous to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but had not finished.

• I waved to her but she wasn't looking.
• This time last year I was living in Brazil.
• What were you doing at 10 o'clock last night?

Compare the past continuous (I was doing) and past simple (I did):

Past continuous (in the middle of an action) I was walking home when I met Dave. (=in the middle of walking home) Ann was watching television when the phone rang.

Past simple (complete action) I walked home after the party last night. (all the way, completely) Ann watched television a lot when she was ill last year.

We often use the past simple and the past continuous together to say that something happened in the middle of something else:

• Tom burnt his hand when he was cooking the dinner.
• I saw you in the park yesterday. You were sitting on the grass and reading a book.
• While I was working in the garden, I hurt my back.

But we use the past simple to say that one thing happened after another:

• I was walking along the road when I saw Dave. So I stopped and we had a chat.

Compare:

When Misha arrived, we were having dinner. (=We had already started dinner before Misha arrived.)

When Misha arrived, we had dinner.(=First Misha arrived and then we had dinner.)