French Imperfect Tense
L'imparfait is the imperfect tense of the indicative mood. It expresses actions which were happening, repeated, or habits in the past. The imparfait is (more or less) equivalent to the English past continuous, though sometimes it's better translated by the simple past.
For example
To emphasize an ongoing action in the past, you can use the expression être en train de + infinitive.
For example
See also: French Passé and All French tenses