This is the 15809th most frequent Russian word.
продолжал
"Continued."
In this sentence, 'продолжал' is used to describe an ongoing action in the past tense - someone continued doing something.
Он продолжал работать в саду, несмотря на дождь.
He continued working in the garden despite the rain.
Here, 'продолжал' emphasizes the resumption or continuation of an interrupted activity - the lecturer resumed an action.
Преподаватель продолжал лекцию после короткого перерыва.
The lecturer resumed the lecture after a short break.
In this example, 'продолжала' indicates a consistent action that followed another - she kept doing something.