I am having difficulty grasping some of the different ways of using the ている form. I understand the -ing form use with "activity" verbs, but I'm struggling with the "change" verbs. In an example the sentence was "the children were in the bath." The Japanese was 入っていました. Why would it be wrong to use 入りました and how do they differ? My brain cannot grasp it like it can the -ing use.
The ていた form is sort of... an action that was continually happening, but is not the case anymore, I think is how best to describe it?
The difference in this particular case is 入りました just means they entered the bath, I'm pretty sure leaving it ambiguous as to whether or not they're still bathing or if they're already out (though the former is probably the more likely assumption). While 入っていました clarifies they're already out, since it means the "continual state" of being in the bath has ended.
