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El puente estaba temblando por el terremoto.

El puente estaba temblando por el terremoto.
The bridge was shaking because of the earthquake.
From Lesson 112:Past continuous (estaba -ndo)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El puente estaba temblando por el terremoto.

Why use estaba temblando instead of just the imperfect temblaba?
Both can translate to "was shaking," but estaba temblando (the past continuous) strongly emphasizes that the action was actively in progress at that exact moment. You form it using the imperfect tense of estar (estaba) plus the gerund (temblando).
How do we get the word temblando?
It is the gerund form of the verb temblar (to shake or tremble). To make the gerund for an -ar verb, you drop the -ar and add -ando. Even though temblar has a stem change in the present tense (like yo tiemblo), -ar and -er verbs never change their stems in the gerund!
Why do we use por here instead of porque or para?
Por is used to show the cause or reason for something (the bridge shook because of the earthquake). You can't use porque here because it must be followed by a full phrase with a conjugated verb (like "because the earthquake happened"). You can't use para because that indicates a future goal or purpose, not a past cause.
Since puente ends in -e, how do I know it's masculine?
Nouns ending in -e don't follow a strict gender rule like most words ending in -o or -a, so you simply have to memorize them with their article. It is always el puente (masculine).

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