Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and past simple are used.
When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.
I was sleeping when you called me.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
The past continuous and the past simple help us to show how two past actions or situations are connected.
Past simple
The past simple shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present. Regular past simple verbs have -ed at the end (e.g. called, played, arrived). Irregular verbs have a different form, usually with a different vowel sound (e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt).
My parents called me yesterday.
I woke up early this morning.
Sam played basketball when he was at university.
We make the negative with didn't and the infinitive verb.
My parents didn't call me yesterday.
I didn't wake up early this morning.
We make the question form with did and then the subject and infinitive verb.
Did you wake up early this morning?
Did Sam play basketball when he was at university?
Past continuous
The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in the past.
What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.
This means that I started studying before 8 p.m. and I continued after 8 p.m.
The past continuous can also show that an activity was in progress for some time, not just for a moment.
We were cleaning the house all morning.
We make the past continuous with was or were and the -ing form of the verb.
She couldn't come to the party. She was working.
Three years ago, we were living in my home town.
I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't listening.
What were you doing this time last year?
Past continuous and past simple
When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action happened in the middle of the past continuous action, while it was in progress.
While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.
We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.
I broke my leg when I was skiing.
As I was going to work, I saw an old friend.
We were watching television when the power went off.
Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?
When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.
When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.
In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that because it uses the past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived first and then Jane started cooking.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello YolkLord42,
You can find information on irregular verbs here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/irregular-verbs
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello DennisT,
While is certainly more common with the past continuous, but it is also possible to use when without changing the meaning. However, it is not possible to use while before the clause with the simple verb:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Loc Duc,
I'm afraid that 'already closed' is not correct here. I explained this to Kaisoo93 in a comment on 28 November, which you can see just below.
Please have a look and then if you have any other questions, feel free to let us know.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ZIZO,
Yes, sentence 1 works with any of those time expressions and sentence 2 is also correct.
Yes, you can use those time expressions with the past continuous as well as the past simple.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kaisoo93,
No, I'm afraid not. These grammar tests were written so that there is only one correct answer.
In the first case, the idea is that the shop was already closed when you arrived. If it was in the process of being closed, we'd say 'were closing', not 'had been closing' and the previous sentence would probably be something more like 'I wasn't able to get in the shop'.
In the second case, it's unusual to use a continuous tense with 'already'. The action of beginning something like eating a meal only takes a moment.
Hope that helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Woo2020,
Both of these forms describe actions in the past, but there is a difference in emphasis.
We use the simple form (worked) when we are thinking of the action as a completed whole, while we use the continuous (was working) when we are thinking of the activity as a process, particularly as the background to some other action or event, such as an event which interrupts the working before it ends (i.e. happens in the middle of it).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello diidem,
'were already closing' is the correct answer for that sentence. If you press the 'Check answers' button (which becomes 'Show answers' after you press it), it should show that it is the correct answer. I've just checked and that's what it shows when I do it.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Shamsia Shams,
Those are two different names for the same form. Here on LearnEnglish, we use the name 'past continuous'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kamwengv,
Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct -- it refers to an action in progress in the past. You could also say 'She and I packed the boxes just 8 weeks ago' and it is also correct. The difference is that the first one portrays the action as an action in progress and the second portrays it as a finished action.
The second one is probably more common, but it really depends on the situation the sentence is found in.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Kamwengv,
No, the verb could still be 'were packing'. If I were describing what my sister and I were spending a lot of time doing together eight weeks ago, then 'She and I were packing the boxes eight weeks ago' would be an appropriate form, for example. In this sentence, I'm kind of imagining all the different moments I spent with my sister at that time, and in many of them, we were packing boxes -- maybe, for example, she was moving house and needed my help.
If I said 'We packed the boxes', that would also be correct, but it wouldn't focus on the time we spent together as much.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kamwengv,
The idea of something being 'in progress' is that it began before and was interrupted by another event before it was completed. For example:
These are three sequential events which happen one after the other.
Here, I was in the middle of reading the magazine when John arrived; his arrival interrupted my reading, which was not finished.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Turki123456,
In 1, 2, 3 and 4 both forms are possible -- as you suggest, one or the other would be better depending on the meaning or context. Without the word 'yesterday', both forms are also possible in 2.
In 5, I'd say 'was sleeping' would not be correct because 'through the night' implies that the period is already over and I can't imagine a situation in which the form would make sense. Perhaps there is some context when it could work, but I can't think of one off the top of my head!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Turki123456,
If you mean the verb inside the time clauses, that sounds like a good general rule, especially with 'before' and 'until', but I don't think it's always true. For example, 'Before I was brushing my teeth, I was talking on the phone'. That's a rather unusual sentence, but it's grammatically possible.
Remember also that there are many other tenses that are possible in such time clauses (e.g. present simple, present perfect, past perfect).
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Iv_2020,
Yes, you're right in thinking that the meaning is different. In fact, there are two more possible forms:
3) finished, cried
4) was finishing, was crying
Strictly speaking, all four of them are possible, but 1 would be unusual because it suggests that you cried for a brief time while you were finishing the book but had stopped crying when you finished.
The most common combination here is 3, which suggests that you finished the book and then started to cry (and cried for a little bit).
For the other set of sentences, again, different forms are possible and the best one depends on what you mean.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Nada,
Yes, that's perfectly fine. You can use the simple form after while and in some contexts it is more common.
It may be helpful to contrast two versions of your sentence:
This could suggest that the search happened during the dtime he was having fun. It's not entirely clear, and the context would be important.
Here, the enjoyment happens within the time of the search.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello dnna,
The verb 'be' is a stative verb and is very rarely used in the continuous, so the present simple is used here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello fadi.kazan,
In most situations, 'was driving' would be the correct form here. The idea is that if we saw her behind the wheel, she was probably in the process of driving at that point, and so the continuous form is the appropriate one.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Linhhh,
The times that 'already' and 'when I got there' refer to are incongruous. 'already' implies that they closed the shop before you got there, and so then it's strange to say 'when I got there', which says the closing and your arrival happened at the same time.
You could say 'They had already closed the shop when I got there' (or 'The shop was closed when I got there') or 'They closed the shop when I got there', though note these mean slightly different things.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi BAVARIA,
Yes :) That's fine.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Arcasso,
Yes! After when we can use various tenses, not just past simple. I'm not sure why those books suggest only using past simple, but other tenses are definitely possible.
About your other question, yes – both versions are fine. But there is a difference in their focus. When introduces a background action. So, if you say When I broke my leg, I was skiing, breaking my leg is the background, and skiing is the focus (i.e. the speaker's main topic). The speaker would probably continue talking about skiing (not breaking my leg). If you say When I was skiing, I broke my leg, breaking my leg is the focus.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team