Past Simple and Past Continuous: rules, usage, and examples

Apuntes

UNIT 14 • Subtopic: Understanding Past Continuous and Past Simple A Jack was reading a book. The phone rang. He stopped reading. He answered the phone. Hello! What happened? The phone rang. (past simple) What was Jack doing when the phone rang? (past continuous) He was reading a book. What did he do when the phone rang? (past simple) He stopped reading and answered the phone. Jack began reading before the phone rang. So: When the phone rang, he was reading. - He began reading. - The phone rang. - He stopped reading. - He answered the phone. HE WAS READING B • Subtopic: Examples of Past Simple and Past Continuous Past Simple A: What did you do yesterday morning? B: We played tennis. (from 10 to 11:30) - Beginning (10 o'clock) - End (11:30) - We played (complete action) Jack read a book yesterday. (= from beginning to end) Did you watch the film on television last night? It didn’t rain while we were on holiday. Past Continuous A: What were you doing at 10:30? B: We were playing tennis. - Beginning (10 o'clock) - We were playing (unfinished action) Jack was reading a book when the phone rang. Were you watching television when I phoned you? It wasn’t raining when I got up. I started wo...