Past simple and continuous
Past simple
We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the past.
We can use it to talk about a specific point in time.
- She came back last Friday.
- I saw her in the street.
- They didn't agree to the deal.
It can also be used to talk about a period of time.
- She lived in Tokyo for seven years.
- They were in London from Monday to Thursday of last week.
- When I was living in New York, I went to all the art exhibitions I could.
You will often find the past simple used with time expressions such as these:
- Yesterday
- three weeks ago
- last year
- in 2002
- from March to June
- for a long time
- for 6 weeks
- in the 1980s
- in the last century
- in the past
Past continuous
We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the past.
We can use it to talk about a specific point in time.
We use the past continuous to talk about past events which went on for a period of time.
We use the past continuous to talk about past events which went on for a period of time.
We use it when we
want to emphasize the continuing process of an activity or the period
of that activity. (If we just want to talk about the past event as a
simple fact, we use the past simple.)
- While I was driving home, Peter was trying desperately to contact me.
- Were you expecting any visitors?
- Sorry, were you sleeping?
- I was just making some coffee.
- I was thinking about him last night.
- In the 1990s few people were using mobile phones.
We often use it to describe a "background action" when something else happened.
- I was walking in the street when I suddenly fell over.
- She was talking to me on the phone and it suddenly went dead.
- They were still waiting for the plane when I spoke to them.
- The company was declining rapidly before he took charge.
- We were just talking about it before you arrived.
- I was making a presentation in front of 500 people when the microphone stopped working.
Past simple or continuous
Both the past simple and the past continuous refer to completed actions in the past.
Most of the time
when we are talking about such actions, we use the past simple. This is
by far the most common way of talking about the past.
- I lived there for 6 years.
- I only found out a few moments ago.
- I asked her but she didn't know anything.
- The company made 100 people redundant last year.
Only use the past continuous when you want to emphasize the continuity of the action.
- Everybody was talking about it all evening.
- They were really trying hard but couldn't do it.
- I was thinking about you the other day.
- Were you expecting that to happen?
When we use these
two forms in the same sentence, we use the past continuous to talk
about the "background action" and the past simple to talk about the
shorter completed action.
- It was raining hard when we left the building.
- I was reading the report when you rang.
- He was going out to lunch when I saw him.
- The company was doing well when I last visited it.
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