Past Simple + Past Continuous Basics
Use Past Continuous for an ongoing action and Past Simple for a completed action that interrupted it.
You can also use “when” to connect the two clauses.
Subject + was/were + verb-ing when + subject + past simple verb.
Example:
He was driving to work when he saw an accident.
Subject + was/were + verb-ing, and Subject + past simple verb.
Example:
She was listening to music, and her friend arrived.
Use “while” to show that the Past Continuous action was already happening when the Past Simple action occurred.
Subject + past simple verb while + subject + was/were + verb-ing.
Example:
He saw an accident while he was driving to work.
Use Past Continuous to describe the situation and Past Simple to show what happened as a result.
Subject + was/were + verb-ing, so + subject + past simple verb.
Example:
It was raining, so we stayed inside.
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