Past Continuous and Past Simple

Past Continuous We use the Past Continuous for an action that we were in the middle of. We  were driving home.(=we were in the middle of our journey.) We often use the Past Continuous to describe the background. The sun was shining.

Past Simple We use the Past Simple  for a complete action in the past. We drove home.(=we finished our journey)       We use the Past Simple for actions in a story. We arrived at the hotel.

We often use the Past Simple and Past Continuous to say that something happened

in the middle of something else:                                                                                  

Longer action: Past Continuous          Shorter action: Past Simple

• Matt phoned while we were having dinner.
• I was playing on my computer when it suddenly crashed.
• It was raining when I got up.

We use the Past Simple to say that one thing happened after another:

• When I woke up, I went to the bathroom. 
• Then, I played with my daughter and listened to music.(order of events) 

While + past continuous:

The phone rang while I was cooking.

When + past simple:

When I got home, my wife cooked dinner.                                                                                               

We can also use did in past simple statements for emphasis:

 We lost 4-0 but at least we did get into the final.