Simple Past vs. Past
Continuous
By: Sean Savoie
Using verb tenses correctly when speaking is possibly the biggest problem for Chinese-speaking students of English. Of course, speaking leaves little time for considering which verb tense is most accurate, and misunderstandings can occur when time words are not used. For this reason, I believe it is best to compare one tense to another, especially when these tenses are often confused.
The simple past and past continuous (also called the past progressive) are two tenses that are distinctly different yet often used together. The past continuous always expresses that an action occurs in relationship to another action. If there is only one action being expressed, the simple past or even the present perfect may be perfectly clear. Some students of English assume that the past continuous simply expresses that an action happened for a long period of time. And it is true that the past continuous implies that an action takes longer, but it is not that simple; the longer action is only considered long in relation to another action.
For example, consider the length of the action in the following sentences:
As
I was falling, I saw a piece of glass on the ground.
While
she was walking across the street, her brother saw a car race around the
corner.
While he was opening the door, some rain got into the house.
Notice that the actions above take place in only a few seconds. The reason the past continuous is used is because the action is longer than the action that occurs with it. Keep in mind, as with all adverb clauses, that all of the above sentences may be flipped over, in which case they do not require the use of a comma. The meaning remains the same.
I saw a piece of glass on the ground as I was falling.
Her brother saw a car race around the corner while she was walking across the street.
Some rain got into the house while
he was opening the door.
The simple past verb tense may also express a time relationship to another action, but the past continuous must always relate to at least one other occurrence. A change in verb tense expresses a change in the relationship of the actions. It is probably best to show some example and then examine the relationships in time.
Example sentences:
Sentences 1 and 2 have the same meaning, and they both express that the family began eating before I got home, but they were not finished eating. In other words, when I got home, I saw my family already eating dinner.
Sentences 3 and 4 also have the same meaning, and they mean that the family began eating after I got home. Therefore, sentences 3 and 4 can be reworded to mean: I got home, and then my family ate dinner.
When the time meaning is clear to the listener, the shorter time idea is often omitted from the sentence, especially in conversation. Notice in the short conversation below how the idea is understood:
"Hey, I called you yesterday. You did not answer. Where were you?"
"Oh, I was shopping at the supermarket."
The second speaker does not need to say that she was shopping at the supermarket when he called because the idea is very obvious. The verb tense should still be past continuous because it expresses the longer action. The phone call was a short action. Shopping at the supermarket was the longer action.
Two longer actions can occur at the same time. When this happens, it is better to use the past continuous in both clauses because it indicates the actions are both long. The subjects, or doers of the actions, may be the same or different. Examine the following sentences and notice how they indicate longer actions occurring at the same time.
While I was reading a novel, my sister was watching a movie on TV.
As they were doing homework, they were eating snacks.
While he was talking on the phone, he was also drawing a picture at his desk.
Generally
speaking, the word "while" is followed by a continuous tense, whereas the word
“when” is followed by a simple tense. But do not use this as a strict rule
because there are too many exceptions, especially in modern spoken English in