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B1 grammar · teens and adults

Past continuous vs past simple

The background and the event: I was cooking when the lights went out. The pair every story needs, from a bad day at work to a first date.

Teens · AdultsCEFR B1 · Intermediate

Age
Ages 12+
Level
B1
Skill
Grammar
Format
Teacher guide
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The rule

  • Past continuous (was / were + -ing) is the background: an action in progress at a moment in the past. At 8 pm I was cooking.
  • Past simple is the event that interrupts it, or a series of completed actions: I was cooking when the phone rang. I answered, listened and hung up.
  • When usually introduces the short past-simple event; while usually introduces the longer background: While I was cooking, the phone rang.
  • Two actions in progress at the same time are both continuous: While she was talking, I was taking notes.
  • State verbs (know, want, belong, understand) stay simple: I knew the answer, not I was knowing it.

Form

UseForm
Past continuouswas / were + verb-ing
Past simpleverb + -ed / irregular past
Negativewasn't / weren't + verb-ing · didn't + verb
QuestionWhat were you doing…? · What did you do…?
Linking wordswhen + past simple · while + past continuous
Printable worksheetPresentation (PPT)

Example sentences

Tap a sentence to hear it. The translation follows each one.

Quick check: choose the right form

Five sentences from this page, each with one gap. Choose the form that fits; when it is right, you hear the whole sentence.

  1. She was blank in Berlin when she met her husband.

  2. What were you blank at nine last night?

  3. I wasn't blank, so I missed the instructions.

  4. The laptop crashed while I was blank the file.

  5. I saw an old friend blank I was waiting for the bus.

Common mistakes

What learners actually say, why, and which first language makes it typical.

Typical for Russian and Spanish speakers

During I was cooking, the phone rang.While I was cooking, the phone rang.

During is a preposition: it takes a noun (during dinner), just like «во время ужина» and «durante la cena». Before a subject and a verb, English needs while («пока», «mientras»). Learners who know during = во время / durante carry it in front of a clause.

Typical for Russian speakers

I was knowing the answer.I knew the answer.

Russian learners often map the imperfective («знал») onto was + -ing. But know is a state verb, and state verbs stay in the past simple.

I was walk home when it started to rain.I was walking home when it started to rain.

Was is only the helper: the main verb needs -ing.

How to teach it

  1. Tell a short story and draw it: a long wavy line for the background, a lightning bolt for each event. Every new sentence goes on the board as a line or a bolt.
  2. Alibi game: someone took the office coffee machine at 10:15. Pairs build an alibi (What were you doing at 10:15?), then the class interviews them separately and looks for differences.
  3. Ask for real stories: How did you meet your best friend? Where were you when you heard the news? The structure appears on its own; correct it afterwards.

Questions teachers ask

Why do Russian speakers overuse the past continuous?

Because they map the imperfective aspect («я читал») onto was reading. But the English past simple also covers a finished activity with no focus on its duration: I read a book last night. Keep the continuous for the background or an action in progress at a point in time.

Is the Spanish imperfect the same as the past continuous?

Only partly. The imperfect covers backgrounds (cenábamos → we were having dinner) but also past habits and states (vivía en Sevilla → I lived / used to live in Seville). For habits and states English uses the past simple or used to, not was + -ing.

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