Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

We've already seen these two tenses in class and I reminded you that it's similar to Spanish tenses but we have more tenses in our language. Compare these sentences:

• Llovía cuando llegué a casa: It was raining when I got home
• Estaba lloviendo cuando llegué a casa: It was raining when I got home
• Llovió mucho ayer: It rained a lot yesterday
• Estuvo lloviendo todo el día: It was raining the whole day

If you see the grammar section it's said that it's quite usual to find simple past and past continuous together, especially when you use when or while:

• She was working at the office when I phoned her
• While I was watching TV, Susan phoned

However, sometimes you can use it in a different way:

• While I was cleaning my husband was making dinner

Remember we use past continuous to make the action sound more interesting, more lively.

If you want to practise, use these links with exercises:

• exercise 1, exercise 2, exercise 3: with a long explanation and exercises at the end
• a video with an explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mG6wOcof44