3.

5 PASTCONT VS PASTSIMPLE
Past continuous vs. Past simple. The past continuous and past simple are often used together in
the past to describe a moment, narrate or describe a story and to talk about what was
happening when something else happened. Because of that we often use conjunctions. Like and
but when and before. These conjunctions help us to combine different elements and tenses in
the story.

[00:00:29] I was going to the store when my car died in the middle of the highway. So there's
the action that was happening here. And it was interrupted by a different action that occurred
at a more specific moment In time. The specific moment is the car dying or stopping.

[00:00:46] The house was looking worth every day until someone decided to buy it.

[00:00:50] In this case the past continuous action was the house continually looking worse,
constantly looking worse. This action was interrupted by someone deciding to buy it the
decision to buy the house only happened once. And then it was finished. That's why we put it in
the past simple. Let's make a few simple stories to clarify this. Make it more obvious. The use
between the two of them.

[00:01:14] I was taking a bath. Someone knocked on the front door. I stopped my bath. I
answered the door.

[00:01:20] My bath was interrupted. We don't know when I started my bath, but it was
interrupted when someone knocked on the door. So I answered it. So the past simple actions
tend to stop a continuous action or make something else happen. The past continuous actions
tend to be interrupted by something else.

[00:01:39] You can also think of it this way. What was I doing when someone knocked on the
front door? I was taking a bath, I was in the process of taking the bath when someone knocked
on the door. So I stopped my bath and answered the door. Let's look at the past simple a little
bit more and give some examples to better explain its use.

[00:01:58] I watched a movie yesterday.

[00:02:00] This means I watch the entire movie from beginning to end.

[00:02:04] I was watching a movie yesterday when the power went out. So my movie-watching
was interrupted. It was stopped because the electricity went out stopped working. We don't
know when I started watching the movie, but at a specific point the electricity stopped
functioning and the movie must have stopped, ending that action.

[00:02:23] It didn't snow when I was on vacation.

[00:02:25] So here during my entire vacation, from beginning to end. There was no snow. If we
knew the specific dates of my vacation, that could be from January 1st to January 7th, for
example.

[00:02:38] It was snowing when I left work yesterday. Here I am saying that when I left work,
there was no snow falling from the sky. I'm describing that specific moment. It does not mean it
wasn't snowing before I left or after I left. But when I left. At that moment. That specific
moment, it wasn't snowing.

[00:02:57] There will be some more practice with this in the homework. And as we continue,
you will learn more about the conjunctions and adverbs that help us know when to use present
or past simple and when to use present or past continuous and how to combine them.