Difference b/w Past Indefinite or Past Continuous

Difference b/w Past Indefinite or Past Continuous

Past Indefinite is also called simple past or past simple

Review about Past Indefinite click here

Review about past continuous click here

BASIC

↷ When he woke up yesterday morning, it was raining.
↷ Aslam was sleeping when you called him.

Past Continuous	Past Simple
We use the past continuous for an action that we were in the middle of an action.	We use the past simple for a complete action in the past.
It was raining. (The rain had begun before he woke up and stopped some time after.)	He woke up yester morning. (He got up)
Aslam was sleeping.	You called him.

When we use these two tenses together, past indefinite action happened in the middle of the past continuous, while it was in progress.

↷ While she was studying, she suddenly felt sleepy.

↷ She cut her finger when preparing dinner.

We often use these tenses to describe (or show) an action interrupting another action.

↷ They were watching television when the power went off.

↷ He hurt his arm when he was playing.
↷ As I was going to work, I saw my father’s old friend.

INTERMEDIATE

Past Continuous	Past Simple
We use the past continuous for an action that we were in the middle of. ↷ We were driving home. ↷ A light was flashing. (We were in the middle of our journey.)	We use the past simple for a complete action in the past. ↷ We drove home. (We finished our journey.) ↷ The spaceship flew away.
We do not normally use the past continuous for states. NOT The spaceship was seeming ... NOT It was having writing ... NOT I wasn't knowing ...	We also use the past simple (not normally the continuous) for states. ↷ The spaceship seemed quite big. ↷ It had writing on the side. ↷ I didn't know what it was.

Want to read what is state and action verb? Click here

We often use the past continuous and simple together when one (shorter) action comes in the middle of another (longer) one.

↷ The student was doing his homework when his mother arrived.

↷ As we were driving down the hill, a strange thing came into sight in the sky.

↷ While Maria was sitting in the garden, it suddenly began to rain.

The appearance of the strange object comes in the middle of the longer action, the drive down the hill.

Longer action:     W e   w e r e   d r i v i n g   d o w n   t h e   h i l l.

Shorter action:                        A strange thing came.

In the three sentences above, the past continuous comes after as, while or when (As we were driving ...). We can also use when before the past simple.

↷ We were driving down the hill when a strange thing came into sight in the sky.

↷ Yaqoob was cooking food when the phone rang.

INTERMEDIATE PLUS

But we use two past simple verbs for one action after another.

↷ When we saw the spaceship, we stopped the car.

(= We saw it and then we stopped.)

Past continuous	Past simple
We often use the past continuous to describe the background.	We use the past simple for actions in a story.
↷ The sun was shining. ↷ The stars were twinkling.	↷ We arrived at the beach. ↷ The aliens landed quietly

We also use two Past Continuous verbs for two actions happening at the same long time in the past.

↷ While I was cooking, my husband was watching TV.

↷ She was driving home yesterday, while a spaceship was flying along his car.