The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

The difference between the past simple and the past continuous

Main events and background events in a story

In a story which is told in the past tense, the main events (the ones that happen in the foreground and carry the story forward) are expressed with the past simple, while the past continuous is used for background events:

Ten people

were sitting

around the table. It

was raining

outside. Suddenly, the door

opened

and a woman

entered

the room. She

was wearing

a black dress. Everyone

stared

at, her but she

didn't say

anything. She slowly

went

to the table and

put

an envelope on it. They

were

just

staring

at her as she

left

the room.

Note the difference between these two sentences from the story:

Everyone

stared

at her.

They

were

just

staring

at her.

The past simple in the first sentence expresses a momentary, completed action, whereas the past continuous in the second sentence expresses an action in progress.

Here is another example for the same contrast:

I

went

home at 7.

(completed action)

At 7, I

was going

home.

(action in progress)

Related topics:

Past simple for completed actions in the past

Past continuous for actions in progress at a specific point in the past