1.1 He was entering the museum when... (Past Continuous vs Simple)

Listening activity

Quite frequently, the Past Continuous tense is used with one or more verbs in the Past Simple tense. When that happens, the action in the Past Simple took place, that is started and finished, while the action in the Past Continuous was in progress in the past (in Spanish it works in exactly the same way: When Sonia phoned Paco was visiting the city / Cuando Sonia llamó Paco estaba visitando la ciudad).

Listen to the following song, What were you doing last night?, by Jim Reeves, carefully.

Can you identify the sentences using the Past Continuous and Past Simple tenses altogether?

As you can see the singer asks for the action that was in progress (What were you doing?) when something happened: I saw you last night. So, when both tenses are used in the same sentence, the action in the past simple is frequently preceded by when.

On the other hand, we normally use while to introduce the sentence in the past continuous tense. E.g. Paco bought the ticket while he was talking on the phone.

Finally, we can also use two or more past continuous tenses when all the actions in the past were in progress at the same time in the past: While Paco was relaxing in the bar of the hotel, Sonia was phoning him.

Further knowledge

Remember that the best way to improve your English is to practice it. The more you practice the better for you! So, click here to see a really good presentation that explains the differences and uses of the two tenses we are studying in this section!

And if you want to do more exercises (we recommend you to do so!), we have chosen the following ones in order of difficulty:

Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4

Rellenar huecos

Fill in the gaps with the Past Continuous or Past Simple of the verbs in brackets.

By Éole. C. Commons

After having a look at the natural disasters on the web, Paco Rellenar huecos (1): (be) ready to begin the visit to the city. He Rellenar huecos (2): Rellenar huecos (3): (cross) the hall on the way out when the receptionist Rellenar huecos (4): (call) him back. He hadn't realized that he Rellenar huecos (5): Rellenar huecos (6): (take) the key of the room with him. While he Rellenar huecos (7): Rellenar huecos (8): (walk)back to the reception desk, the receptionist politely Rellenar huecos (9): (ask) him to give it to him. When he Rellenar huecos (10): (do) so, Paco Rellenar huecos (11): (go) out of the hotel. Where Rellenar huecos (12): Rellenar huecos (13): Rellenar huecos (14): (he, go)? He Rellenar huecos (15): (not know). But as soon as he Rellenar huecos (16): (start) walking, he Rellenar huecos (17): (know) he had many places to visit in the city.

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Writing activity

By Olivander. C. Commons

Time to write!

Write a short paragraph to continue the story at the beginning of the topic. Begin by "He was entering the museum when..." (use no less than 80 words).

Remember to use dictionaries if you have any doubts about vocabulary. If you need some advice, click below.

As you have seen, the Past Continuous tense is quite easy to use. In the passage at the beginning of the topic there are several sentences in the Past Continuous or Progressive tense, and most of them are used together with a Past Simple tense. Here you have some summaries that will help you clarify your doubts.