Grade 10 Grammar Lesson 6 Past continuous and past simple

What is the structure of simple past tense?
When do we use the simple past tense?
What is the structure of past continuous tense?
When do we use the past continuous tense?
Can we use the simple past and the past continuous together in a sentence?

•  We use the past simple to talk about long term situations or facts that existed in the past.
•  We prefer past continuous (was/were doing) to talk about temporary situations that existed at some point of time in the past.
•  When describing a past scene, we use past simple for a permanent state, but past continuous for a temporary one.
•  We often use the past simple and the past continuous together. The past simple describes an action while the past continuous describes the situation that existed at the time.
•  We may sometimes use the past continuous for two actions if they went on over the same period of time.
•  When we refer to two completed actions in the past, especially if one action causes the other action, we use the past simple for both.
  

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