PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS

​We use the past tense to talk about:

Something that happened once in the past:

I met my wife in 1983.

We went to Spain for our holidays.

They got home very late last night.

​Something that happened several times in the past:

When I was a boy,

I walked a mile to school every day.

We swam a lot while we were on holiday.

They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

​Something that was true for some time in the past:

I lived abroad for ten years.

He enjoyed being a student.

She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

​We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

​Something that happened before and after another action:

The children were doing their homework when I got home.

​The past continuous is made from the past tense of the verb be and the –ing form of a verb:

Present Continuos Past continuous​

I am walking I was walking

​ He is writing. He was writing.

They are dancing. They were dancing.