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Can you explain to me when we use the past continuous and when past simple. Some people say it's okay to use it with very long actions even when we just state a fact and tell no story like "I was working there for 10 years"; others state that saying for instance "when I was little I was going to school" (meaning during my entire time of education) is not natural. Is there anyway how to understand when using past continuous is perfectly fine and when it's awkward and better to use past simple

Andy Bonner
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train bee 282
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    people who say it's okay to use past continuous with very long actions are talking nonsense. There's no particular connection between "length of activity" and the choice between Simple Past and Past Continuous. We normally say Dinosaurs lived* on Earth millions of years ago, not ...were living...* The continuous form would usually only be used in certain specific contexts (such as when we want to say that something else happened while* that action was ongoing*). – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '24 at 18:46
  • So it's wrong and when I just state a fact I say I worked there for ten years. What about when I want to say that during my 10 year working something happpened like While I was working for ten year I bought a house? – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 18:56
  • Yes, *While I was doing this, I also did that* is a typical context for using past Continuous. But you don't have to use it even there - it's fine to say, for example, When I worked in Australia for 10 years, I bought a house. My advice is to only use Past Continuous if you know you need it. If you're not sure you need it, just make your life easier by sticking to Simple Past. – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '24 at 19:10
  • (Note that *while* and *when* are equivalent and interchangeable in the above examples.) – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '24 at 19:11
  • I'm majoring English therefore I'd like to know as much as it's only possible. First I'd like to add that I I know quite a lot about grammar. I'm just having a hard time with this particular use of past continuous. I'll ask two more questions if you don't mind. – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 19:22
  • Please, let me know if I got you right. When I state a fact it is more natural to say I worked for ten years then was working but once I add some other information something what happened during that time past continuous is fine and quite natural? – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 19:31
  • I was gonna say look at these "I was working for ten years" and "I worked for ten years" – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '24 at 19:45
  • ...but in fact the only result I can read in context for the latter seems to be from a non-native speaker. Majoring in English or not, you won't often need Past Continuous! – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '24 at 19:46
  • Should I say I worked for 10 years when I bought a house and this version with continuous in not natural? – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 19:54

1 Answers1

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We often use continuous tenses when we want to talk about relationships in time. When we start relating one event to another as if on a time line.

I was going to the store when I met her.

If I only had one event to talk about, I'm more likely to say "I went to the store." Even if I'm talking about a long period of time, I'm most likely to choose simple unless I'm relating it as a sort of background setting to some other point in time.

  • I worked at that company for 10 years. (Simple past; nothing besides this work event is being discussed.)
  • I had been working at that company for 10 years before he was hired. (Here, the period of work is a sort of "setting" for another event. I didn't have to use continuous here either; I might have said "I had worked there for 10 years before he was hired.")

Now, your question might be prompted by usages like:

Billy was a troublemaker. He was always starting fights.

This is different than all the examples you've given. It isn't actually talking about a length of time at all; it's actually talking in the abstract about a pattern of behavior, without actually specifying the time at all, aside from it being in the past. This is addressed in a lot of other questions here.

Andy Bonner
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    +1 specifically for it isn't actually talking about a length of time at all. It's daft ideas / gross oversimplifications like that that learners need to unlearn. – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '24 at 19:48
  • Thank yo but I want to say that while doing one thing another haapend. For instance When I was working , I saw a cat. I saw it during my work. Therfore. If I say I had worked 10 years when I bought a house. It's different first I worked then I bought. I wanted to say that during this 10 year time I bought a house. How to do it? – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 20:09
  • @Srom In that case you're placing the purchase "somewhere" during the 10 years, not specific. So maybe a word like "while" or "during" would be helpful: "During my 10 years of work, I bought a house." – Andy Bonner Jan 18 '24 at 21:28
  • So saying when I worked for ten years or was working I bought a house is wrong? – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 21:30
  • Cab you check this site. There it's explained differently. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/past-continuous-tense/ – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 21:35
  • @Srom Sorry, I grammarly is blocked by the network that I'm on. If you found something that explains it well, great! This question has been very broad and might be hard to answer. Maybe open a new one focused on a particular example. – Andy Bonner Jan 18 '24 at 22:07
  • I just want to know if it's okay to say while I was working 10 years I bought a house? Yes or no that's it. – train bee 282 Jan 18 '24 at 22:12
  • @Srom 1) Note, that's very different from your original question. It's a more focused, easier-to-answer question! Stack Exchange isn't made for back-and-forth discussion in the comments; when your needs have changed to a new question, consider opening a new one. 2) There's nothing wrong with that in terms of grammar. With different words, that sentence would be fine. The only problem is that it doesn't really make sense, or isn't "idiomatic." The pattern that that sentence is good for is "While I was [doing a particular activity], [something happened]." Like... – Andy Bonner Jan 19 '24 at 14:49
  • ... Like "While I was driving to the store, I got a flat tire." The problem is, "working 10 years" isn't really one coherent "activity." We mention the duration of work as a fact, like "I worked for that company for 10 years." And if we took away the "10 years" part, the sentence would make a lot of sense: "I worked for that company for 10 years. While I was working there, I bought a house." So you see, there's nothing wrong grammar-wise with that construction; it's just that it doesn't really make sense as one sentence. – Andy Bonner Jan 19 '24 at 14:51
  • @Srom But you might say "During the 10 years that I was working, I bought a house." Why? Hm... I guess "during" is more flexible than "while"? Not sure. – Andy Bonner Jan 19 '24 at 14:52