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1 Last week I worked

2 Last week I was working

As far as I'm concerned 1 is more common and second would be more natural when we add for instance " Last week I was working when I decided to take a break" Is that right?

3 I will work next week

4 I will be working next week

Is the situation the same with future simple and continuous? I'm asking because even in Oxford dictionary I found this example " they will be flying to Germany next week" .Woudn't it be more natural to use future simple since it's only one action nothing interrupts it or happens simultaneously?

train bee 282
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  • There is not enough context to anwer these questions. Both "I worked" and "I was working" are ok. Both "will work" and will be working" are okay. Both "They will fly" and "They will be flying" are possibly correct, – James K Feb 01 '24 at 20:45
  • Many people told me here that for example when I just state a fact then past simple is the best " I worked there last week" and that continuous would be less common. They stated that I would only use continuous when there is some additional action that happened at the same time or somewhere during my time of working. I can think of anothee examples like when I was young I went to school or when I was young I was going to school. Second one seems to be less common. Don't you think? – train bee 282 Feb 01 '24 at 20:59
  • There are various reasons to use a continuous aspect. Sometimes it is optional sometimes it a rhetorical choice. Sometimes it carries a nuance. Sometimes it is essential to convey a particular meaning. You can't say which one is right, as both contain correct grammar. – James K Feb 01 '24 at 21:07
  • Is it always up to me which one I choose or you can think of some situations when only one tense is correct? – train bee 282 Feb 01 '24 at 21:29
  • Can you think of a sentence which must contain the word "Apple". – James K Feb 01 '24 at 21:39
  • No haha but I was told that when I ask my friend about the previous day then "What did you do yesterday" is correct and using "what were you doing yesterday" would be fine only if I mean some particular moment lile "what were you doing yesterday(when I called you)?" Do you agree with that? – train bee 282 Feb 01 '24 at 21:44
  • Well, exactly that. "What did you do yesterday" and "What were you doing yesterday" are both fine, but have slightly different meanings. And the second one asks about an activity that was continuous, and so would be natural to use when if there is an implied of explicit point in time, for example "when I called you." But this is my joke about apples. You need to use "apple" when you want the meaning of "apple". You need to use the simple past only when you want the meaning of the simple past. – James K Feb 01 '24 at 21:52
  • Thus, going back to my first question What did you do last week? I worked but what were you doing last week before I visited you? I was working. That's how it works? – train bee 282 Feb 01 '24 at 22:01
  • Please only ask one question at a time. – Lambie Feb 01 '24 at 22:44

1 Answers1

3

What did you do last week

A simple question. No tricks. The questioner doesn't suppose much.

What were you doing last week

The continuous suggests you are asking about some ongoing activity - so you think that there was some activity that was ongoing - perhaps you tried to contact the person and they didn't respond, or perhaps this week you notice that the job that you expected the person to do hasn't been done, so you infer that they must have had a different task. However, you think there must have been some ongoing activity and you want to know what that was.

This is just the normal meaning of the continuous aspect.

James K
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  • Thank you very much. I think I'm starting to understand more. Could you give me some explanation when using I will fly to Germany next month is more suitable and when I will be flying to Germany next month? Like you did with this question about last week – train bee 282 Feb 01 '24 at 22:24
  • Just to confuse you, "I will be -ing" is sometimes used to refer to future plans. – Kate Bunting Feb 02 '24 at 08:19
  • I know that but if exclude that use. What then? – train bee 282 Feb 02 '24 at 14:31