Past continous or past simple?
Hi,
I have a question for you: There is a task in my English workbook to choose the correct answer in a sentece The girls laughed/were laughing when they saw the funny film. The "problem" is that one of my teachers says correct is laughed, but other says that correct is were laughing. Could you please tell me which version is really correct?

Question

Answer

The girls laughed when they saw the funny film. = they laughed as a result of the film.

The girls were laughing when they saw the funny film. = it's not clear whether or not the film made them laugh. It's possible that they were laughing before they saw the film.  I'd sooner write, "The girls were laughing as they watched the funny film."

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