past simple or past continuous?
Which variant is correct?

While we were waiting for renovations in our house to finish, we were staying in a rented flat.

While we were waiting for renovations in our house to finish, we stayed in a rented flat.What about these sentences?
When I stayed at the summer house with my friends, I always forgot to lock the back door.
When I was staying at the summer house with my friends, I always forgot to lock the back door.

Question

past simple or past continuous?
Which variant is correct?

While we were waiting for renovations in our house to finish, we were staying in a rented flat.

While we were waiting for renovations in our house to finish, we stayed in a rented flat.What about these sentences?
When I stayed at the summer house with my friends, I always forgot to lock the back door.
When I was staying at the summer house with my friends, I always forgot to lock the back door.

Answer

They are both correct and the difference in meaning is not important.

Answer

when talking about the past, there's a variety of options you have depending on :
1. you are talking about an action that took some time   " past continuous "  ex: was going
2. something that happened and ended " past simple"  ex : went
3. something that happened and has an effect in the present  " past perfect"  ex: has gone
4. something that happened and took some time and has an effect in the present or still happening" past perfect continuous"  ex: has been going
so in your sentences it depends on how long each action took and which category it follows

Answers · 4

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