Let’s study two examples:
- When Anna came home, -> we cleaned the house. (a)
->we were cleaning the house. (b)
Cleaned vs. were cleaning
(a) When Anna came home, we cleaned the house. (Past Simple, Past Simple)
The first action -> Anna came
The second action (after Anna came) -> we cleaned.
(b) When Anna came home, we were cleaning the house. (Past Simple, Past Continuous)
- The first action -> we were cleaning the houseThe second action, which interrupts the first one -> Anna came
- Imagine you are talking with your colleagues. One of your colleagues says:
“The report is not ready!” and he goes to finish the report.
a) Now, you tell somebody about it, repeating the information in the same moment:
He said that the report is not ready (you don’t have to change anything) because the report isn’t finished.
b) But if you say:
He said that the report was not ready. It means that now the report is ready, you can say so, but only after a while.