Timeline for past simple and past continuous - that summer
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2019 at 17:01 | comment | added | jinnyk216 | @FumbleFingers Thank you so much. | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:57 | answer | added | anouk | timeline score: 1 | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:56 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | jinnyk216: The best advice is probably that you should never think about using Past Continuous in such contexts unless you're specifically interested in the timespan of the activity as opposed to the fact of it having taken place. Thus, He was staying in Rome when met his future wife (i.e. - look out for contexts involving words like when, while). | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:53 | comment | added | jinnyk216 | Can you tell me some contexts in which the first sentence can be used? | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:52 | comment | added | Cardinal | @FumbleFingers I see, by "uncertainty" I meant things related to the future or plans. | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:50 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Cardinal: That's a completely different usage wherein the BE + continuous verb form signifies future [intended, planned] action, rather than present. But neither that nor OP's (past context) example have anything to do with "uncertainty" except in rather contrived situations such as I was going to holiday abroad this year, but I'm not sure I can afford it. | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:40 | comment | added | Cardinal | @FumbleFingers This reminded me of one my questions! It's interesting how "ask A if he's staying tonight" is preferable over "ask A if he stays tonight", but when it comes to a past situation that's exactly opposite. I guess that's because of the sentence essence. Here it looks to be a mere fact-reporting sentence without any uncertainty. However, the other one carries with it the sense of uncertainty in my humble opinion. ( link to that question: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/136323/… ) | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:38 | comment | added | jinnyk216 | @FumbleFingers I saw the first example in The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar (grammaring.com/…). Could you teach me when the first example can be used? | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:31 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | (Mainstream English: I like my job. Indian English: I am liking my job.) | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:28 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Since the "default" version is Simple Past, native speakers would normally expect some reason for choosing to use Past Continuous. Since you've given no particular context to justify the more complex verb form, you should probably stick to the KISS principle, otherwise native speakers might just assume you're using "Indian English" (which non-idiomatically uses continuous forms in many contexts where mainstream Anglophones never do). | |
| May 14, 2019 at 16:00 | history | asked | jinnyk216 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |