AEE 2360: Your Grammar Questions Answered: Past Simple or Past Progressive?

Summary

All Ears English Podcast - Episode 2360 Summary

Title: Your Grammar Questions Answered: Past Simple or Past Progressive?
Hosts: Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan
Release Date: February 19, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 2360 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan delve into a common English grammar dilemma: when to use the Past Simple tense versus the Past Progressive tense. Aimed at intermediate to advanced English learners, Lindsay and Michelle provide clear explanations, practical examples, and engaging discussions to help listeners master these tenses.

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Understanding Past Simple and Past Progressive

Past Simple Tense

Past Simple is used to describe completed actions that happened at a specific point in the past. Lindsay explains:

"We use the past simple when we are describing a completed action that happened at a very specific point in the past. So we know when it happened."
[03:51] – Lindsay McMahon

An example provided:

"I thought I saw your dog in the park."
[04:12] – Michelle Kaplan

Past Progressive Tense

Past Progressive describes actions that occurred over a period of time in the past rather than at a specific moment. Michelle clarifies:

"Past progressive tense is used for actions that happen over a period of time in the past."
[04:22] – Michelle Kaplan

An example given:

"I was thinking about you yesterday."
[04:43] – Michelle Kaplan

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Key Differences and Usage

Specificity vs. Duration

The core difference lies in specificity:

• Past Simple pinpoints when something happened.
• Past Progressive emphasizes the duration or ongoing nature of an action.

Lindsay illustrates this with activities:

"I went running" vs. "I ran a marathon."
[05:24] – Lindsay McMahon

Activity Specifics

When detailing the specifics of an activity, Past Simple is preferred. For instance:

• "I went skiing." (Past Progressive for general activity)
• "I skied a couple of black diamonds." (Past Simple for specific actions)

[07:15] – Michelle Kaplan

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Practical Examples

Sports and Activities

Lindsay and Michelle use various activities to demonstrate the tenses:

• Skiing:

  • General: "I went skiing every day of the trip." (Past Progressive)
    [13:01]
  • Specific: "I skied a couple of black diamonds." (Past Simple)
    [13:04]

• Hiking:

  • General: "I went hiking." (Past Progressive)
    [07:28]
  • Specific: "I hiked Mount Everest." (Past Simple)
    [07:35]

• Grocery Shopping:

  • General: "I went grocery shopping yesterday." (Past Progressive)
    [09:05]
  • Specific: "I shopped at WinCo yesterday." (Past Simple)
    [09:32]

Everyday Activities

Some activities consistently use Past Simple even when describing general actions:

• "I ate breakfast."
  [11:11] – Lindsay McMahon
• "I went out to a restaurant."
  [11:21] – Lindsay McMahon

Exception: When an action is interrupted, Past Progressive is appropriate:

"I was eating breakfast when my friend walked by."
[11:40] – Michelle Kaplan

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Real-Life Application and Role Play

To solidify understanding, Lindsay and Michelle engage in a role play scenario about a recent ski trip. They demonstrate the seamless switching between tenses based on the context:

1. General Activity:

   • "We went skiing every day of the trip." (Past Progressive)
     [13:01] – Michelle Kaplan

2. Specific Actions:

   • "I skied a couple of black diamonds." (Past Simple)
     [13:04] – Michelle Kaplan
   • "I crashed once pretty hard." (Past Simple)
     [14:11] – Michelle Kaplan

3. General Continuation:

   • "We were always trying new spots." (Past Progressive)
     [14:49] – Michelle Kaplan

This role play effectively illustrates how native speakers fluidly transition between tenses to convey different aspects of their experiences.

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Common Questions and Clarifications

When to Use Each Tense

Listeners often wonder about the unpredictability of tense usage. Lindsay addresses this by emphasizing the importance of context and specificity:

"If you're naming the actual activity or giving specifics about what you did, use past simple."
[05:46] – Lindsay McMahon

Consistency and Natural Speech

Michelle points out that native speakers naturally weave in and out of different tenses based on the flow of conversation, ensuring the narrative remains coherent and specific:

"They don't just start a conversation and say, I'm going to use this tense the whole time."
[08:18] – Michelle Kaplan

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Takeaways and Future Episodes

Summary of Key Points

• Past Simple is for specific, completed actions.
• Past Progressive is for ongoing or general activities in the past.
• Use Past Simple when providing details or specifics about the action.

Upcoming Content

The hosts tease a Part Two, focusing on Past Progressive for interrupted or simultaneous actions, promising more examples and deeper insights:

"We'll do a part two past progressive for interrupted or simultaneous actions."
[12:29] – Lindsay McMahon

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Conclusion

Episode 2360 of the All Ears English Podcast provides a comprehensive and engaging exploration of the Past Simple and Past Progressive tenses. Through clear explanations, practical examples, and relatable role plays, Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan equip listeners with the tools to confidently navigate these essential aspects of English grammar. Whether you're an intermediate learner aiming for fluency or an advanced speaker refining your skills, this episode offers valuable insights to enhance your understanding and usage of American English tenses.

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Notable Quotes:

• "Connection NOT Perfection!"
  [Description] – Podcast Motto

• "We weave in and out of different tenses, Aubrey."
  [08:18] – Michelle Kaplan

• "Make the right choices in life, Aubrey. True."
  [16:22] – Michelle Kaplan
  (Metaphor linking grammar choices to life decisions)

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Stay Connected:
For more tips on American English, grammar explanations, and engaging conversations, subscribe to the All Ears English Podcast and join their community of learners striving for connection over perfection.

Transcript

[A]

This is an Allers English podcast, episode 2360. Your grammar questions answered Past simple or Past Progressive?

[B]

Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe have you ever wondered why native speakers use simple past versus past progressive? Sometimes it seems to have no rhyme or reason. Today we break it down and give you a simple secret to tell the difference. Do you tend to freeze up in English conversations if you're at the intermediate B1 fluency level? We now have a study plan to get you to the B2 level and tons of ways to practice speaking with our community and our teachers. But this week we have a special offer on B1 fluency, which does expire on February 23rd at midnight. You can get our complete B1 online fluency course plus a special bonus course and you will save $50 off the normal price. Go to allearsenglish.com save on B1 that's allearsenglish.com S A V E O N letter B number one. See you there.

[A]

Hello Lindsay. How are you?

[B]

Hey Aubry. I'm doing fantastic. How's everything in your world today?

[A]

Amazing. I'm curious. I know you've been getting a ton of snow in Colorado. When is the last time you went sledding?

[B]

It's been a really long time, Aubry. I don't even remember the last time I went sledding.

[A]

Unfortunately, I skiing instead, probably.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I. When. When I went skiing last winter with my brother and my niece, they went sledding at Copper Mountain, but I was doing. I don't know, I was still skiing or something or just not out doing something else. So I missed it. I missed the.

[A]

I have a question here. I'm intentionally asking you about sledding because this came up in our Q and A where a student said, I sledded last weekend. I'm like, oh, we would say I went sledding. We would use the past progressive there. Would it sound strange to you if I asked, when's the last time you sledded?

[B]

Yeah, it does. Unfortunately, it sounds a little strange. We just don't say it that way sometimes.

[A]

Right? Yeah. And so I started diving into this because we have gotten quite A few listener questions about, you know, past simple or present simple versus progressive. How do I know when to use which? Because this is very tricky in English. Sometimes it seems like there's no rhyme or reason there. One person will use one and somebody else switches it up and we don't understand why. So I'm excited to get into this today.

[B]

Yeah, me too. I'm super excited. This is a great skill for the upper intermediate, you know, B2 level to move into C1. To really understand this, guys, go ahead and hit the follow button right here on All Ears English to make sure you catch five episodes a week of Allers English. All right.

[A]

Absolutely. Yes. And grammar, vocabulary. We get into it all.

[B]

Oh, yeah, there's no question. We won't answer if it's a good question. Right.

[A]

So exactly.

[B]

Send us your questions to support allersenglish.com and our team will make sure your question gets routed in the right direction. All right.

[A]

Yeah. So let's do a quick overview of the grammar we're talking about today. First, past simple tense. When do we use past simple tense? Lindsay?

[B]

All right, so we use the past simple when we are describing a completed action that happened at a very specific point in the past. So we know when it happened.

[A]

Right, Exactly. Right. This is created with a subject and then a verb conjugated in past simple tense. So, for example, I thought I saw your dog in the park. I thought past simple.

[B]

Right, exactly. But then we talk about past progressive tense, which is used for actions that happen over a period of time in the past. So.

[A]

Exactly. And this is constructed with the past tense of be, so was or were, and the present participle of a main verb, which is verb ing. So, for example, I was thinking about you yesterday. So same verbs. I thought I saw your dog. That happened at a specific point in time. I was thinking about you. This happened over a period of time.

[B]

Over a period of time, Right. It's not a specific point. It's over a period of time. Yesterday could have been anytime yesterday, right, Aubrey?

[A]

Right, exactly. So in general, this is going to help you know, which to use. But when it comes to activities that we do that take a certain amount of time, this is where I think this gets the trickiest. And people will get tripped up because we'll use both verbs in the past and they're a little more interchangeable. Like, for example, why do we say I went running, but I ran a marathon? Marathon takes a long time. Why am I not using past progressive?

[B]

Oh, it's a good question, Aubrey. Tricky Tricky. Well, we know exactly when we ran that marathon. Right.

[A]

And. And if we haven't said, we're not saying I ran a marathon last year on November 27, we're not hating it. Right. It's an action completed in the past, but is I went running. Right. They're both. And they both take time. So I could imagine you taking those two with the rules you're given. How do we know which to use? So our how do we know today.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is we use past progressive for doing an activity in general, like I went running. And then we use past simple if we're naming what we did or describing it. So, for example, I ran a marathon. Right. I would never say, you know, just Iran in general and say, I went running. But yeah, you would say, I ran a mile, I ran a marathon. Then we convert to the past simple.

[B]

Right. Or I ran up X mountain, some kind of mountain. Right. So, yeah, you're right. We don't just say, yeah, I ran yesterday. I mean, I suppose you could, but it's not very common. Right. And we're all about what native speakers usually say.

[A]

Exactly. Right. And so part of it might be that when you give more information about it, you're saying you ran mile, you ran a marathon. You're sort of making it more specific point in the past that it was completed because, you know, you ran that mile, you ran that marathon. It is a little more specific, but it is kind of tricky. So. But that will help. If you look at the scent and look at what you're trying to say, if you're naming the actual activity, the actual thing you ran or swam, then you'll know. So let's give a bunch of examples.

[B]

Okay. I like the skiing, snowboarding example. So very similar to sledding. Right. So if the activity is I went skiing, if you're naming exactly what you skied, like what kind of trail, what kind of mountain. For example, I skied a black diamond run. And you could yo. Then we put that into the simple past. Right, Aubrey?

[A]

Exactly. If someone just says, what did you do yesterday? Oh, I went skiing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But if you're giving specifics, I skied two black diamonds. I skied at Snowbird. You're giving specifics about the activity. Then you use past simple.

[B]

Yes. I love that. That makes total sense. What about hiking? We're so active in our examples today.

[A]

I know, because it's all the activities. This is where it gets tricky. Right. If the activity is, you just say, I went hiking. But then if you're naming the Hike? I hiked Mount Everest. Right, right. Or a completed goal, a completed action.

[B]

Yeah. Here in Colorado, we like to talk about hiking 14ers, like mountains that sit at 14, 000ft above sea level. And people like to bag the 14ers, meaning they like to keep a list of how many they've hiked and all this stuff. So I. A 14er last weekend, for example.

[A]

Yes. And that's where I've had students ask me, why is someone switching in the same sentence from past progressive to past simple? This is often why it happens. Someone might say, I went hiking yesterday and I hiked a 14er. You have past progressive, then past simple when they get more specific.

[B]

Yeah. I think that's something really important to understand about the way natives speak. They don't just start a conversation and say, I'm going to use this tense the whole time. We weave in and out of different tenses, Aubrey.

[A]

Exactly. Yes. It changes a lot as what we're saying changes. Right. So a couple more here. Swimming. I went swimming. But I swam a mile. And jogging. I went jogging. I jogged a mile. Same as running. Perfect.

[B]

What about surfing? I went surfing, you know, but I surfed in a competition last year. Yeah.

[A]

Or maybe I surfed a giant wave in Maui. Right. The more specific we get, we're going to use passing.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you would never say I went surfing in a competition last year.

[A]

Right?

[B]

You would. You would. That doesn't make any sense. And so.

[A]

Exactly. Because it has become a specific point in time when we're giving details.

[B]

Yeah. What about grocery shopping? We're moving out of sports into errands.

[A]

Yeah. Because I was thinking about this quite a bit. Like, when do we do. When do we have the press? Press, progressive and present. Simple. For the same activity. And it's anything like this that the more specifics we give. So, for example, I went grocery shopping yesterday. But then with specifics, I shopped at Winco yesterday. And we wouldn't say, I grocery shopped at WinCo. We just are going to leave out unnecessary words. And she'd be like, I shopped at WinCo.

[B]

That makes total sense. So once we start to get into real details, you know, where did you go? What exactly? What kind of place did you go to? We use the simple past. Right, Aubry.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

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[A]

Have received questions from students about this before. So we want to clarify for some activities that you would expect to be past progressive. Like for example, eating breakfast, right? We always use past simple. So this is a little tricky. You know, I wouldn't say I was eating breakfast just by itself. We would always say I ate breakfast. Right? Same with like I went out, I went to a restaurant. We don't say I was going to a restaurant by itself. It's kind of interesting by itself only.

[B]

If something else interrupted that action. Right? I was eating breakfast and my friend walked by the window of the diner.

[A]

Right, Exactly. In that case.

[B]

But that's a different scenario for another day, right?

[A]

Yeah. So we're going to have a part two here because for most activities it's just past simple like this, right? I ate breakfast. And the only time we use past progressive is when we describe an action that was interrupted. Some of the few exceptions are these kind of activities hiking, jogging, running that we it's because if we don't have specifics about it and we're talking about an activity in general, we use the past progressive.

[B]

Oh I love. When we get into grammar, this is good stuff to challenge our listeners and let our listeners kind of clean up their grammar a little bit. So good. So we should definitely have our listeners hit follow on the podcast. Will that one be here on Allers English?

[A]

Yes. Yep. Right here on Allers English we'll do a part two past progressive for interrupted or simultaneous actions. We'll give lots of examples so that you guys know how to use past progressive tense.

[B]

Excellent so, guys, that's coming up in the next couple of weeks, so hit that follow button right now so you don't miss part two to complete this series. Should we dive into a role play?

[A]

Yes. You are telling me about a recent ski trip. In this role play, we'll see if it's at all accurate for your recent ski trip.

[B]

Let's see. Let's see. Here we go. Oh, it was so fun. We went skiing every day of the trip.

[A]

I'm so jealous. Did you do any black diamonds?

[B]

Yes, I skied a couple black diamonds. I crashed once pretty hard.

[A]

Oh, that is why I don't ski. Were you hurt badly?

[B]

Oh, no, it was pretty minor, luckily.

[A]

What about the food? Did the resort have a good restaurant?

[B]

Yes, there were a few different eateries, so we were always trying new spots.

[A]

Nice. Okay, so I'm excited to go through this because you can see a little more why we opted for one of the other. So we started. You said we went skiing every day because you're not giving specifics. It's sort of the activity in general. You're going to use past progressive.

[B]

We went skiing every day of the trip. Nice. And then I said, you said, I'm so jealous. Did you do any black diamonds? Right.

[A]

Yeah. And this is past simple because we're. You're asking about a specific moment in time. Actually skiing that black diamond would be past simple.

[B]

Getting more specific. And I said, yes, I skied a couple of black diamonds. So we would never say, yes, I went skiing a couple of black diamonds. It sounds very weird to me. Very weird.

[A]

Exactly. That is incorrect because when we're making it, you're talking about a specific moment in time in the past. When you ski to that black diamond has to be past simple.

[B]

Love it. And then I said, I crashed once pretty hard.

[A]

And same thing. You would never say I was crashing once hard. No. Right. Past simple because it's at a specific moment in time, specific thing that happened.

[B]

And we know where to.

[A]

We.

[B]

We know on what kind of trail and all those details.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. And then I say, that's why I don't ski. Were you hurt badly? And so I'm again using past simple because if you were hurt, that would have happened at a specific moment in time.

[B]

Right, Exactly. And then you said, oh, what about the food? Always an important question, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Let's get away from you being hurt.

[B]

I know. Did the resort have a good restaurant? Right. So now we're using simple past because we know where we are. It's very specific.

[A]

Exactly right. And then you said, oh, we were always trying new spots. And this is one of those places where you have an option because you can use past progressive. We were trying. We were always trying new spots. And you could say we tried a lot of new spots because the context is either at these specific points in time we tried new spots, or more in general on the trip. We were trying new spots.

[B]

Yes. Nice. We need to change the wording just a little bit there. If we change the grammar. But we do have options, grammatically speaking. Yeah. This reminds me of last Friday. We went skiing, and do you ever do this where you realize you had. You've had a lot of choices and you've made the wrong choice?

[A]

Absolutely. Far too often.

[B]

This happened to us last Friday. We went skiing. Okay. It was gonna be a great day. It's sunny. It's beautiful. We're getting out there. We chose the. The one mountain that was literally. It's a ba. It's called a basin. It's a basin, and it's. It's enveloped in clouds, so it's. It's hidden from the good weather. So once we left. So we had a little vertigo because there was a moment when you're skiing when the sky looks just like the ground and you become really disoriented. Right. It was cold. It was bare. It was awful. We're like. We went home at, like, 11. We're like, forget this. We're not doing this anymore. Then we start driving back to the condo, and we see, oh, my gosh, Keystone looks beautiful. Vail looks beautiful. It's a sunny day. We didn't even know.

[A]

So all of these other resorts have these sunny, beautiful hills. Could be on. What a bummer.

[B]

What a bummer. You got to make the right choices in life, Aubrey. True.

[A]

Oh, I love that. Well, that is a good takeaway. Make the right choices in life, guys, not just with grammar, but also with your ski trips.

[B]

Exactly. Is that. What else do we want to add to the takeaway? Anything else? I mean, it's. It is about making the right grammar choices. I think that's a great link here, Aubrey. I love it.

[A]

And I think this is such a great connection skill chatting about what you've done recently. And you may find yourself avoiding doing that if you're worried about choosing past simple or past progressive. So today's tips should really clarify because you want to have those conversations with people.

[B]

Yes. So good. And again, it's great that we went into grammar today, guys. We try to bring up grammar as much as we can. So if you have a good grammar question that has been bothering you for a while, make sure to send it into us and we will do our best to answer that question. All right.

[A]

Awesome. Thanks Lindsay. This was fun.

[B]

All right Aubrey, you have a good day. Talk to you soon.

[A]

Bye.

[B]

Bye. Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluency score. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss miss anything. See you next time.