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Olive file 673 Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

Past continuous and past simple

These are both examples from grammar books and I want to know why in the first example the past continuous is used and in the second the past simple, because to me two years is also temporary.

I was working in a shoe shop for a year. This is what I think: emphasis is on the temporary aspect, hence the use of the present continuous.

I lived in Brazil for two years. Emphasis is on the fact that I lived in Brazil, hence the use of the simple past.

  

Top answer

Hi olive file 673, The simple past is used to show a finished action or state which is no longer true or have an influence on the present. The past continuous is used to show an action in progress in the past. We don't know if the action is over, just that it was in progress at a certain/specific time in the past.

— ChicagoExPat

  • Hi olive file 673, The simple past is used to show a finished action or state which is no longer true or have an influence on the present.
  • The past continuous is used to show an action in progress in the past.
  • We don't know if the action is over, just that it was in progress at a certain/specific time in the past.
  • " Signal words like "while" or "as" in conjunction with another sentence in the past continuous show the actions happened parallel to one another.
  • " This interruption serves to tell us when the action was in progress (much like three hours ago).
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2 Answers
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Hi olive file 673,

The simple past is used to show a finished action or state which is no longer true or have an influence on the present.

The past continuous is used to show an action in progress in the past. We don't know if the action is over, just that it was in progress at a certain/specific time in the past. This can be shown through time expressions such as "one week ago

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olive file 673I was working in a shoe shop for a year.

Not everyone agrees wholeheartedly with me about this, but I find this construction anomalous.

The past continuous is supposed to indicate an open time period. That is, the points in time when the action begins or ends are unknown or left unsaid, so no particular duration is implied.

for

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