Past Simple Tense

Question

Hi. I have a question. What difference between next sentences: "He worked yesterday" and "He was working yesterday". I learn Past Simple and Past Continuous and don't understand difference.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

cortezz
Hi. I have a question. What difference between next sentences: "He worked yesterday" and "He was working yesterday". I'm learning the Past Simple and Past Continuous and don't understand the difference.

Without further context it's like this:

He worked yesterday.

He finished doing what he had to do yesterday. Today he doesn't have to do it because it's all done. Keep your mind in the present and look back at yesterday. What happened yesterday? He worked. We don't know exactly what he did, and we don't care, but he did it and it's finished. It probably took him some time to do that work, but we are not interested in the details of what happened during that time. We just summarize it as "He worked".

We reduce his work into a sort of point in time, or a block of time that we cannot see into. There is a fixed time that he started the work and a fixed time that he finished the work. "Opaque". "Closed". "Point". "Block".

He was working yesterday.

He was actively doing something. He was right in the middle of doing his job. He was busy. Put your mind in the past and watch him. What work is he doing? Is he mowing a lawn? Is he carrying mail? Is he arguing a case in court? Is he delivering packages? We try to imagine all the details of all the different actions he took while he was busy doing his work.

We open up his work time into a whole period or extent of time that we can look into and imagine what was happening during that period of time. There is no definite time he started or finished the work. "Transparent". "Open". "Period". "Extent".

CJ

Past Simple Tense

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