While and When - Past Continuous or Past Simple - Part 2

Choose the correct past continuous and past simple forms to complete the sentences below

They ..... TV

watched

were watching

when the fire ..... out

broke

was breaking

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Rule: Past Continuous and Past Simple ShowHide

Past Continuous

was / were + -ing – an action in progress at a moment in the past.

At eight o'clock we were watching a film.
It wasn't raining.
Were your parents watching TV?

Past Simple

A short, finished action, or one action after another.

The doorbell rang.
Jill got up and had breakfast.

Together

A longer action (Past Continuous) is interrupted by a short one (Past Simple).

when + Past Simple: I was doing my homework when the doorbell rang.
while + Past Continuous: While Steve was driving, his phone rang.
Two long actions at the same time: While Mum was cooking, Dad was reading.

was with I / he / she / it, were with you / we / they: The dog was chasing the cat. Kate and John were eating dinner.

Thirty-four little scenes in the bank, five of them at a time. Each scene is a picture and two lines: the action that was already going on takes the Past Continuous, the one that cut into it takes the Past Simple.