The past continuous and simple past are often used together in sentences. For these sentences, we need to use time clauses. These time clauses include:
- while
- when
- as
- after
- before
There are many ways to use time clauses.
Order of Past Events
Sometimes, we use time clauses to talk about two things that happened in the past, and show the order in which they happened. Sentences with two simple past clauses can show that one thing was completed, and then another thing was completed. Here are some examples.
| Simple Past (1st Event) | Simple Past (2nd Event) | Full Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I took the test | after I finished the book. | I took the test after I finished the book. |
| Maggie called me | when she heard the news. | Maggie called me when she heard the news. |
| After the storm happened, | we replanted all the trees. | After the storm happened, we replanted all the trees. |
| He ate all the food | before she got home. | He ate all the food before she got home. |
Notice that when the time clause is in the first column, there needs to be a comma (,) before the second part of the sentence.
In all these sentences, the two things in the two columns are both completed actions. This is important because the simple past is used for things that are completed.
Interrupted Events
When we use one simple past clause and one past continuous clause, it usually shows that a simple past event interrupted a past continuous event. Here are some examples.
| 1st Event | 2nd Event | Full Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| They were dancing in the ballroom | when Mr. Hickles fell down. | They were dancing in the ballroom when Mr. Hickles fell down. |
| When Mr. Hickles fell down, | they were dancing in the ballroom. | When Mr. Hickles fell down, they were dancing in the ballroom. |
Notice that the same rule with commas applies to this kind of time clause sentence!
In these sentences, the past continuous sentence can come first or second, but it is always the event that got interrupted by something in the simple past.
Events at the Same Time
When we want to talk about two things in the past that were happening at the same time, we use the past continuous. In these sentences, both events were continuing and were not completed. We can use while, when or as for these sentences. Here are some examples.
| Past Continuous (1st Event) | Past Continuous (2nd Event) | Full Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I was singing along to the radio | while driving to school in the morning. | I was singing along to the radio while driving to school in the morning. |
| Was your dad working | as the storm was happening? | Was your dad working as the storm was happening? |
| While she was shopping in the mall, | I was planning her surprise birthday party! | While she was shopping in the mall, I was planning her surprise birthday party! |
| While the zookeeper was feeding the lions, | the gorillas were escaping! | While the zookeeper was feeding the lions, the gorillas were escaping! |
Sometimes when we use two past continuous clauses with the same subject (I, you, he, she, it, we, they, you or a name), we can leave out the subject in the second part of the sentence. The first sentence is a good examples of this.