Past Simple Or Continuous?

[Neeranam]

I met my friend at the airport. We chatted/were chatting while we waited/were waiting for our flights.

Which is it and why?

[PeaceBlondie]

Ah, why was I always being the first one to have been answering these grammar questions?

If you want to emphasize the action that was taking place, you could use one or two -ing verbs. Continuous/progressive is especially effective if it's interrupted: "We were chatting away when our flight was cancelled."

If it's part of a terse or sparse narrative, surrounded by short phrases in the same paragraph, two simple past tense verbs did the trick, didn't they?

[Neeranam]

Ah, why was I always being the first one to have been answering these grammar questions?

If you want to emphasize the action that was taking place, you could use one or two -ing verbs. Continuous/progressive is especially effective if it's interrupted: "We were chatting away when our flight was cancelled."

If it's part of a terse or sparse narrative, surrounded by short phrases in the same paragraph, two simple past tense verbs did the trick, didn't they?

Keep it simple PB. So there's no right?

[baboon]

I tend to look at it as to which action was more continuous and started first. The waiting was more continuous than the chatting as the chatting has breaks ( for breathing etc...) and you were there in the first place for the waiting. Thus, as a continuous action the waiting takes priority over the chatting and so I would go with " We chatted while we were waiting for our flights"

[Loaded]

needs more context to be certain.

What was the longer action? Chatting or waiting. I assume waiting so use pc 'was chatting'to describe the longer background action that's interrupted at a non-specific time by the relatively shorter ps 'chatted'.

Edited November 29, 2007 by Loaded

[B Fuddled]

I like to tell the students that the past continuous gives a background for the event you want to talk about. It's easier to explain with a time line; you draw a wavy line, past continuos, and and X for the event, past simple.

[PeaceBlondie]

I'm drinking whatever Loaded is buying; sounds good.

[Manchester]

I,ve always thought grammar was bollo*ks and that form / structure was more important.

[B Fuddled]

I agree, and would like to add spelling, if I may; past continuous.

Edited November 29, 2007 by B Fuddled

[mbkudu]

I,ve always thought grammar was bollo*ks and that form / structure was more important.

Grammar/syntax is the base. If you don't know it, then your form and structure will be crap. You probably know much more than you think, but don't know how to explain it to others. The big wake up call for me was when a thirteen year old asked me to explain the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb. "Uh. Can I tell you tomorrow?"

Edited November 30, 2007 by mbkudu

[stevemiddie]

I,ve always thought grammar was bollo*ks and that form / structure was more important.

Grammar/syntax is the base. If you don't know it, then your form and structure will be crap. You probably know much more than you think, but don't know how to explain it to others. The big wake up call for me was when a thirteen year old asked me to explain the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb. "Uh. Can I tell you tomorrow?"

Personal opinion only but have to agree that grammar is cr*p.

Many young native speakers know the form and the structure long before they understand..........." past simple present continuous and all that other rubbish.

Young learners such as P3, P4 etc really only need to understand Past, Present and Future. Full stop. Period.

Edited December 2, 2007 by stevemiddie

[BambinA]

I met my friend at the airport. We chatted/were chatting while we waited/were waiting for our flights.

Which is it and why?

Being a Thai with pidgin english.

I would say as "we chatted whilst we were waiting for our flights."

long action = past continuous

disturbing shot = past tense (as you chatted with your friend during you were waiting)

[PeaceBlondie]

Bambina, I like that! And being a native Thai who learned her English in Thai schools, you write it "whilst." I just never heard a Thai say all the final consonants in "whilst" or "amongst"!

[selavy59]

I met my friend at the airport. We chatted/were chatting while we waited/were waiting for our flights.

Which is it and why?

The first sentence sets the scene. "I met my friend at the airport".

Which suggests that the following sentence should correspond with the initial sentence and use the past simple -

"We chatted while we waited for our flights".

Alternatively you could use a past simple followed by a past continuous -

"We chatted while we were waiting for our flights".

Informally you could use any combination. You'll be understood.

[stevejones123]

Tense and or aspect often describes the subjective viewpoint of the speaker rather than any objective reality.

met has firmly put the action in a time scheme that is over, so that unless the whole narrative is going up to the present any divergence will need to return to an other past simple in a main clause to maintain closure.

So, using standard linguistic shorthand of * for incorrect and ? for possibly correct we have these example.

a. We met in the airport. We chatted while we waited/were waiting for our flights.

b. *We met in the airport. We were chatting while we waited/were waiting for our flights.

c. We met in the airport. We were chatting while we waited/were waiting for our flights and in walked Adolf with his new boyfriend.

d. We met in the airport. We were chatting while we waited/were waiting for our flights. We were having such a good time we nearly missed the plane.

The only incorrect form is b. The past continuous tense in the second main clause zooms in to concentrate on the passage of time, but leaves us hanging. Closure is needed.