Past Tenses – Travelling

The past simple is used:

to talk about completed actions in the past:

My brother got a new job in Madrid last week.
What did he say when you told him?
Shakespeare died in 1616.

to talk about habits in the past:

We always had roast beef on Sundays when I was a boy.
We never went abroad for our holidays until the 1970s.
I travelled by bus until I passed my driving test.

to talk about events that happened one after the other:

He jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.
I came, I saw, I conquered.

Past continuous

The past continuous is used:

to talk about an activity in progress at a particular time in the past:

What were you doing at 9 o’clock on the night of the murder?
At 9 o’clock I was getting the dinner ready.
At 2 o’clock everyone was having lunch.

to describe a situation or activity:

Cars were speeding past and people were hurrying towards the station.
It was raining so hard that everyone was sheltering in doorways.
He was wearing his best suit.

when a past action is interrupted by a shorter action:

I was walking along the road when it started to rain.
Someone knocked on the door as I was getting dressed.
I was wondering what to do when the phone rang.

when a past action takes place during another, longer past action or state:

She was living in Madrid when she met her husband.
I decided to give up smoking while I was working in the hospital.
I was learning Arabic when I got the chance to visit Egypt.

Past simple and past continuous

As far as Spanish speakers are concerned, the main thing that you should remember is that you have more verb tenses in Spanish than we have in English.

Even though it might sound strange to you, you need to use the correct English tense according to the rules. Look at the following examples which could help:

When we arrived she made some tea. (One action followed another)
When we arrived she was making some tea. (She was in the middle of making it)

I painted the living room yesterday. (I finished it)
I was painting the living room yesterday, (I did part of it)

He drowned. (He’s dead)
He was drowning. (I jumped in and saved him)

He hit his brother. (Single action)
He was hitting his brother. (Repeated activity)

The old pub stood by the river near the bridge. (Permanent)
He was standing outside the pub waiting for it to open. (Temporary)