Past simple or Past continuous
A) CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION
1.-Anthony called/was calling while I parked/was parking the car.
2.-Miranda drove/was driving to work when she saw/was seeing the accident.
3.-Thomas didn't watch/wasn't watching the film when Sonia arrived home.
4.-Did he lie/was he lying on the sofa at 5,30 yesterday?
5.-When I left/was leaving the office, the phone rang/was ringing.
6.-It snowed/was snowing in the mountains when we got up yesterday.
7.-Barbara was living/lived in Paris when she was 15 years old.
8.-I was writing/wrote my blog on the Internet while you slept/were sleeping.
9.-While David was recovering/recovered in hospital, I decorated the flat.
10.-When I was waking /woke up, I realized that it was getting /got dark.

1. Anthony called while I parked the car.
In this sentence, we use the past simple tense "called" for the action of Anthony making a phone call. The action of parking the car also happened in the past, but it is a shorter action that happened at the same time as the phone call. Therefore, we use the past simple tense "parked."

2. Miranda was driving to work when she saw the accident.
Here, we use the past continuous tense "was driving" to describe an ongoing action in the past. The action of seeing the accident happened during the ongoing action of driving, so we also use the past continuous tense "saw."

3. Thomas wasn't watching the film when Sonia arrived home.
In this sentence, we use the past continuous tense "wasn't watching" to describe an ongoing action in the past. The action of Sonia arriving home happened while Thomas was not watching the film. Therefore, we use the past simple tense "arrived."

4. Did he lie on the sofa at 5:30 yesterday?
Here, we use the past simple tense "did he lie" to form a question about a single and completed action in the past happening at a specific time.

5. When I left the office, the phone rang.
In this sentence, we use the past simple tense "left" for the action of leaving the office. The action of the phone ringing also happened in the past, but it is a shorter action that happened after the action of leaving the office. Therefore, we use the past simple tense "rang."

6. It snowed in the mountains when we got up yesterday.
Here, we use the past simple tense "snowed" to describe a single and completed action in the past. The action of getting up also happened in the past, but it is a shorter action that happened after the action of snowing. Therefore, we use the past simple tense "got up."

7. Barbara lived in Paris when she was 15 years old.
In this sentence, we use the past simple tense "lived" to talk about a situation or a state in the past. The action of being 15 years old also happened in the past, but it is a state rather than an action. Therefore, we use the past simple tense "was".

8. I was writing my blog on the Internet while you slept.
Here, we use the past continuous tense "was writing" to describe an ongoing action in the past. The action of sleeping also happened in the past, but it is a shorter action that happened at the same time as the action of writing the blog. Therefore, we use the past simple tense "slept."

9. While David was recovering in the hospital, I decorated the flat.
In this sentence, we use the past continuous tense "was recovering" to describe an ongoing action in the past. The action of decorating the flat also happened in the past, but it is a shorter action that happened at the same time as David's recovery. Therefore, we use the past simple tense "decorated."

10. When I woke up, I realized that it was getting dark.
Here, we use the past simple tense "woke up" for the action of waking up. The action of it getting dark also happened in the past, but it is a gradual process that continued after the action of waking up. Therefore, we use the past continuous tense "was getting."