Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kleenx]

Hello,

I was trying to help my Korean friend and got stuck. How do I explain the difference between simple past tense vs past progressive tense?

For instance, are these sentences both correct?

I was riding my bike all day yesterday.
I rode my bike all day yesterday.

If they are both correct, are they different? What differentiates the two?

haha I know it's a bit much for me to ask, but if you guys can explain it in a way so its easy to explain to a Korean person I'd be grateful!

Thanks

[some waygug-in]

As they stand, the 2 sentences mean the same thing and are interchangeable.


Differences would come into effect if you were building more complex sentences.


Compare:

I was studying when the phone rang.


vs


I studied when the phone rang.


In the first sentence, there are two actions involved. The first action "studying" was happening and was interrupted by the second action "phone rang".


The second sentence is open to various meanings depending on the context.

It might mean the same as the first, it might mean something like

the speaker began to study when the phone rang, it might mean

the speaker studied the time period "when the phone rang"

(a rather odd meaning but still possible)

Hope this helps. Get a copy of Grammar in Use by Murphy, it should explain things way better than I can for you.

[kleenx]

thank you!

[Tallgesse]

Or rather, the speaker studied while the phone was ringing. Suggesting he ignored the phone and kept studying. OR, he started studying because the phone rang. Like a Pavlovian Dog experiment. Dude was trained to start reading text books and taking notes whenever he hears a phone ring. =P