i repaired vs i was repairing
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dialog 1.
my friend asks me general question "What did you do yesterday?" and for example my car is broken and the damage is to big so it can not be fixed within one day.Do i have to use past simple or continuous?
a)"I was repairing my car (the whole day/morning/10 hours)?"
b)"I repaired my car" - does not matter if the car is fixed or not today.
dialog 2.
I have a mess in my room and my mom says "clean your room!"
Next day my room is still messy and she says :
c)"You should have cleaned your room ,what were you doing (all day)?"
d)"You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?"
past-tense present-tense
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Dec 3 at 18:59
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
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up vote
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dialog 1.
my friend asks me general question "What did you do yesterday?" and for example my car is broken and the damage is to big so it can not be fixed within one day.Do i have to use past simple or continuous?
a)"I was repairing my car (the whole day/morning/10 hours)?"
b)"I repaired my car" - does not matter if the car is fixed or not today.
dialog 2.
I have a mess in my room and my mom says "clean your room!"
Next day my room is still messy and she says :
c)"You should have cleaned your room ,what were you doing (all day)?"
d)"You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?"
past-tense present-tense
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Dec 3 at 18:59
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
dialog 1.
my friend asks me general question "What did you do yesterday?" and for example my car is broken and the damage is to big so it can not be fixed within one day.Do i have to use past simple or continuous?
a)"I was repairing my car (the whole day/morning/10 hours)?"
b)"I repaired my car" - does not matter if the car is fixed or not today.
dialog 2.
I have a mess in my room and my mom says "clean your room!"
Next day my room is still messy and she says :
c)"You should have cleaned your room ,what were you doing (all day)?"
d)"You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?"
past-tense present-tense
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
dialog 1.
my friend asks me general question "What did you do yesterday?" and for example my car is broken and the damage is to big so it can not be fixed within one day.Do i have to use past simple or continuous?
a)"I was repairing my car (the whole day/morning/10 hours)?"
b)"I repaired my car" - does not matter if the car is fixed or not today.
dialog 2.
I have a mess in my room and my mom says "clean your room!"
Next day my room is still messy and she says :
c)"You should have cleaned your room ,what were you doing (all day)?"
d)"You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?"
past-tense present-tense
past-tense present-tense
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
asked Dec 3 at 17:12
Patrik Melichercik
1
1
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Dec 3 at 18:59
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Dec 3 at 18:59
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
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0
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First Case: Using Continuous is much appropriate like "I was repairing my car" because once you said "I repaired my car", it means you completed your work while you haven't.
Second Case: If you consider, that the day is almost over and nothing more could be done on that particular day, the statement "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is right.
As it is stated in question that she is asking about messy room on Next day, then "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is perfect.
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
so in the second case you would never ask "What were you doing?" maybe if you know the person had all day free?for example "What were you doing the whole afternoon ?" etc.
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 3 at 19:06
In that context the question,"what were you doing?" means "what else (other than cleaning up the mess) were you doing?" It is a rhetorical question in the sense that the person asking it does not really want to know the answer, but just wishes to express her emotion that you have wasted your time when it could have been spent clearing up the mess.
– JeremyC
Dec 3 at 21:40
My intention in this context is to know what happend cause you didnt clean your room .So when my mom wants to know it (not rhetorical question) is it ok asking "What were you doing?" instead of using past simple in this case ?.My answer would for example "I didnt have time,watched tv,played game on PC etc".
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 4 at 17:19
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
0
down vote
First Case: Using Continuous is much appropriate like "I was repairing my car" because once you said "I repaired my car", it means you completed your work while you haven't.
Second Case: If you consider, that the day is almost over and nothing more could be done on that particular day, the statement "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is right.
As it is stated in question that she is asking about messy room on Next day, then "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is perfect.
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
so in the second case you would never ask "What were you doing?" maybe if you know the person had all day free?for example "What were you doing the whole afternoon ?" etc.
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 3 at 19:06
In that context the question,"what were you doing?" means "what else (other than cleaning up the mess) were you doing?" It is a rhetorical question in the sense that the person asking it does not really want to know the answer, but just wishes to express her emotion that you have wasted your time when it could have been spent clearing up the mess.
– JeremyC
Dec 3 at 21:40
My intention in this context is to know what happend cause you didnt clean your room .So when my mom wants to know it (not rhetorical question) is it ok asking "What were you doing?" instead of using past simple in this case ?.My answer would for example "I didnt have time,watched tv,played game on PC etc".
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 4 at 17:19
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
First Case: Using Continuous is much appropriate like "I was repairing my car" because once you said "I repaired my car", it means you completed your work while you haven't.
Second Case: If you consider, that the day is almost over and nothing more could be done on that particular day, the statement "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is right.
As it is stated in question that she is asking about messy room on Next day, then "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is perfect.
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
so in the second case you would never ask "What were you doing?" maybe if you know the person had all day free?for example "What were you doing the whole afternoon ?" etc.
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 3 at 19:06
In that context the question,"what were you doing?" means "what else (other than cleaning up the mess) were you doing?" It is a rhetorical question in the sense that the person asking it does not really want to know the answer, but just wishes to express her emotion that you have wasted your time when it could have been spent clearing up the mess.
– JeremyC
Dec 3 at 21:40
My intention in this context is to know what happend cause you didnt clean your room .So when my mom wants to know it (not rhetorical question) is it ok asking "What were you doing?" instead of using past simple in this case ?.My answer would for example "I didnt have time,watched tv,played game on PC etc".
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 4 at 17:19
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
First Case: Using Continuous is much appropriate like "I was repairing my car" because once you said "I repaired my car", it means you completed your work while you haven't.
Second Case: If you consider, that the day is almost over and nothing more could be done on that particular day, the statement "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is right.
As it is stated in question that she is asking about messy room on Next day, then "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is perfect.
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
First Case: Using Continuous is much appropriate like "I was repairing my car" because once you said "I repaired my car", it means you completed your work while you haven't.
Second Case: If you consider, that the day is almost over and nothing more could be done on that particular day, the statement "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is right.
As it is stated in question that she is asking about messy room on Next day, then "You should have cleaned your room ,what did you do ?" is perfect.
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
answered Dec 3 at 18:44
Aqib Aziz
262
262
so in the second case you would never ask "What were you doing?" maybe if you know the person had all day free?for example "What were you doing the whole afternoon ?" etc.
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 3 at 19:06
In that context the question,"what were you doing?" means "what else (other than cleaning up the mess) were you doing?" It is a rhetorical question in the sense that the person asking it does not really want to know the answer, but just wishes to express her emotion that you have wasted your time when it could have been spent clearing up the mess.
– JeremyC
Dec 3 at 21:40
My intention in this context is to know what happend cause you didnt clean your room .So when my mom wants to know it (not rhetorical question) is it ok asking "What were you doing?" instead of using past simple in this case ?.My answer would for example "I didnt have time,watched tv,played game on PC etc".
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 4 at 17:19
add a comment |
so in the second case you would never ask "What were you doing?" maybe if you know the person had all day free?for example "What were you doing the whole afternoon ?" etc.
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 3 at 19:06
In that context the question,"what were you doing?" means "what else (other than cleaning up the mess) were you doing?" It is a rhetorical question in the sense that the person asking it does not really want to know the answer, but just wishes to express her emotion that you have wasted your time when it could have been spent clearing up the mess.
– JeremyC
Dec 3 at 21:40
My intention in this context is to know what happend cause you didnt clean your room .So when my mom wants to know it (not rhetorical question) is it ok asking "What were you doing?" instead of using past simple in this case ?.My answer would for example "I didnt have time,watched tv,played game on PC etc".
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 4 at 17:19
so in the second case you would never ask "What were you doing?" maybe if you know the person had all day free?for example "What were you doing the whole afternoon ?" etc.
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 3 at 19:06
so in the second case you would never ask "What were you doing?" maybe if you know the person had all day free?for example "What were you doing the whole afternoon ?" etc.
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 3 at 19:06
In that context the question,"what were you doing?" means "what else (other than cleaning up the mess) were you doing?" It is a rhetorical question in the sense that the person asking it does not really want to know the answer, but just wishes to express her emotion that you have wasted your time when it could have been spent clearing up the mess.
– JeremyC
Dec 3 at 21:40
In that context the question,"what were you doing?" means "what else (other than cleaning up the mess) were you doing?" It is a rhetorical question in the sense that the person asking it does not really want to know the answer, but just wishes to express her emotion that you have wasted your time when it could have been spent clearing up the mess.
– JeremyC
Dec 3 at 21:40
My intention in this context is to know what happend cause you didnt clean your room .So when my mom wants to know it (not rhetorical question) is it ok asking "What were you doing?" instead of using past simple in this case ?.My answer would for example "I didnt have time,watched tv,played game on PC etc".
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 4 at 17:19
My intention in this context is to know what happend cause you didnt clean your room .So when my mom wants to know it (not rhetorical question) is it ok asking "What were you doing?" instead of using past simple in this case ?.My answer would for example "I didnt have time,watched tv,played game on PC etc".
– Patrik Melichercik
Dec 4 at 17:19
add a comment |
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