We usually use "an hour ago" with the past simple: "I had lunch half an hour ago." However, according to the grammar book that I have, there is an exercise and key answers as well. In the exercise, it

Sophie

We usually use "an hour ago" with the past simple: "I had lunch half an hour ago." However, according to the grammar book that I have, there is an exercise and key answers as well. In the exercise, it is written as follows: What were you doing at these times? (half an hour ago) The key answer: I was watching TV half an hour ago. Why did we use the past continuous? Why not the past simple?

Jun 11, 2021 7:40 PM

Answers · 14

... because at that precise moment 30 minutes ago, you were in the middle of a process which had started before, and would continue after, that precise moment. You were not watching television only at that precise moment, 30 minutes ago.

June 11, 2021

That the question is asked in the past continuous offers a clue that the author of the quiz might be expecting an answer in that tense. Your answer is a perfectly sensible one to give if you were involved in a conversation, but the quiz in your book seems to have been expecting an answer in the same tense as the question.

June 11, 2021

Could not the writer just say: "I was asleep half an hour ago"?

June 11, 2021

In both examples, "ago" was utilized in the question, so "ago" is not tied to simple past or past continuous. Both tenses may be utilized, when it expresses an action during a given period of time.

June 11, 2021

Because he is asking about a continuous action during a specific period of time. If he said “what did you do half an hour ago?” Then you can use the past simple and answer it with “I watched tv half an hour ago”

June 11, 2021

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