The man who planted apple trees: the past continuous and past simple with when and while

Q: What's the difference between the past simple and the past continuous?

The past simple tells a finished action; the past continuous, one in progress . We ate pie at noon gives the whole event; At noon, we were eating pie puts you in the middle of it. In one sentence, the two often share the work: the long action takes was or were + -ing, and the short one that cuts in takes the past simple: I was picking apples when it started to rain.

Q: How do you use the past continuous and past simple together?

Use them together when a short action happens during a longer one : We were eating pie when the farmer called us. The long action takes was or were + -ing, the short one the past simple, and either can come first: When the farmer called us, we were eating pie. The A2 lesson The man who planted apple trees on edio.ai builds such sentences around an apple festival in Indiana.

Q: How do you use when and while in a sentence?

Use when and while to join a long past action and a short one : I was picking apples when it started to rain. While we were walking, the dog found an apple. Whichever word you choose, the long action takes was or were + -ing and the short one the past simple. To ask about such a moment, say What were you doing when the rain started?

Q: What's the difference between when and while?

While introduces the long action , and when usually introduces the short one. While I was stirring the soup, the phone rang. I was stirring the soup when the phone rang. When can also start the long action ( When I was picking apples, it started to rain. ), but while doesn't start the short one: While the dog took an apple, I was stirring is wrong.

Q: Do you use the past continuous after while?

Yes, the long action after while usually takes the past continuous : While we were walking, the dog found an apple. The short action stays in the past simple. Swapping the two forms is a common slip: While we walked, the dog was finding an apple gets both verbs wrong. A table in The man who planted apple trees on edio.ai opens every row with While .

Q: What is the interrupted past in English grammar?

The interrupted past is a longer past action that a shorter one breaks into : the longer action takes the past continuous, the interruption the past simple. I was sleeping when the phone rang. We were having lunch when it started to rain. When usually comes before the interruption and while before the longer action: While we were having lunch, it started to rain.

Q: Is it "when I saw" or "when I was seeing"?

Say when I saw : the short action takes the past simple . I was picking apples when I saw a deer is right, and when I was seeing a deer is wrong. The same goes for verbs like found , took and heard : While we were walking, the dog found an apple , not was finding . A drill in The man who planted apple trees , an A2 lesson on edio.ai, offers was seeing and seed as traps.

Q: Where does the comma go with when and while?

If when or while opens the sentence, put a comma after the first part : While we were walking, the dog found an apple. When it started to rain, I was picking apples. In the middle of the sentence, leave the comma out: The dog found an apple while we were walking. The comma goes after the whole time part, not straight after when or while .

Q: What does "as American as apple pie" mean?

As American as apple pie means very typical of America : Baseball is as American as apple pie. Yet the dish itself began in England. Two more apple phrases are common in the US: pie à la mode , with ice cream on top, and the saying An apple a day keeps the doctor away. In The man who planted apple trees on edio.ai, an apple farmer uses all three in one dialogue.

Q: How do I teach when and while to A2 students?

Draw the two actions before naming any tense : a long line for I was walking and a short arrow across it for I saw a deer . Then say the picture with when , then with while , and move each part to the front to show the comma. Teach the past continuous on its own first, so the only new step is choosing which action gets -ing.

An A2 ESL lesson plan on the past continuous vs the past simple, joined with when and while for a short action inside a long one.

Grammar: The long action in was or were + -ing, the short one in the past simple (I was picking apples when it started to rain.), and while with the long action.
Topic: Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman, who started apple tree nurseries in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, with words such as orchard, seedling, settler and apple butter.
Activities: The show's post on Johnny Appleseed, a talk at an apple butter kettle, a viewer's question, self-marking drills, a festival chat and story starters in boxes.

What's inside

Chapter 1Apples, apples, apples!
- PictureUnlock
- Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
- Study the words: apple timeVocabularyTry it
- Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock
Chapter 2Let's read: who was Johnny Appleseed?
- Look at the photo: planting apple seedsPictureUnlock
- Read the show's postReal-life documentTry it
- Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 3Let's listen: no butter in apple butter?!
- Listen to Maya and SeanListeningTry it
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
- Listen to the viewer's questionListeningUnlock
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
Chapter 4Grammar: I was picking apples when…
- Study the scheme: when and whileGrammar schemeTry it
- Choose the correct option: long action -ing, short action past simpleChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: long action -ing, short action past simpleFill in the gapsTry it
- Fill in the table: was / were + -ing and the past simpleFill in the tableUnlock
- Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock
Chapter 5Let's talk: what were you doing when…?
- Choose the right replies: Maya's festival newsChatTry it
- Open a box and answer: what were you doing?Open the boxUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
- Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: -ing for the long action, past simple for the short actionFill in the gapsUnlock
- Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the right answer: what were you doing?QuizUnlock
- Choose the correct option: Marco's story postChoose the optionUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: Laura's commentDrag and dropUnlock

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

harvest
nursery
seedling
settler
kettle
apple butter
sour

Grammar: past continuous and past simple with when and while

A short story often has two actions at once: a long one in progress and a short one that happens in the middle of it. At an apple festival in Indiana, learners give the long action was or were + -ing, put the short action in the past simple and join the two with when or while: I was picking apples when it started to rain.

I was picking apples when it started to rain.

The long action: was / were + -ing. The short action in the middle of it: the past simple.

The long action and the short action

The long action takes the past continuous, and the short action that cuts into it takes the past simple: We were eating pie when Sean called us. Either part can open the sentence: When it started to rain, I was picking apples. The second table shows every person.

when and while

The pattern	Example
long action + when + short action	I was picking apples when it started to rain.
When + short action, long action	When it started to rain, I was picking apples.
When + long action, short action	When I was picking apples, it started to rain.
While + long action, short action	While we were walking, Biscuit found an apple.
short action + while + long action	Biscuit found an apple while we were walking.

Every person: was or were?

Who	Long action: was / were + -ing	Short action: past simple
I	I was stirring the apple butter	when Biscuit took an apple.
you	You were walking in the orchard	when you saw a deer.
he	He was standing in line	when he smelled apple pie.
she	She was picking apples	when it started to rain.
it	It was raining	when we arrived.
we	We were eating pie	when Sean called us.
they	They were talking	when the bell rang.

When or while?

While goes only with the long action: While I was stirring, Biscuit took an apple. When usually goes with the short one (I was stirring when Biscuit took an apple), but when can introduce the long action too: When I was picking apples, it started to rain.

when or while?

while goes only with the long action: While I was stirring, Biscuit took an apple. (Not: While Biscuit took an apple, I was stirring.) when usually goes with the short action: I was stirring when Biscuit took an apple. But when + the long action is OK too: When I was picking apples, it started to rain.

At the apple festival

While Maya and Sean were talking, Biscuit took an apple.
Marco was standing in line for pie when Maya left.
When Maya saw Biscuit, she was stirring the apple butter.
It was raining when we arrived at the festival.
What were you doing when the rain started? – I was picking apples.

A comma when the time word comes first

With when or while at the start, a comma ends the first part: While we were walking, Biscuit found an apple. In the middle of the sentence, the comma disappears: Biscuit found an apple while we were walking.

Commas

When or while at the start of the sentence: put a comma after the first part: While we were walking, Biscuit found an apple. When or while in the middle: no comma: Biscuit found an apple while we were walking.

What were you doing when…?

To ask about the long action, start with What were you doing when…: What were you doing when Biscuit took the apple? I was stirring the apple butter. For the short action, ask What happened while…, and answer in the past simple: Biscuit found an apple.

Question	Answer
What were you doing when Biscuit took the apple?	I was stirring the apple butter.
What was Marco doing when you saw him?	He was buying pie.
Were you picking apples when it started to rain?	Yes, I was. / No, I wasn't.
What happened while you were walking?	Biscuit found an apple.

-ing spelling

pick → picking
stir → stirring
walk → walking
make → making
run → running

Common mistakes

I was picking apples when I was seeing a deer.
I was picking apples when I saw a deer.
the short action: past simple
While we walked, Biscuit was finding an apple.
While we were walking, Biscuit found an apple.
long action -ing, short action past simple, not the other way
While Biscuit took an apple, I was stirring.
While I was stirring, Biscuit took an apple.
while + the long action
It was rain when we arrived.
It was raining when we arrived.
was + -ing: raining

More lessons on this grammar: Past continuous lessons and exercises · Past simple lessons and exercises

Try the when and while exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

17 auto-checked exercises
4 games
1 real-life document
1 grammar scheme
1 set of word cards
2 audio clips
2 pictures
2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

join a long action and a short one with when: It was raining when we arrived. They were talking when the bell rang.
use while with the long action: While we were walking, Biscuit found an apple.
put a comma after a first part that starts with when or while: When it started to rain, I was picking apples.
ask and answer about a past moment: What were you doing when the rain started? I was picking apples.

Lesson 10 is the next step in Everyday heroes, unit 3 of English A2.2 · Curious Minds. It builds on lesson 9, which introduced the past continuous for an action in progress at a clock time, and on A2.1 lesson 32, where when, before and after joined two past simple events. The real history in the reading already mixes both tenses: When the settlers arrived, his young trees were already growing.

The warm-up wheel asks about apples, pies and fall festivals before ten picture-and-audio word cards, from pick and stir to nursery and sour. Students read the show's post on who Johnny Appleseed really was and why many of his apples were sour, then hear Maya and Sean, an apple farmer, at a copper kettle of apple butter; the dialogue is AI-voiced, and a viewer's question follows as a voice message. The scheme comes first, then four drills with instant checking; one is a table that pairs was walking with saw. The chat brings festival news and then asks for the unit's goal, a short story about a time someone helped the student; open boxes give more story starters.

All nine homework tasks mark themselves: matching and unscrambling the new words, a gap-fill with them, forms to pick, a two-tense gap-fill, word order, answers to What were you doing?, a story post with options and a comment to fill by dragging words.

Grammar:: past continuous vs past simple · when / while · What were you doing when…?
Topic:: Johnny Appleseed · John Chapman · apples · apple butter · apple pie · Fort Wayne, Indiana · Curious Minds

Teaching tips

Act out an interrupted action: one student mimes reading, another knocks on the desk, and the class says She was reading when he knocked. Then switch the roles and try it with while.
Ask what apple butter is before the dialogue. Most students expect butter in it; the dialogue says there's none, and in the same scene it gives them While we were talking, he took an apple.
Give each pair one long action and three short ones, such as walk in the orchard with see a deer, find an apple and hear a bell, and have them build each sentence both ways round.
Collect helpful-act stories after the chat: each student tells one in two sentences, like I was carrying heavy bags when my neighbor helped me, and the class asks one question about it.

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The whole course: English A2.2 · Curious Minds

32 lessons that pick up where English A2.1 ends, in simple American English, from the present perfect to used to, have to and relative clauses. Eight units cover nature, tech at home, heroes, healthy habits, fashion, school, animals and traditions. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

Unit 1 Wonders of nature
the present perfect with ever and never, been to, superlatives with I've ever, articles with place names
Unit 2 Clever tech at home
the present perfect with just, already and yet, phrasal verbs, subject and object questions
Unit 3 Everyday heroes
the past continuous, when and while, adjective order, story linkers
1. Lesson 9When the pager beepsThe past continuous with was and were
2. Lesson 10 · you're hereThe man who planted apple treesPast continuous and past simple with when and while
3. Lesson 11What's in the lost and found?The order of adjectives
4. Lesson 12The dogs who saved NomeStory linkers
Unit 4 Healthy and happy habits
will for predictions, the zero and first conditionals, so do I and neither do I
Unit 5 Style through time
used to, didn't use to, made of and made from, still and not anymore
Unit 6 School in America
have to, must and mustn't, be allowed to, had to
Unit 7 Amazing animals
relative clauses with which, that, who and where, look and sound + adjective, adjectives with prepositions
Unit 8 Traditions we love
invitations, will vs going to, so and such, one and ones

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between the past simple and the past continuous?

The past simple tells a finished action; the past continuous, one in progress. We ate pie at noon gives the whole event; At noon, we were eating pie puts you in the middle of it. In one sentence, the two often share the work: the long action takes was or were + -ing, and the short one that cuts in takes the past simple: I was picking apples when it started to rain.

How do you use the past continuous and past simple together?

Use them together when a short action happens during a longer one: We were eating pie when the farmer called us. The long action takes was or were + -ing, the short one the past simple, and either can come first: When the farmer called us, we were eating pie. The A2 lesson The man who planted apple trees on edio.ai builds such sentences around an apple festival in Indiana.

How do you use when and while in a sentence?

Use when and while to join a long past action and a short one: I was picking apples when it started to rain. While we were walking, the dog found an apple. Whichever word you choose, the long action takes was or were + -ing and the short one the past simple. To ask about such a moment, say What were you doing when the rain started?

What's the difference between when and while?

While introduces the long action, and when usually introduces the short one. While I was stirring the soup, the phone rang. I was stirring the soup when the phone rang. When can also start the long action (When I was picking apples, it started to rain.), but while doesn't start the short one: While the dog took an apple, I was stirring is wrong.

Do you use the past continuous after while?

Yes, the long action after while usually takes the past continuous: While we were walking, the dog found an apple. The short action stays in the past simple. Swapping the two forms is a common slip: While we walked, the dog was finding an apple gets both verbs wrong. A table in The man who planted apple trees on edio.ai opens every row with While.

What is the interrupted past in English grammar?

The interrupted past is a longer past action that a shorter one breaks into: the longer action takes the past continuous, the interruption the past simple. I was sleeping when the phone rang. We were having lunch when it started to rain. When usually comes before the interruption and while before the longer action: While we were having lunch, it started to rain.

Is it "when I saw" or "when I was seeing"?

Say when I saw: the short action takes the past simple. I was picking apples when I saw a deer is right, and when I was seeing a deer is wrong. The same goes for verbs like found, took and heard: While we were walking, the dog found an apple, not was finding. A drill in The man who planted apple trees, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, offers was seeing and seed as traps.

Where does the comma go with when and while?

If when or while opens the sentence, put a comma after the first part: While we were walking, the dog found an apple. When it started to rain, I was picking apples. In the middle of the sentence, leave the comma out: The dog found an apple while we were walking. The comma goes after the whole time part, not straight after when or while.

What does "as American as apple pie" mean?

As American as apple pie means very typical of America: Baseball is as American as apple pie. Yet the dish itself began in England. Two more apple phrases are common in the US: pie à la mode, with ice cream on top, and the saying An apple a day keeps the doctor away. In The man who planted apple trees on edio.ai, an apple farmer uses all three in one dialogue.

How do I teach when and while to A2 students?

Draw the two actions before naming any tense: a long line for I was walking and a short arrow across it for I saw a deer. Then say the picture with when, then with while, and move each part to the front to show the comma. Teach the past continuous on its own first, so the only new step is choosing which action gets -ing.

What's a good game for practicing when and while?

A finish-the-story round works well: each player gets a half sentence such as While I was walking to school, I saw … or I was cooking dinner when … and adds a surprising ending. The class votes for the best one and asks a follow-up: Where were you going? Both starters are open boxes in the speaking chapter of this lesson.

Are there interactive exercises for the past simple and past continuous?

Yes: drills that check each verb as it is typed suit this pair. Without signing up, visitors can play four parts of the A2 lesson The man who planted apple trees on edio.ai here: the show's post about Johnny Appleseed, a dialogue at an apple butter kettle, a gap-fill with the long action in -ing and the short one in the past simple, and a chat with festival news. The other drills are locked.

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About this lesson

What's inside

Vocabulary

Grammar: past continuous and past simple with when and while

The long action and the short action

when and while

Every person: was or were?

When or while?

At the apple festival

A comma when the time word comes first

What were you doing when…?

-ing spelling

Common mistakes

Try the when and while exercises

What's in the lesson

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

Teaching tips

Teach the whole lesson in edio

Start a free trial

Open the lesson

Teach it live or as homework

The whole course: English A2.2 · Curious Minds

Unit 1 Wonders of nature

Unit 2 Clever tech at home

Unit 3 Everyday heroes

Unit 4 Healthy and happy habits

Unit 5 Style through time

Unit 6 School in America

Unit 7 Amazing animals

Unit 8 Traditions we love

Questions about this lesson

Teach this lesson with your students