Question

I watched / was watching the news when I saw / was seeing an interesting story​

Answer 1

I was watching the news , when I saw an interesting story.

Answer 2

Both options are grammatically correct, but there are slight differences in meaning and usage between the past simple tense ("watched" and "saw") and the past continuous tense ("was watching" and "was seeing") in this context.

1. "I watched the news when I saw an interesting story." This sentence indicates that you were in the process of watching the news, and at some point during that activity, you saw an interesting story. The actions of watching and seeing occurred sequentially.

2. "I was watching the news when I saw an interesting story." This sentence also suggests that you were in the process of watching the news, and during that ongoing activity, you suddenly saw an interesting story. The past continuous tense emphasizes that the watching action was in progress when the interesting story caught your attention.

The same logic applies if you replace "saw" with "was seeing":

3. "I was watching the news when I was seeing an interesting story." Here, the emphasis is on the ongoing nature of both actions. The past continuous tense is used for both "watching" and "seeing," suggesting that you were actively engaged in watching the news, and during that time, you were also witnessing the interesting story.

4. "I watched the news when I was seeing an interesting story." In this case, the past simple tense ("watched") and past continuous tense ("was seeing") are used together. It's not as common to use this combination because it creates a slight inconsistency in the tenses. While it's grammatically acceptable, the preference might lean toward using either both verbs in the past continuous tense (example 3) or both in the past simple tense (example 1).

Overall, the choice between the past simple and past continuous tense depends on the specific context and the nuance you want to convey. If the action of seeing the interesting story is considered a one-time event during your news-watching session, the past simple tense may be more appropriate. If you want to emphasize the ongoing nature of both actions, the past continuous tense is a better fit.