What is the difference in meaning between 'was doing' and 'did' in American English? [closed]

I found American use a lot of 'was doing' expression than English speakers from other countries.

I am wondering is there any difference of meaning in these two expressions? Grammatically speaking, of course, they are different. But I think American just take them as the same in daily speakings.

I was doing a lot of road trips in California.

I did a lot of road trips in California.

Solution 1:

The difference is the tense of the verb to do.

I did is the simple past.

I was doing is the imperfect.

I had done is the past perfect.

As in other languages, all convey a sense of past action. But the meaning of each is slightly different.

I did implies a past action that has finished in a specified time frame.

I did a lot of road trips in 1973

I was doing implies it was an unspecified amount of time or simulataneous action.

I was doing a lot of road trips back when I worked for IBM.

I had done means it was already done at that time.

I had done a lot of road trips by the time I went on this trip.

Solution 2:

"I did" is the "simple past" form. We use the simple past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past.

Here is a good example -

Sarah says, "I was doing my homework and my friend called."
Rachel says, "I did my homework and my friend called."

This means that Rachel finished her homework, but Sarah did not finish her homework. The "was doing" means that something was still going on, that it was interrupted or that it never finished.

Another example -

We worked from 9 am to 5 pm yesterday.

is best as a simple statement of fact. But you could use:

We were working from 9:00 to 5:00 yesterday. Around 1:00 the power went out.

if you are describing other things that were going on at that time.