Precisely when do we use the past progressive tense?

JOSE A. CARILLO

Take a moment to ponder whether these two questions are correctly using the simple past tense in their main clause: “Were you not there when the check was presented to the receiving bank?” “Did you not see what was handed to Mr. de Guzman at that time?” In a recent posting in the forum, member Justine Aragones felt that they should have used the past progressive tense instead.