What Were You Doing Yesterday? How to Answer With One Clear Moment in English

A friend sends you a message: I called you around six yesterday. What were you doing?

You know exactly what happened. At six you were cooking, and the kitchen light went out. But the answer that starts to come out of your mouth begins with the morning: you worked, you went to the shop, you came home, and then, finally, six o’clock. Your friend waited for one minute of your day and received the whole day.

This page gives you a small formula for that question. It has four parts, and each part is one short piece of English: a time, an action that was already happening, an event inside it, and a result. The lines in quotation marks come from a podcast episode where Paul and Emily practice exactly this. Anything marked written for this page is added here and is not from the episode.

The formula in four pieces

Here is the whole answer from the episode, then the same answer cut into its four pieces.

“Around six fifteen, I was making dinner when the kitchen light went out.” (01:55)

Piece	What it does	In the sentence
1. Time anchor	Tells the listener which moment you mean	Around six fifteen
2. In progress	Says what you were already doing	I was making dinner
3. Event	Says what happened inside that action	when the kitchen light went out
4. Result	Says what changed or what you had to do (optional)	So I had to use the light on my phone.

Paul says what the listener gains: “The listener gets the time, the background action, and the event.” (02:03) And what the listener does not need: Emily “didn’t need to say what I did at nine in the morning.” (02:08)

The same shape, with the blanks open, is: Around ___, I was ___ing when ___. So I ___. Each of the next four sections is one blank.

Blank one: the time, before the morning

Start with the time the question asked about. If you remember it exactly, say it: “At six fifteen, I was making dinner.” (02:50) If you do not, Paul has a simple answer: “Use around or about.” (06:40) He adds that “Clear English does not require fake precision.” (06:43)

There is a second anchor for the moment when the other person has already given you the time or the event. Someone says they called you after work, and you answer: “At that point, I was still on the bus.” (03:20) Use At that point when the question has already put the time in the air. Use Around six when you are the one who brings it.

If your first sentence starts at the morning, you can still recover. Paul’s repair is one short instruction: “Jump to the time anchor.” (08:23)

Blank two: the action that was already happening

The second piece is was or were plus a verb with -ing: I was cooking. I was walking home. I was waiting for the bus. Emily calls these “background actions” (03:44) and says they were “already happening at that time.” (03:46)

The form is easy to break in a hurry. One of Emily’s first versions is “Yesterday at six, I was cook dinner.” (13:01) The repair is: “Yesterday at six, I was cooking dinner.” (13:06) After was or were, an action in progress takes -ing.

You can name one action or two in the same clause, as long as they belong to one scene: “At that point, I was cutting vegetables and heating some soup.” (01:41) What you should not do is list the afternoon. One moment, one scene.

Blank three: the event, with when or while

Now add the thing that happened inside the action. The event is a quick, finished thing, so it goes in the simple past: the light went out, it started to rain, the phone rang.

“I was cooking when the light went out.” (01:11)

When joins the two actions with the background first. While does the same job and lets you put the background at the start of the sentence: “While I was printing them, the printer stopped.” (11:27) Both work. Paul says that “When and while both help show the relationship between actions.” (04:04)

The second verb is where learners slip. Emily’s example of the slip is “I was cooking when my friend was called me.” (13:18) The repair is “I was cooking when my friend called me.” (13:22) Paul explains: “The call is the event, so simple past works naturally there.” (13:25)

Does the simple past ever work for both? Sometimes. Emily asks about “I cooked when she called” (19:52) and “I was cooking when she called” (19:56), and the answer is about meaning, not about a rule: the second one shows that cooking was already happening when the call came, while the first can still be correct for a completed action. When your listener needs to picture what was in progress, choose the continuous form for that action.

Blank four: the result, with That’s when or So I had to

The last piece is optional, and it is where the answer stops. There are two ways to end.

Use That’s when… for the moment you noticed or understood something. Emily: “The room suddenly got dark. That’s when I realized the kitchen light had gone out.” (04:21)

Use So I had to… for what you did because of it. Emily: “So I had to use the light on my phone.” (04:38) Paul’s name for it is “the immediate result or necessary action.” (04:43)

You do not need both, and you do not need a long story. When Emily asks whether this is turning into one, Paul answers: “No. You can stop after one result.” (04:49)

Only the background gets was doing

Once learners know the continuous form, many put it on every verb. The result sounds like a slow-motion film. Emily gives a wrong version on purpose: “I was cutting a pepper, the light was going out, and I was stopping.” (07:46) The better version keeps one continuous verb and lets the others be simple: “I was cutting a pepper when the light went out. I stopped and used my phone.” (07:53)

Paul’s rule is short enough to remember: “Use the continuous form for the background, not every past verb.” (07:59)

From a plain answer to a clear one

Here is how the pieces stack up, one at a time. This ladder is written for this page.

Step	What you say
Plain	I was at the library.
+ time	Around four, I was at the library.
+ in progress	Around four, I was looking for a book at the library.
+ event	Around four, I was looking for a book when I saw my teacher.
+ result	Around four, I was looking for a book when I saw my teacher, so I said hello and we talked for ten minutes.

Each step adds one relationship, not just more words. Paul says it about Emily’s upgraded answers: “The upgrade adds a relationship, not just extra words.” (15:06) You can stop at any rung. A short question can be answered at the “+ in progress” step.

When the listener gets the picture wrong

Sometimes your answer is clear and the listener builds the wrong order anyway. In the episode, Emily was taking a shower when the courier rang. Paul assumes the opposite: “Oh, so the courier rang before you started your shower.” (16:18)

Emily does not tell the whole story again. She fixes the one thing: “No, wait. The courier rang while I was taking the shower.” (16:22) “I was already in the shower.” (16:27) Paul’s summary is the rule for this whole page: “When the listener makes the wrong assumption, repair the one point that matters.” (16:41)

You can also repair yourself. Paul begins an answer, then stops: “Actually, no. Let me say that more clearly.” (17:10) A short self-repair is natural. Nobody expects the first sentence to be perfect.

A short exchange that shows the whole formula and one repair (written for this page):

Sam: I called you around seven. Were you at home?
Lina: Around seven, I was on the bus. I was looking for my keys when my phone rang, so I had to answer very quietly.
Sam: So you were already at home when I called?
Lina: No, wait. I was still on the bus.

Ten sentences to answer, fix or complete

These exercises are written for this page. Try them aloud before you check the answers.

1. Someone asks, “What were you doing around eight?” Which answer fits? A. I woke up at seven, had coffee and went to work. B. Around eight, I was waiting for the train.
2. Fix this: At nine, I was watch a movie.
3. Fix this: I was walking home when it was started to rain.
4. Choose when or while: I was crossing the street ___ my phone rang.
5. Choose when or while and start the sentence with it: ___ I was crossing the street, my phone rang.
6. Someone asks, “What were you doing when the power went out?” Which answer fits? A. I was watching TV. B. I watched TV yesterday.
7. Add a result: I was reading when my neighbor knocked on the door.
8. Rewrite with That’s when: I was walking home. The street suddenly got dark. I noticed the lights were off.
9. A friend says, “I called you at three.” Answer with At that point and the verb work.
10. Put the pieces in order: So I had to wait inside. / when it started to rain heavily / Around six, I was leaving the office

Answers

1. B. The question asks about one time, and B answers it. A is a morning report. Compare Emily’s own: “Around five, I was still at work, finishing a report.” (05:46)
2. At nine, I was watching a movie. After was, use -ing.
3. I was walking home when it started to rain. The event is a simple past verb.
4. when. A short event, a phone ringing, fits when well.
5. While I was crossing the street, my phone rang. (When I was crossing… is also possible.)
6. A. It connects the action in progress to the moment the power went out. Emily’s version of the same choice is “I was driving home, so I didn’t see it.” (06:04)
7. For example: So I had to put my book down and open the door.
8. I was walking home. The street suddenly got dark. That’s when I noticed the lights were off.
9. At that point, I was working.
10. Around six, I was leaving the office when it started to rain heavily. So I had to wait inside.

One minute of your own yesterday

The speaking task in the episode is a 45-to-75-second snapshot of one ordinary moment. Choose a time yesterday, say the four pieces in order, and stop after one result. If nothing interrupted you, Emily says that is fine too: “Around eight, I was reading. At that point, I was almost finished with a chapter. Then I made some tea and went to bed.” (22:25)

A model for the full shape (written for this page):

Around five thirty yesterday, I was at the pharmacy. I was waiting in line when the lights flickered and the card machine stopped. That’s when I realized the whole street had no power. So I had to pay with cash, and I only had a little. The pharmacist said I could come back the next day for the rest.

When you say it, put the stress on the words that carry the picture, as Emily and Paul do with their anchor sentence: “Around SIX, I was COOKING when the LIGHTS went OUT.” (18:01) Then ask yourself the follow-up question a listener might ask: was your first action already happening when the event came? If your sentences do not show it, change one sentence, not the whole story.

Hear it in a real conversation

Want to hear the whole exchange, from the kitchen light to the courier and the doorbell, plus the pronunciation practice and the speaking challenge? Go to the Show Note for the episode: Talk About Yesterday: Explain What You Were Doing at a Specific Time.

The formula on one line

• Say the time first: Around six… or, after the other person gave one, At that point…
• Name the action that was already happening, with was or were and -ing: I was cooking.
• Join the event with when, or start with While I was…, and keep the event in the simple past: the light went out.
• Finish with That’s when I realized… or So I had to… and stop. A specific question needs a specific answer: “A specific past-time question often needs a specific past-time answer.” (24:35)