Retrieve the language
Past simple carries completed events in a life story; past continuous gives an action in progress or background: While the team was testing the design, the director called. Two simultaneous background actions may both be continuous. When and while do not determine the tense automatically; choose the meaning. Keep historical dates sourced and distinguish achievement from personal evaluation.
A/an introduces a non-specific singular count noun; choose by sound: an hour, a university. The identifies a specific/shared referent or a unique item in context. Zero article often marks plural or uncountable nouns in general: Festivals bring people together; music matters. Country names usually have no article, but the United Kingdom and the United States take the. Do not use a/an before an uncountable noun such as information.
Learn verb–preposition combinations as units: depend on, contribute to, deal with, apply for, protect from. In a non-defining relative clause, which can refer to a whole preceding proposition: We reused the boxes, which reduced waste. The comma matters. This use evaluates the event, not one noun. Do not use that after the comma.