Context: I was on a college football team for half a year
- When I played for the team, I trained hard and we ate veggies
- When I WAS PLAYING for the team, I WAS TRAINING hard and we WERE EATING veggies
Are both correct and natural? Is there any difference in shades of meaning?
P.S. Please kindly refrain from quoting grammar textbooks or websites, as the standard explanations they provide simply don't work that well when it comes to using the language (and because I've already read them hundreds of times and have most of them memorized) and one more: if you are NOT a native speaker please don't respond (I'm sorry but I've been given false advice here several times by non-native speakers)
Thank you for your attention!
Best Answer
To summarize: Yes, both are correct and natural. There are no significant differences in shades of meaning. However, I'd prefer the first (and I think that many other native speakers would, too) because it is more concise.
To provide some more detail: As you probably know, the progressive aspect ("to be" + present participle) is typically used for ongoing action. Thus, the second sentence implies that the actions were continuous. The verbs in the first sentence do not inherently carry that implication. However, it is unlikely that any reader would think that you "played", "trained", or "ate" at only one specific time. Thus, it is very likely that a reader would infer exactly the same meaning from the first sentence as from the second. There is really no practical difference.