Past Simpe vs Continuous

[Unregistered]

Hello
Could you please take a look at the following sentences and tell me why the verb visit is in the Past Continuous?

James went on a business trip last week. He was visiting some friends in Frankfurt.He left home early on Monday morning.

And which of these 2 is correct?
I saw Jim in the park. He was sitting on the grass and was reading a book.
I saw Jim in the park. He was sitting on the grass and reading a book.
Do I need to use a pronoun after "and"?
thank you so much.!

[Casiopea]

Hello
Could you please take a look at the following sentences and tell me why the verb visit is in the Past Continuous?

James went on a business trip last week. He was visiting some friends in Frankfurt.He left home early on Monday morning.

It doesn't have to be. The simple past works just as well.

He visited some friends in Frankfurt.

The continuous tense adds movement to the action. That is, the difference between the simple tenses and the continuous tense is like the difference between a photo graph, a still picture (simple tenses) and a movie, a moving picture (continuous tense).

And which of these 2 is correct?
I saw Jim in the park. He was sitting on the grass and was reading a book.
I saw Jim in the park. He was sitting on the grass and reading a book.
Do I need to use a pronoun after "and"?
thank you so much.!

Both are fine. The second sentence omits, or leaves out "was". It's left out because it's already mentioned. The conjunction "and" joins two like structures, and if a word in both structures is the same, then the second one is often left out, like this,

He was sitting and was reading.
He was sitting and reading.

Both are OK, but the second one is more efficient.

[Ramy]

thank so much you really helped me