What were you reading this week?

[englishhobby]

Are the following sentences grammatical and natural? Can we use the past simple instead?

1) What were you reading this week?
2) What were you reading last week?
3) What were you watching at the last cinema that you went to?
4) Why were you crying last night?

 

[teechar]

They're grammatical and possible.

 

[englishhobby]

They're grammatical and possible.

Will they be grammatical and possible if we use the present simple?
1) What did you read this week?
2) What did you read last week?
3) What did you watch at the last cinema that you went to?
4) Why did you cry last night?

 

[5jj]

Will they be grammatical and possible if we use the present past simple?

Yes.

 

[5jj]

Most constructions are possible with more than one tense.

 

[englishhobby]

Is there a difference in use (or in shades of meaning) between the following two sentences or can they be used interchangeably?
1) What did you read last week?
2) What were you reading last week?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, of course there's a difference. The first is past simple and the second is past continuous. That means they have different uses and meanings.

As an English teacher, you surely must have encountered these different aspects before now.

 

[Tarheel]

Are the following sentences grammatical and natural? Can we use the past simple instead?

1) What were you reading this week?
2) What were you reading last week?
3) What were you watching at the last cinema that you went to?
4) Why were you crying last night?

While they all follow the rules of grammar, that doesn't mean anybody is likely to use any of them in a conversation. In fact, only the fourth one makes much sense to me.

In real life every sentence has context which gives it meaning.

For the third one I might say: "What did you see at the movies last night?"

For the third one I might say: "What did you read last week?"

Of course, I wouldn't ask any of those questions without a good reason to do so.