Is it okay to use Past Simple with Past Progressive for two consecutive actions?

Question

For example,

"She added some water to the flour and was mixing it until she got a lump of dough"

or should it be

"She added some water to the flour and mixed it until she got a lump of dough" ?

Henry · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-11 22:34:25Z

As complete sentences, the second looks better to me.

She added some water to the flour and mixed it until she got a lump of dough.

But these are also acceptable, though with slightly different meanings:

She added some water to the flour and was mixing it when he came into to the kitchen

or

She had added some water to the flour and was mixing it until she got a lump of dough.

1 Answer