was he bothering you vs did he bother you

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in slightly different contexts. 'Was he bothering you?' is used to ask about a continuous action in the past, while 'Did he bother you?' is used to ask about a specific action in the past. The choice between the two depends on the specific situation being referred to.

Last updated: March 26, 2024 • 3113 views

was he bothering you

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to ask about a continuous action in the past.

This phrase is used to inquire if someone was causing annoyance or trouble over a period of time in the past.

Examples:

Was he bothering you during the meeting?
Was he bothering you while you were trying to work?
Was he bothering you all day yesterday?

Show examples from the web [+]

- Is he bothering you again?
Why is he bothering you with it?
Why is he bothering you after all these years?
Is he bothering you, sir?
Hope those clowns weren't bothering you.
Will not be bothering you again.
Your shoulder's still bothering you.
He feels terrible about bothering you all.
That wasn't bothering you before.
I can sense something is still bothering you.
I promise not to come bothering you any more.
Let me know if any of the other passengers are bothering you.
That will stop your conscience bothering you.
Just tell Dr. Prentiss what's bothering you.
Ethan won't be bothering you anymore.
That's not what's really bothering you.
Is that guy still bothering you?
Love is trusting someone enough to tell them what's really bothering you.
Love is trusting someone enough to tell them what's really bothering you.
Whatever it is, it's still bothering you.

Alternatives:

Was he being a bother to you?
Was he causing you trouble?
Was he getting on your nerves?

did he bother you

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to ask about a specific action in the past.

This phrase is used to ask if someone caused annoyance or trouble at a specific point in the past.

Examples:

Did he bother you with his constant questions?
Did he bother you when he arrived unannounced?
Did he bother you during the movie?

Show examples from the web [+]

Did he say something to bother you?
Why did he bother sending a messenger?
Let me know if he bothers you again.
If he bothers you at school today, just call a cop.
And if he bothers you again, you just tell him to see me.
If this was just a trick, why did he bother to get the actual quarter I need?
If he bothers you, come and get me. I'll put him in his place, and fast.
I really doubt he'd bother you.
Nobody bothers you on this bus.
But they needn't bother you.
It only bothers me that it bothers you, because you think it bothers me.
It may not bother you, but it bothers me.
If it bothers you, let it bother you.
If they bother you again, let us know.
Sorry to bother you, Captain.
Sorry. Sorry to bother you, ma'am.
It's really lame that that bothers you.
Riley. I'm really sorry to bother you at Travis' school.
Sorry to bother you, Mr. Queen.
I'm not here to bother you.

Alternatives:

Was he a bother to you?
Did he cause you trouble?
Did he get on your nerves?

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

was he bothering you vs did he bother you