After she underwent her very first breakup she thought of suicide.


After she underwent her very first breakup she was thinking of suicide.

What's the difference between thought of and was thinking of?
And similarly what is the difference between think of and thinking of?

  • Here I guess past simple may suggest that perhaps she's not thinking of suicide any more. – Karolini Jun 20 '18 at 14:12

As expected the Simple shows a general idea whilst the Progressive shows the process.

When you "think of something" - you do it naturally, maybe often, maybe not, probably not now, but in general you do. When you are "thinking of something" - you are at it at the moment, you are in the process of it.

With the past it is the same. However, we can perceive the Past Simple "thought" as a single instance and thus render it as a process that occurred once in the past at a particular point in time.

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