Squirrels gathered nuts for winter.

Meaning: The squirrels collected hard-shelled fruits to prepare for the cold season.

Choice of Words: Gathered means to collect things together. Nuts are hard-shelled fruits. Winter is the coldest season of the year.

Alternative Expressions

The squirrels gathered nuts for the winter.

Meaning: This means that a specific group of squirrels are preparing for the cold season by collecting food to eat.

Choice of Words: The is a definite article that refers to a specific group of squirrels. Gathered means to collect something. Nuts are small, hard-shelled fruits that grow on trees. Winter is the cold season of the year. When you put them together, "The squirrels gathered nuts for the winter" means that a specific group of squirrels collected nuts to eat during the winter when there is not much food available.

Squirrels were gathering nuts for winter.

Meaning: This means that squirrels were preparing for the cold season by collecting food to eat.

Choice of Words: Squirrels are small, furry animals that live in trees. Were gathering means that they were in the process of collecting something. Nuts are small, hard-shelled fruits that grow on trees. Winter is the cold season of the year. When you put them together, "Squirrels were gathering nuts for winter" means that squirrels were in the process of collecting nuts to eat during the winter when there is not much food available.

Related Expressions