Narrative tenses: The Past Simple The Past Continuous The Past Perfect

The Past Simple is used to show when an event happened, i.e: I managed to finish my report yesterday at six. We last met in March. When I was a kid, I liked dancing very much.

The Past Continous is used to describe longer activities interrupted by shorter events, i.e: We were walking down the beach when we saw a stranded dolphin. While I was paying for my shopping, I saw that I didn’t have enough money. NOTE: In time clauses WHILE and AS always introduces the Past Continuous tense.

The Past Continuous is also used to describe what action was going on at a certain point of time. Yesterday at eight I was driving home. When Jack was doing the ironing, Jill was vacuuming the carpets.

The most important use of the Past Continuous though is to describe certain background for an event. The clouds were gathering and the wind was blowing when I finally decided to go home The teacher was talking loudly, but monotonously, and students began to fall asleep.

The Past Perfect (had + past participle) is also used to describe events, which happened before other events in the past. In other words, we may call it a retrospection tense. I already started doing my shopping when I realized that I hadn’t taken my purse. By the time I arrived at the meeting, the boss had already presented the subject

They had been together for years before they decided to get married. Bilbo Baggins didn’t tell anybody about the ring he had found on a previous expedition. NOTE: Words BEFORE and BY THE TIME often indicate the Past Perfect.

Also we need to remember about the Past Perfect Continuous (had+been+verb+ing) which describes a longer activity before a certain point in the past. Before I was transfered to Italy, I had been working for a few years in Spain. I had been thinking for a long time before Jack came and gave me the solution.

Feeling stronger now?