NARRATIVE PAST TENSES

To describe the
He turned off the TV, brushed his
main events in
teeth, and went to bed
sequence

To describe a
It was one of the hottest general state in the
seasons ever past

SIMPLE PAST
To make clear that one
past event happened
before another one

She had finished her The Mona Lisa had disappeared by

homework before dinner the time the security guards got to
was ready the place

To describe something
that happened before
the main events
PAST PERFECT
 The background to the
It was 2015, I was studying in main story
Unicolombo…

I was sleeping when the phone rang Interrupted

The background to an event
within the story
It was raining when we arrived Not interrupted

To describe an activity in PAST

progress in the past
CONTINUOUS
 • He had been studying for weeks
It’s formed with had + • She hadn’t been waiting for long
been + -ing • Had you been expecting the news? We use both past
continuous and past
perfect continuous to
We had been enjoying a I’d been looking for you all talk about an activity in
morning on the beach when morning (a long time progress in the past
something strange looking for you)
happened

With the past perfect I was looking for you

continuous, there is more (maybe 5 min ago)
To describe a longer emphasis on the duration of
activity in progress in the activity
the past
PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS