1. Narrative tenses
It was a cold night, it was raining
heavily. I got into my car and drove
home. When I got home I realized I
had forgotten my keys in the office…

2. Past continuous
It was a cold night and it was raining heavily.
I was reading a book when the telephone rang.
We use the past continuous to set the background in a
story.
We use the past continuous to express that a long
activity was taking place when a short activity
interrupted it.

3. Past simple
• We arrived at the airport and checked in.
We use the past simple to talk about consecutive
actions in the past.
We arrived at the airport We checked in
NOW
PAST

4. Past perfect simple
• When we were checking in we realized
we had forgotten our passports at
home.
Use the Past Perfect to talk about the ‘earlier past’,
i.e. things that happened before the main events.

5. Past Perfect Continuous
• We had been flying for two hours when the
captain told us to fasten our seat belts.
Use the Past Perfect continuous to talk about a long
action which was going on before the main events
happened.

6. Past Perfect Continuous
• We had been flying for two hours when the
captain told us to fasten our seat belts.
Use the Past Perfect continuous to talk about a long
action which was going on before the main events
happened.