Past tenses
Past tenses
They were in Mexico in 2016.
A South African won the race.
The plane didn’t arrive on time.
What time did you get up this morning?
When I lived in Paris I often went to watch Paris StGermain.
Past simple
We use the past simple for finished actions in the past (when we say, ask, or know when they happened).
We can also use it for repeated actions in the past.
They were in Mexico in 2016.
A South African won the race.
The plane didn’t arrive on time.
What time did you get up this morning?
When I lived in Paris I often went to watch Paris StGermain.
Past continuous
We use the past continuous to talk about an action in progress at a specific time in the past.
Remember, we don't use the past continuous with non-action verbs. NOT We stopped at a garage because we were needing petrol.
We often use the past continuous to describe a past action in progress which was interrupted by another action (expressed in the past simple).
The two actions are usually linked by when or as.
We often use the present continuous with while for two actions happening at the same time.
We often use the present continuous to describe what's happening at the beginning of a story or anecdote.
What were you doing at six o’clock last night?
I was driving along the motorway when it started snowing.
While I was doing the housework the children were playing in the garden.
It was a cold night and it was raining. I was watching TV in the living room.
Past Perfect
We use the past perfect when we are talking about the past and we want to talk about an earlier past action. Compare:
When John arrived, they went out.
When John arrived, they had gone out.
When they turned on the TV, the match had already finished.
As soon as I shut the door, I realized that I’d left my keys on the table.
We couldn’t get a table in the restaurant because we hadn’t booked.
Narrative tenses
We use the past continuous to set the scene.
We use the past simple to say what happened.
We use the past perfect to say what happened before the previous past action.
It was a cold night and it was raining. I was watching TV in the living room.
Suddenly I heard a knock at the door. I got up and opened the door. But there was nobody there.
The person who had knocked on the door had disappeared.
Exercises 5a
When the teacher collected the exam papers he saw that Robbie had cheated.
They didn't play well in the match although they had trained every evening.
Mike had an accident as he was cycling to work.
I left work early because I wanted to watch the match.
There was a lot of traffic, and when we arrived, the match had already started.
The captain hadn't scored any goals when the referee sent him off.
My son got injured while he was playing basketball last Saturday.
When the snowstorm started, we stopped skiing and went back to the hotel.
England hadn't lost any of their previous games when they played in the quarter-finals.
The referee suspended the match because it was raining.
Exercises 5b
The marathon runner was sweating when she crossed the finish line.
The accident happened when they were driving home.
The crowd cheered when the referee blew the final whistle.
I didn't recognize Jane at first because she had chanded so much.
The police stopped my sister on the motorway because she wasn't wearing a seat belt.
Some of the players weren't listening while the coach was talking to them.
We couldn't use the ski slope because it hadn't snowed enough.
They weren't able to play tennis because they hadn't booked a court.
The player got a yellow card because he had taken off his shirt after scoring a goal.