Narrative tenses

We arrived at the airport and checked in.
We were having dinner when the plane hit some turbulence.
At nine o'clock most people on the plane were reading or were trying to sleep.
When we arrived at the airport, we suddenly realized that we'd left one of the suitcases in the taxi.
We'd been flying for about two hours when suddenly the captain told us to fasten our seat belts because we were flying into some very bad weather.
Lina was crying because she'd been reading a very sad book.
Lina didn't want to see the film, because she'd already read the book.

Exercise a

Meg and Liam McGowan got a nasty surprise when they were checking in at Heathrow airport yesterday with their baby, Shaun.

They had won free plane tickets to Rome in a competition, and they had been looking forward to their trip for months.

But, unfortunately, they had forgotten to get a passport for their son, so Shaun coundn't fly.

Luckly, they had arrived very early for their flight, so they still had time to do something about it.

They ran to the police station in the airport to apply for an emergency passport.

Meg went with Shaun to the photo booth, while Liam was filling in the forms.

The passport was ready in an hour, so they hurried to the gate and got on the plane just in time.

Exercise b

His English was very good. He'd been learning it for five years.

I was really fed up because we had been queuing for hours.

She went to the police to report that someone had stolen her bag.

She got to work late because she'd left her phone at home and had had to go back and get it.

I almost didn't recognize Tony at the party. He had changed a lot since I last saw him.

The tourists' faces were very red. They had been sitting in the sun all morning and they hadn't put on any sun cream.

O could see from their expressions that my parents had been arguing.

Jess hada bandage on her arm because she had fallen off her bike that morning.

I was amazed because I had never seen such an enormous plane before.

How long had you been walking before you realized that you were lost?

Past simple

We use the past simple to talk about consecutive actions or situations in the past i.e. for the main events in a story.

We arrived at the airport and checked in.

Past continuous

We use the past continuous to describe a longer continuous past action or situation which was in progress when another action happened.

Or to describe an action or situation that was not complete at a past time.

We were having dinner when the plane hit some turbulence.

At nine o'clock most people on the plane were reading or were trying to sleep.

Past perfect

We use the past perfect to talk about the 'earlier past'. Things which happened before the main event(s).

When we arrived at the airport, we suddenly realized that we'd left one of the suitcases in the taxi.

Past perfect continuous

We use the past perfect continuous with action verbs (go, play, watch, etc) to talk about longer continuous actions or situatios that started before the main events happened and continued up to that point.

Non-action verbs (e.g. be, have, know, like) are not normally used in the past continuous or past perfect continuous.

We'd been flying for about two hours when suddenly the captain told us to fasten our seat belts because we were flying into some very bad weather.

Past perfect simple or continuous

The past perfect continuous emphasizes the continuation of an activity.

The past perfect simple emphasizes the completion of an activity.

Lina was crying because she'd been reading a very sad book.

Lina didn't want to see the film, because she'd already read the book.

Extra

My parents had never flown before, so they were very nervous when we arrived at Heathrow Airpot to take our flight to Rome.

It was raining, so I left them at the terminal building with instructions to get in the queue at the check-in desk while I went to park my car in the long-term car park.

However, when I got to the check-in desk myself they were nowhere in sight.

I looked for them everywhere until it occurred to me it was possible they had already checked in and they were waiting for me in the departure lounge.

This was a real problem for me because I had given my passport to my mother, so I couldn't check in.

I called my parents on their mobile and, fortunately, my mother answered.

They had already gone through to the departure lounge, and they had been waiting for me for nearly half an hour at the gate.

Apparently, my mum had been reading her book and my dad had been doing a crossword.

After we hung up, my mum found an understanding member of staff who met me at the information desk with my passport!

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