PAST NARRATIVE TENSES PAST SIMPLE - PAST CONTINUOUS - PAST PERFECT

We use the PAST SIMPLE when we refer to completed events, states or actions. We choose the past simple when we consider that the event, state or action took place within a finished period of time. We often use time phrases like: last week, at the weekend, in 1982, 3 years ago, when we were on holidays, etc. to make clear that the period of time we are talking about is finished.

____________________________________________________________ We use the PAST CONTINUOUS to describe actions in progress at a point of time in the past. (The action may continue after that point). At 10 oclock last night I was still doing the homework my English teacher had given to us. (I continued working after that point).
EXAMPLE:

We can also use the PAST CONTINUOUS to describe a longer action that was interrupted suddenly by another shorter action.
EXAMPLE:While

we were having our picnic, suddenly it started to rain. (and we couldnt continue having our picnic because the rain interrupted it). EXAMPLE:We were watching a very interesting film on TV when suddenly a power cut occurred. (and we couldnt continue watching TV) In narrative, the PAST CONTINUOUS is often used to describe the scene which forms the background for the events which are taking place. In the following extract from a novel, the author uses the past continuous to establish and describe the background against which the major event happens. Martha was knitting a cardigan in the kitchen and finishing her second glass of gin that morning when Mr. Darcy entered the room dressed in his best clothes.
EXAMPLE:

We sometimes use the PAST CONTINUOUS together with an adverb of frequency to emphasize the repetitiveness of an action.
EXAMPLE:

He was always complaining that he didnt earn enough

money.

We use the PAST PERFECT when there is more than one action in the past and we want to refer to the action that happened first in time. The director decided to make a film based on the piece of news he had read in the newspaper the day before.
EXAMPLE:

The Titanic had sunk the day before Mrs. Tylton arrived in Southampton.
EXAMPLE:

By the time she got up the next day, the weather had completely changed.
EXAMPLE: EXAMPLE:

He had never been in love before he met his girlfriend.

COMPARE THESE SENTENCES: When I turned on the TV, the programme started. (First, I turned on the TV, then the programme started) When I turned on the TV, the programme had started. (The programme had started before I turned on the TV) But we are not obliged to use the PAST PERFECT when the order of past events is clear: EXAMPLE: He had dinner, watched TV and then went to bed. We often use time phrases like: by the time, when, before, as soon as, etc.. to make sentences combining the Simple Past and the Past Perfect.

EXERCISES: Can you understand the differences in meaning between these 3 sentences? a) I left when he arrived b) I had left when he arrived c) I was leaving when he arrived a) She made it clear that she spoke English b) She made it clear that she had spoken English c) She made it clear that she was speaking English