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Grammar reference

Tenses

Choosing Tenses in a Narrative

Mixing past simple, past continuous and past perfect.

c1

Explanation

The past continuous draws the background, the past simple advances the action, and the past perfect reaches further back. Keep the main narrative in the past simple.

Examples

  • The rain was falling as we left the house.
  • By the time we arrived, the market had closed.
  • I was reading when the lamp went out.

Common mistakes

  • I was reading when the lamp was going out.

    I was reading when the lamp went out.

    The interruption takes the past simple.

  • We arrived, the market closed before.

    When we arrived, the market had already closed.

    Mark the earlier event.

More Tenses

Past Perfect Continuous

Ongoing past action leading up to another past event.

Used To and Would for Past Habits

Past habits and states that are no longer true.

Present Simple

Facts, habits and timetables.

Present Continuous

Actions happening now or around now.

Present Perfect

Past action with a present result, or an unfinished period.