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Introduction
Phil attended a party on a boat on the River Thames and Pippa had a student radio show while she was studying at university. Learn how to use different tenses to tell stories from the past.
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Grammar explanation
past simple
We use the past simple tense for completed actions in the past and to move the story forward.
- I left the party early.
- I spilt coffee all over the white dress.
- My car stopped in the middle of the road.
past continuous
We use the past continuous to talk about an action that was in progress while or before something else happened.
- As I was leaving the party, I saw an old school friend.
- Everyone was running around trying to find some cleaning products.
- I was driving home from work when this happened.
past perfect simple
We use the past perfect simple tense for events that happened before this main action in the story. It acts like the past of the past.
- I hadn't seen this friend in a really long time.
- The bride hadn't known about it before her mother told her.
- This had never happened before.
past perfect continuous
We use the past perfect continuous tense to describe this type of action progressing before another action in the past.
- I had been playing football for two hours when I got injured.
To do
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