Read and learn how to combine past simple, past continuous, and past perfect!
Remember!
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The past simple describes a finished action or event in the past.
The past continuous describes something happening over a period of time in the past.
The past perfect shows something that happened before another event in the past.
For example:
She arrived at the party. (completed action)
She was arriving at the party when I called her. (an action happening over a period of time)
She had arrived at the party before I called her. (an action happened before another action)
She was arriving at the party when I called her. (an action happening over a period of time)
She had arrived at the party before I called her. (an action happened before another action)
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Past simple is used for the main event.
Past continuous describes an action in progress.
Past perfect shows an earlier action that happened before both.
For example:
I had cooked dinner (past perfect) before the doorbell rang (past simple), but while I was setting the table (past continuous), my phone went off (past simple).
Look at the example to see how all three past tenses are used together:
It started like a normal day. I got up, ate breakfast, and went to school by bus. Then, I saw a long line of traffic - there had been* an accident. The sun was shining**, so I decided to walk to school. While I was walking**, it began to rain heavily. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken* my umbrella, so I arrived at school late and completely wet.
Explanation:
It started like a normal day. I got up, ate breakfast, and went to school by bus. Then, I saw a long line of traffic - there had been* an accident. The sun was shining**, so I decided to walk to school. While I was walking**, it began to rain heavily. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken* my umbrella, so I arrived at school late and completely wet.
Explanation:
started/ got up/ ate/ went/ saw/ decided/ began/ arrived – the past simple is used to tell the main events that follow in a chronological order (one action is completed before the next one starts)
* had been/hadn’t taken – the past perfect is used to introduce an earlier action
**was walking/ was shining – the past continuous is used to introduce an action that was in progress when another, shorter action happed.
* had been/hadn’t taken – the past perfect is used to introduce an earlier action
**was walking/ was shining – the past continuous is used to introduce an action that was in progress when another, shorter action happed.