Past tenses in English: a table with rules and examples

The English language includes four types of past tenses:

• Past Simple;
• Past Continuous;
• Past Perfect;
• Past Perfect Continuous.

In this article, we will look at how to form sentences in each past tense in English, when to use each tense correctly and how these tenses are connected to the concept of narrative tenses.

Contents

1. Past tenses in English: a comparative table
2. When to use past tenses in English
    2.1. Past Simple
    2.2. Past Continuous
    2.3. Past Perfect
    2.4. Past Perfect Continuous
3. Narrative Tenses: creating stories and descriptions
4. Practice exercise
5. FAQ

Past tenses in English: a comparative table

To examine the differences in sentence structure and time markers, let’s look at a comparative table of past tenses in English:

The following abbreviations are used in the table:

• Subject – the doer of the action;
• V – base form of the verb (first form);
• V2 – second form of irregular verbs (from the second column in the table);
• V3 – third form of irregular verbs (from the third column in the table);
• Ved – regular verbs with the ending -ed;
• Ving – verb with the -ing ending.

When to use past tenses in English

In addition to differences in sentence structure, the past tenses in English also differ in meaning and usage cases:

Past Simple

This tense is used in the following situations:

1) to talk about completed actions in the past:

• I graduated from university in 2019.
• They went to the cinema at the weekend. 

2) with past states:

• I was unusually happy that morning.
• She loved playing football when she was a child.

3) for events that happened one after another in the past:

• He got up, had breakfast and left for work. 
• We cleaned the apartment, went shopping and made dinner. 

Past Continuous

This tense is used in the following situations:

1) for two actions happening simultaneously::

• While I was reading a book, my sister was playing video games.
• While Mom was cooking, the children were setting the table.

2) to talk about actions occurring at a specific time in the past:

• We were doing homework at 4 o’clock yesterday. 
• She was watching her favourite vloggers at 10 last night.

3) For a long action that was interrupted by a shorter action (Past Simple is used for the shorter action):

• I was having lunch when someone knocked on the door. 
• While they were preparing for the exam, the power went out. 

4) for setting the scene in stories and describing background events:

• The sun was shining, people were walking down the street, and a big grey cat was lying on the fence. 
• The phone was ringing, the neighbours were arguing loudly behind the wall, rain droplets were hitting the window.

Past Perfect

This tense is used for actions that happened before other events or a certain point in the past:

• Suddenly I realized that I had forgotten to congratulate my friend on her birthday. 
• We had to go to the shop because we had eaten everything left in the fridge. 

In this context, Past Perfect is usually used together with other past tenses:

• When I came to the restaurant, my friends had already ordered food.
• The car had turned off the street and was passing the city hall. 

Past Perfect Continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous tense is used for actions that started in the past and continued until a certain point in the past:

• He had been studying German for 3 years before he was able to speak fluently. 
• She had been writing the email since morning until she finally found it good enough to be sent to the client.

Narrative Tenses: creating stories and descriptions

Despite the differences in structure and meaning, this group of tenses in English share some common features: all of them are used to talk about the past, describe events and in literary works. For this reason, they are also called narrative tenses (from the English verb narrate – to tell a story).

It all happened a few years ago when we went on vacation to Paris. While we were having coffee in a café, my cousin checked his bag and realized he had lost his wallet. As we were thinking about what to do next, a waiter suddenly came up and asked if anyone had forgotten a wallet in the restroom. We were so happy that we decided to order some cupcakes to celebrate. After we had been feasting for a few hours, we went on a sightseeing tour around the city.

In such narratives, all or just a few past tenses in English can be combined. Additionally, in stories, conjunctions and phrases are often used to help link ideas and sentences together:

• It all happened when;
• Suddenly;
• After that / then;
• Finally / at last / in the end.

Practice exercise

To better understand this topic, fill in the gaps using the correct tense (click on the sentence to check your answer):

FAQ

1. How many past tenses are there in English?

In English, there are four past tenses:

2. How to form past tenses in English?

To form affirmative sentences, use the following formulas:

3.When are past tenses used in English?

They are used in the following cases:

• Past Simple: for completed actions in the past; for short events that happened one after another.
• Past Continuous: for long actions that were happening at a specific time in the past; for actions that were happening simultaneously or were interrupted by another event.
• Past Perfect: for actions that happened before a certain point or another action in the past.
• Past Perfect Continuous: for actions that started and continued until a specific point in the past.

4. What are narrative tenses?

Narrative tenses are the collective term for the past tenses in English (Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous) that are used to create narratives, stories and descriptions. They are often used together to describe events that happened in the past.