We use Narrative Tenses to construct narratives (i.e. to tell stories). This is an incredibly important real-world skill as we often like to talk about the weekend that just passed, to tell wild stories when you're a romantic date, or even to just brag to your friends and co-workers about your holiday last summer in Hawaii.
The Narrative Tenses are made up of the four past tenses:
past simple
past continuous
past perfect simple
past perfect continuous
Firstly, we'll start with a brief look at the past simple and past continuous (more information can be found in the Past Simple and Continuous lesson).
1. Past Simple
FORM:
FUNCTION:
The Past Simple is the most common narrative tense. In general it refers to short, completed actions at a specific time in the past, but in story telling, we use them to tell the main sequence (or order of events) in a story.
Last weekend, I got up, made breakfast, went outside and drove to the shops.
In this example, we use the past simple to show the main events in a story. This can be seen on the timeline below.
2. Past Continuous
FORM:
FUNCTION:
We use the Past Continuous to describe long actions in the past. In general, the past continuous refers to an action in progress in the past when another action (in the past simple form) happened.
I was driving to the shops when my favourite song came on the radio.
In this example, the past simple happens during the driving. See the timeline below.
In the next example, the past simple interrupts or stops the past continuous action.
I was driving to the shops when my car broke down.
The Past Continuous can also be used with another Past Continuous to say that they were both happening at the same time.
I was driving to the shops while my brother was taking the train to work.
When we tell stories, we can use the Past Continuous to give background or contextual information at the beginning of a story.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, people were jogging outside, and I was driving to the shops.
After the context has been established, we usually follow this up with the Past Simple to begin describing the important points of the story.
Suddenly, my car broke down. I got out to investigate and…
3. Past Perfect Simple
FORM:
FUNCTION:
By the time I arrived at the shops, my car had broken down twice!
My car had broken down twice by the time I arrived at the shops!
We use the Past Perfect (Simple and Continuous) to describe a short action that happens before another past action. You can think of it as a 'past' past action. The Past Perfect cannot be used on its own, and needs to be used with another past tense (typically a past simple, but the others can be used). On a timeline, it looks like this.
The order of the clauses do not matter as the Past Perfect clearly indicates which action happens first, so you can put either clause first.
4. Past Perfect Continuous
FORM:
FUNCTION:
By the time I arrived at the shops, I had been driving for an hour.
I had been driving for an hour by the time I arrived at the shops.
We use the Past Perfect Continuous to describe a long action that happens before another past action. Again, the order of the clauses do not matter. On a timeline, this example looks like this.
Both Past Perfect Simple and Past Perfect Continuous can be used with various time phrases. The time phrase may change the meaning of the sentence. See below for examples.
When/Once I had made breakfast, I drove to the shops.
I had made breakfast before I drove to the shops.
After I had made breakfast, I drove to the shops.
I had made breakfast by the time I drove to the shops. (= 'by the time' means 'no later than')
As soon as I had made breakfast, I drove to the shops. (= 'as soon as' emphasises immediately, or that the second action happened immediately after the first)
Why Simple or Continuous?
The decision to use Simple or Continuous in Past Perfect is mainly based on whether the action (look at the verb) is short or long. A short action is one that happens instantly (i.e. it doesn't take a period of time). Some examples include: to score a goal, to pass/fail an exam, to arrive home etc.
A long action is one that can take place over a period of time (i.e. represented by a long line on a timeline). These might include: to drive home, to pay attention, to watch a movie etc.
There are other reasons why we use the Simple or Continuous and these are basically the same as when you choose Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Continuous. In summary, these reasons include:
whether the verb is an action or state
whether you are emphasising how many or how long
whether you are emphasising finished/permanent or unfinished/temporary
whether you are focusing on the present result or past cause
whether the action is repeated
For detailed information on this, please see the Present Perfect Simple and Continuous lesson.
Is Past Perfect really necessary?
More often than not, the answer is no. Because the sole purpose of the Past Perfect is to indicate a time relation (i.e. that one past action happens before another past action), its use is very limited. In fact, it's much easier to use other language to indicate this same time relation. We can often use certain prepositions and time phrases that clearly state when an action happens in relation to another.
Let's use a simple dialogue to illustrate.
A: What were you doing in town? B: It was for a job interview. I had been looking for a new job the week before when someone had invited to an interview last Friday.
The first dialogue uses the Past Perfect in its most traditional form.
A: What were you doing in town? B: It was for a job interview. Well before that, I was looking for a new job for a while and then someone invited me to an interview last Friday.
In this case, we use phrases like before that (or before I did that) or after and (and) then. With this, we only need to use the Past Simple or Past Continuous. You will find that most native speakers prefer this method, rather than using the Past Perfect.
When do I use the Past Perfect?
Two places. Firstly, it's likely to feature in the Use of English Part 2 of the B2 First (FCE) exam, and to a lesser extent the C1 Advanced (CAE). Often, the auxiliary verb had is the answer in the gap. Just check for a past participle following the gap, and make sure it happens before another past action (check the context).
Secondly, the Past Perfect structure is used frequently in other advanced grammatical structures, like wish grammar, conditional sentences, and reported speech.
I wish I hadn't drunk so much. (= wish grammar)
If I had taken a gap year, I probably would have gone to South America. (= 3rd conditional)
He said that he had gone to the bank. (= reported speech)
In all of these cases, the Past Perfect is used to indicate that the action happened in the past. When you learn more about these grammatical structures in other lessons, you will see why the Past Perfect is necessary.