Narrative Tenses (Past)

Question 1

We use the past simple to talk about consecutive actions or situations in the past

Answer 1

We arrived at the airport and we checked in

Question 2

We use past continuous to describe a longer continuous past action or situation which was in progress when another action happened or to describe an action or situation that was not complete at a past time

Answer 2

We were having a dinner when the plane landed.
At nine o’clock most people were sleeping or reading

Question 3

We use the past perfect to talk about the earlier past, things that happened before the main events

Answer 3

When we arrived at the airport we realised we had left one suitcase at home

Question 4

We use the past perfect continuous with action verb to talk about longer continuous action or situation that started before the main event happened and continued up to that point

Answer 4

We’d been flying for about two hours when we hit the turbulence