Narrative tenses, used to, would

Grammar / B2 Grammar lessons and exercises / Narrative tenses, used to, would

✏️ Exercises

Narrative Tenses

Infographic explaining all narrative tenses in English grammar, including past simple, past continuous, past perfect simple, and past perfect continuous with examples and uses, such as completed actions, habits, durations, and events in chronological order.

When telling stories or describing past events, English uses a range of narrative tenses to show the order, duration, and nature of actions. Mastering these tenses helps you create clear, vivid, and natural-sounding narratives.

🟦 Past Simple

Used for the main events in a story — actions that happened and finished in the past, often in chronological order.

  • When she opened the door, she pretended we weren’t there, and she went to her room.
  • He called me and asked me to pick him up, but he wasn’t there when I arrived.

Also used for past habits or states:

  • We often went to the bar before dinner.
  • He really liked sport and was very fit.

🟩 Past Continuous

Used to set the scene or describe background actions in progress in the past.

  • Last night, I was walking home and listening to my iPod when…
  • The sun was shining, and tourists were lying on the beach. Suddenly…

Also used for longer actions interrupted by shorter ones (past simple):

  • After dinner, I saw she was crying.
  • When she opened the door, we were talking about her.

🟪 Past Perfect Simple

Refers to actions or states that happened before the main past events.

➤ Earlier single events

  • When she opened the door, he had already left.
  • I realised that I had been there before.
  • He noticed I had cleaned the car.

➤ Quantity or completion before a past moment

  • We had driven 500 miles and needed rest.
  • How many hours had he slept when you woke him?

➤ Past states (with stative verbs) — duration up to a past point

  • They had been married for 48 years when Anne died.
  • I had been in England for four years when I left.
  • She told me she had always hated her sister.

🟨 Past Perfect Continuous

Emphasizes the duration or repetition of an action that was ongoing before another past event.

➤ Continuous actions before a past moment (dynamic verbs)

  • I had been waiting for him in the cold, and he didn’t call.
  • We had been driving for less than an hour when the car broke down.

➤ Repeated actions before a past moment

  • She had been writing a letter every day for over a year.

🟦 Used to vs. Would

A grammar chart explaining the difference between 'used to' and 'would' for past habits and repeated actions. It includes examples and common mistakes.

➤ Used to + infinitive

For repeated past actions and past states (no longer true):

  • When I was a child, I used to go skiing every winter.
  • I used to live with my mum.
  • As a child, I used to be blond.
  • I didn’t use to smoke before this job.

➤ Would + infinitive

Only for repeated past actions — not for states:

  • Every Saturday we would go to the shopping centre.
  • My teacher would tell me to shut up every class.

❌ I would be blond as a child.

✅ I used to be blond as a child.

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ I was having a shower when the phone rang. (if "have" = possession)

✅ I was taking a shower... OR I was having a shower (only if "have" = experience/action)

❌ When I arrived, she had left since two hours.

✅ When I arrived, she had been gone for two hours. OR She had left two hours earlier.

❌ I would live in London as a student.

✅ I used to live in London as a student.

Related tests:

Narrative tenses – all past tenses