There are a number of ways to describe the past.
The following sentences describe two activities in the past. The ‘devil in the detail’ (the contained important information) is that the sequence of events differ.
I ate when she left.
Event 1 (single action) ‘she left’. Event 2 ‘I ate’
Here, ‘when’ communicates that event 2 occurred at the same time as event 1. The difference here to using the continuous suggested that they started most probably at the same time.
I had eaten when she left.
Event 1 (single action) ‘I had eaten’. Event 2 ‘she left’
Past perfect (had + past participle)
Past participle is used is this context to denote (communicate/show) that something before something else; in this case, the second event is ‘she left’
I was eating when she left.
Event 1 (continuous action/process). Event 2 (during event 1)
The continuous form here describes a process that was occurring when a single event happened – during the time of event 1.
It can be seen from above that if we always use the simple past, our range in communication would become quite limited.
With this in mind how would you describe a number of events maybe for the last few days?
Let’s imagine the following:
- today is Friday
- Monday you attended a job interview
- before the job interview, you washed the car
- Thursday you met friends
- at the interview the mobile in your pocket rang
There are a number of ways this can be put together but using the examples above, how could be construct an explanation of this week?
‘What a week it has been, I was so stressful. Monday i was having a job interview when my mobile rang; it was so embarrassing! At least I had washed the car before I went as the person interviewing me, on seeing my car said, that they thought I was probably the best prepared for the job which involved a lot of car cleaning!’
______
How about your week or day?