Learning English Grammar Stories from the past
Mar 10, 2026
Phil, who recalls a memorable concert on a boat, and Pippa, who tells of a student radio mishap. Georgie is the resident grammar expert who unpacks narrative past tenses. They explore past simple for main actions. They explain past continuous for background, past perfect for earlier events, and past perfect continuous for durations.
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First Time At A Concert On A Boat
- Phil told a story about attending a concert on a boat for a friend's record label.
- He'd never been to a concert on a boat before and described the boat moving with the river while people set up.
Student Radio Show Interrupted By Fire Alarm
- Pippa described starting a student radio show while at university and how it often went wrong.
- One episode the fire alarm went off just as she was starting the show, leaving her unsure what to do on air.
Past Simple Defines The Story's Main Event
- Past simple describes completed actions that move a story forward and identify the main event.
- Georgie labels this the "what" of the story and contrasts it with past continuous, which shows interrupted or ongoing actions.