B2 narrative tenses: telling a story in the past
B2 narrative tenses are the past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous, plus used to and would for past habits. You use them to tell stories in Writing and Speaking, and their auxiliaries (had, was, been) are frequent open cloze answers. This page is part of our B2 grammar guide.
By Eleanor BennettLast updated:
What each narrative tense does
When you tell a story, each past tense has a job. Think of a film: the past simple shows the main events in order, the past continuous sets the scene in the background, and the past perfect jumps back to something that happened earlier.
It was raining heavily when I left the station. I had forgotten my umbrella, so by the time I got home I was soaked. I had been looking forward to a quiet evening, but my cousins were waiting for me in the kitchen.
- Past simple: completed actions and the main sequence of events: I left, I got home.
- Past continuous: an action in progress at a moment in the past, or background description: It was raining, they were waiting.
- Past perfect: an action completed before another past moment: I had forgotten my umbrella (before I left).
- Past perfect continuous: an activity that continued up to a past moment, often with a result: I had been looking forward to it.
For past habits and states, use used to (I used to live in Thessaloniki) or would for repeated actions only (Every summer we would drive to the coast).
Narrative tenses are essential if you choose to write a story-style article, and they help you talk about experiences in Speaking Part 1. In the open cloze, had, was, were, been and used are among the most common answers. Narrative tenses also link closely to other topics: the past perfect appears after wish (see wish and if only) and in the third conditional (see conditionals), and the tense changes in reported speech follow the same logic.
Narrative tenses: form and use
| Use it to… | Phrases |
|---|---|
| Past simple: main events in sequence |
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| Past continuous: was / were + -ing (background, interrupted actions) |
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| Past perfect: had + past participle (earlier past) |
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| Past perfect continuous: had been + -ing (duration up to a past moment) |
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| used to / would: past habits and states |
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| Time linkers for stories |
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Typical B1 to B2 mistakes with narrative tenses
Trap: Yesterday I have seen a great film. German (Perfekt) and Italian (passato prossimo) use a present perfect form to tell past stories.
Fix: With a finished time (yesterday, last year, in 2019), use the past simple: Yesterday I saw a great film.
Trap: When I arrived, she left when you mean she was already gone.
Fix: Use the past perfect for the earlier action: When I arrived, she had left. The two tenses tell different stories.
Trap: Not using the past perfect at all. Polish has no separate past perfect, so Polish speakers often use only the past simple.
Fix: Use the past perfect when you go back in time from the main story, especially after realised, by the time, already and it was the first time.
Trap: I was knowing the answer or She was having a cat. Using the continuous with state verbs.
Fix: State verbs (know, believe, own, belong, need) normally stay simple: I knew the answer.
Trap: When I was a child, I would have long hair.
Fix: Would is only for repeated actions, not states. For states use used to: I used to have long hair.
Trap: I used to go to Paris last summer.
Fix: Used to is for repeated habits over a period, not for one event: I went to Paris last summer.
Worked example: narrative tenses in an open cloze and a transformation
The task
A. Think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.
When Rosa finally reached the campsite, it (1) ______ already getting dark. She (2) ______ been cycling since dawn, and she couldn't remember the last time she (3) ______ felt so tired.
B. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Use between two and five words, including the word given.
I had never tried surfing before that holiday.
FIRST
That holiday was ______ tried surfing.
- 1.
Gap 1: already getting dark is an action in progress, so we need the past continuous auxiliary. The subject it is singular: was.
- 2.
Gap 2: been cycling since dawn is a past perfect continuous (had been + -ing): the cycling continued up to the moment she arrived. The answer is had.
- 3.
Gap 3: the last time she felt so tired was before this moment, so we need the past perfect: had. Has is wrong because the story is in the past.
- 4.
Part B: never… before in the past becomes It / That was the first time + past perfect. We need the first time I had: the + first + time + I + had = 5 words, exactly the limit.
- 5.
A common wrong answer in Part B is the first time I have (wrong tense) or my first time to have (unnatural, and not the fixed pattern).
Answer
A. (1) was (2) had (3) had
B. That holiday was the first time I had tried surfing.
Practice · Reading & Use of English Part 2
Open cloze 1: Never too late to swim
B2 narrative tenses: frequently asked questions
What are the narrative tenses?
The past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous. Together with used to and would, they let you tell a story clearly: main events, background, earlier events and past habits.
When should I use the past perfect?
Use it when you need to show that one past action happened before another past action or moment: By the time we got to the shop, it had closed. If the order is already clear from before or after, the past simple is often fine.
What is the difference between used to and would?
Both describe past habits, but only used to works with states: I used to live in Kraków (not I would live). Would is for repeated actions and is common in nostalgic stories: We would spend hours at the beach.
How do I use narrative tenses in the Writing paper?
If you write an article about an experience or a story-style piece, mix the tenses: past continuous for the scene, past simple for events and past perfect for background. A good range of narrative tenses helps your Language mark.
Is it "did you used to" or "did you use to"?
Did you use to…? After did or didn't, use the base form use: I didn't use to like coffee.