Past Tenses 1 Name the tenses in bold in the texts. How is each tense formed? Which express an action/actions that:

3C Grammar in Use Past Tenses Grammar Reference 1 Name the tenses in bold in the texts. How is each tense formed? Which express an action/actions that: a were happening at the same time in the past? b was in progress at a stated time in the past? c was happening when another action interrupted it? d happened before another action in the past? e happened one after the other in the past? f shows the duration of a past action happening before another past action?

What a Coincidence! In 1953, a man called Irv Kupcinet 1) was staying at a hotel in London when he found some items in his room with the name Harry Hannin on them, the name of a good friend of his. Two days later, he received a letter from Hannin. Hannin told him an amazing story! A few weeks before, he 2) had been staying at a hotel in Paris when he found a tie in a drawer – with Kupcinet's name on it!

In 2008, an Australian woman lost an earring in the sea. Three days later, she 3) was talking to her husband while he 4) was cleaning some fish he 5) had just caught. He 6) saw something shiny inside and 7) pulled it out ... it was the earring his wife 8) had lost!

In Detroit, USA, in the 1930s, a man called Joseph Figlock 9) was walking down the street when a baby fell from a high window onto him. Then, a year later, another baby fell from the very same building onto him again!

2 Find the correct tenses. Explain your choices. 1 Jane was angry because Mark wasn't calling/hadn't called her since last weekend. 2 Sophie had a headache because her baby sister had been crying/was crying all afternoon. 3 Joanna switched/had switched the TV off and went to bed. 4 Mike slipped and twisted his ankle while he was playing/had played football yesterday. 5 Tony was shocked. He couldn't believe what had just happened/just happened. 6 After John had parked/had been parking the car, he went into the house. 7 This time yesterday, we lay/were lying on the beach sunbathing. 8 I didn't go out last night because I wasn't finishing/hadn't finished my homework. 9 Jack had been working/was working at the company for ten years before he left. 10 He was driving/had been driving for an hour when the car broke down.

3 Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Listen and check.

Sam: Who 1) ..... (be) that on the phone, Ann? Ann: George. I 2) ..... (think) about him when he 3) ..... (call), actually. What a coincidence! Sam: Is it! 4) ..... (I/tell) you what 5) ..... (happen) to me and my mum when we 6) ..... (shop) in London a few years ago? Ann: No, what? Sam: Well, we 7) ..... (look) around an old second-hand bookshop when my mum 8) ..... (come) across one of her favourite childhood books. She 9) ..... (show) it to me and when she 10) ..... (open) it, it 11) ..... (have) her name written inside! Ann: Wow, so it 12) ..... (be) her very own book! I bet you 13) ..... (not/expect) that! Sam: No, I didn't!