Text types: Recounts

Telling about past events

Using other kinds of past tenses in recounts

Although the most typical past tense in a recount is the past simple, we can also use other kinds of past tenses, eg the past perfect and the past continuous. 

We use the past perfect if we want to talk about events which were completed before the main events of the recount. To make this tense, we typically add had to the past simple form, eg had walked. Some common verbs have a special past perfect form, eg had gone.

Doing verbs in the past perfect are most often used in the ORIENTATION and RECORD OF EVENTS of a recount.

Here is an example from the RECORD OF EVENTS stage of the recount My day out at Ocean Park:

We use the past continuous if we want to talk about events which are not completed, or events which were still happening at the same time as another event happened. To make the past continuous, we add was/were to the verb base with an -ing ending, eg were watching.

Doing verbs in the past continuous are used most often in the ORIENTATION and RECORD OF EVENTS stages of a recount. 

Here are some examples from the RECORD OF EVENTS stage of My day out at Ocean Park:

To see how the past perfect is used to tell about events which happened before, and how the past continuous is used to tell about events which were not completed in the recount My day out at Ocean Park, click here:

For more information see:

Grammar: Groups & phrases: Verb group: Time & tense: Past perfect
Grammar: Groups & phrases: Verb group: Time & tense: Past continuous