Narrative tenses

PAST SIMPLE

-> used for basic events, often with particular dates

I was born in 1980.

The company was founded in the 90.

PAST CONTINUOUS

-> used for activities in progress in the past

When we entered the room, everybody was watching TV.

PAST PERFECT

-> used for activities which happened before Past Simple

Before summiting Mounth Everest, we had walked 12 hours from the camp.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

-> used for activities which happened before Past Simple and were prolonged in time

We had been preparing for many months before we joined the Everest expedition.

USED TO / WOULD

-> used as a synonym of Past Simple to talk about past habits, used to used with both action and non-action verbs, would used only withaction verbs

I used to drink a lot of coffee. [action]

I used to have much shorter hair. [non-action]

I would often play badminton with my brother.

GRAMMAR EXERCISE

Translate using narrative tenses: Past Simple, Past Continuous. Past Perfect, used to / would

1. W 2015 rozpoczęto program zmiany kulturowej.
2. Podczas gdy Tik Tok zasypywał użytkowników dezinformacją, Instagram i Facebook wprowadziły precyzyjny system poprawności politycznej.
3. Zanim zaczęłam korzystać z urządzeń przenośnych, miałam głównie urządzenia stacjonarne.
4. Kiedyś firmy internetowe miały zwyczaj sprzedawania danych klientów innym firmom. Obecnie jest to zabronione zgodnie z RODO.
5. W czasie pandemii filmy viralowe miały w zwyczaju wprowadzać na rynek nowe trendy w stylu życia.
6. Jeszcze przed pandemią siła multipleksów mocno osłabła.