Past tenses: grammar rules

Describe an action in progress at a specific moment in the past

Describe two actions happening simultaneously

Talk about an action or state that happened at an earlier time in the past than the main events of the story (Past of the Past)

"When", "While", "as" are used with...

Describe the main action or event of a story

An action that was in progress at an earlier time in the past than the main events of the story. It continued up until another event happened.

Talk about an action in progress that was interrupted by another

Describe past states or past situations

Talk about something that happened repeatedly or over a period of time in the past

Describe a sequence of events

Describe events that are finished