How to use past tenses correctly

One day, I was listening to the radio when I heard a letter being read out. It was from a penfriend of mine and she had written in to the blog to ask a question about English grammar. I was so surprised! That’s what I like about the World Service – it brings people closer together through learning English.
Using past tenses
When we talk about the past – for example, when we are telling anecdotes or stories – we use a collection of tenses known as narrative tenses. In this group, we find the past simple tense, the past continuous (or progressive) tense, and the past perfect. In order to use them accurately, we must recognise the function of each tense within the story or narrative.
Identifying tenses
Read the passage below and identify the tense of each. It was raining (a) heavily when Jim arrived (b) home. He had been working (c) late and had missed (d) the last bus. Exhausted, he decided (e) to call a taxi to take him home. He waited (f) and waited but the taxi never arrived (g). So he decided (h) to walk. It was a dark evening but the street lamps were shining (i) brightly. He began (j) the long walk home.
Which tense(s) ...
a) is used to give the main events of the story?
b) is used to describe the background details but not the important actions?
c) are used to give information about actions which happened before the main events of the story took place?
Identifying tenses
Past continuous: a, i
Past simple: b, e, f, g, h, j
Past perfect simple: d
Past perfect continuous c
Which tense(s)?
Usually, the tenses are used to order information in a narrative in order of importance.
a) The past simple tense is used most frequently. It gives us the most important events in the story and moves the story forward.
b) The past continuous tense gives us background details. It describes what was happening around the time of the events in the story.
c) The past perfect simple and past perfect continuous both give information about things which happened before the main events of the story started.
Learning tip Take care not to overuse the past perfect tenses.These are used to emphasise that an action took place before the main events of a story.The past continuous tense can give lots of background detail – like the background in a picture – whilst the past simple tells the story, like the foreground of a picture.
Learning task
Put the following sentences in the correct order to make a story. The first one has been done for you.
The story begins:
It was a stormy afternoon. 3)...

1. ‘Are you OK?’ she whispered.
2. The phone rang and rang but nobody answered it.
3. The thunder was crashing and the wind was howling through the trees.
4. When he woke up, he was in hospital and his wife was standing beside his bed.
5. When he arrived at the station, he phoned his wife to ask her to meet him there.
6. He turned around but couldn’t see anybody. Suddenly, he heard a voice.
7. Professor Brown groaned, then fell to the ground.
8. He decided to walk home in the rain.
9. Professor Brown finished work at five o’clock and took the 5.30 train home.
10. The man took his briefcase, then hit Professor Brown very hard on the head.
11. While he was walking through the park, he thought he heard a scream.
12. Professor Brown was worried. His wife was usually home by 5.30.
13. A man snarled, ‘Hello Professor Brown. We have your wife. Give me your briefcase or you will never see her again.’
14. It sounded familiar. He was sure he had heard the voice before.
15. ‘I’m fine,’ he said, ‘but the men who have my briefcase aren’t. All there is inside is… .’

What do YOU think was inside the briefcase?

Answers
3), 9), 5), 2), 12), 8), 11), 6), 14), 13), 10), 4), 1), 15)