A narrative can be made more vivid by using different kinds of past tenses. 
The examples given here are from a biography.

The simple past (verb+ed) is used to describe events that happened in 
the past in chronological order.

<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">The following year he <u>married</u> Jacqueline Bouvier who <u>bore</u> him 4
children in the following years. However only two <u>survived</u> to infancy: Caroline
and John.
</div>

The past continuous tense (be+ verb+ing)is used to describe a longer action 
that is interrupted by a shorter action.

<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">Kennedy was killed while
he <u>was riding</u> in an open car.
</div>

'while he was riding' can be reduced to  'while riding'<br> 
When the subject of the two verbs is identical the auxiliary can be left out
and an elliptical structure is thus created.

The past perfect tense (Had + past participle of the verb) is used when an
event happened before another past event.

<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May
29, 1917. Kennedy's family <u>had emigrated</u> from Ireland in 1849. 
</div>

The past perfect is sometimes used to improve style : to show part of the story in a flashback. 
Certain words in the text may indicate that the event had happened earlier (for example 'before'), 
in which case the use of the past perfect is not necessary.

<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">Khrushchev ordered his ships
to turn back before they <u>reached</u> the Navy
</div>

The past perfect tense can be used with adverbs such as "barely", "hardly ...when", "no sooner..than"
 to describe en event that had been completed just before another one happened. With "barely", "hardly ...when" the verb and the subject can be inverted, 
with "no sooner ...than" inversion of the subject and verb is obligatory .
<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">
<u>He had barely had</u> time to work on the civil rights bill as he was assassinated
in Dallas ...
 <p> <u>Hardly had he finished when</u> his friend arrived.

 <p><u>No sooner had Peter received the letter than</u> he rung her.
</div>
The past perfect tense is the equivalent of the present perfect tense in a past context.

<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">
 ... the first Roman Catholic president who <u>had ever been elected</u>.
</div>

The above tenses can be used in the passive voice as well.
 
Simple past passive : was/were+past participle
Past perfect passive : had been +past participle

<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">Because he <u>had been badly injured</u>, he <u>was then sent back</u> to the USA ...
</div>

"Would+verb" form is used to describe a future event in a past context; This structure is also called the "future in the past".

<h3 class="ex">Exemple</h3><div class="exemple">This confrontation <u>would mark</u> a change in the development of the Cold
War.
</div>

"would+verb" can also refer to indirect speech.
<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">
He told me he <u>wouldn't go</u> to that party.
</div>

was/were to +verb is used to describe an event that necessarily had to happen. it has a similar meaning to "would+verb". 
	
<h3 class="ex">Example</h3><div class="exemple">
In 1961, he <u>was to become</u>  the first Roman Catholic president ...</div>


\exercise{module=H5/english/oefkennedy.fr&exo=practice_pasts}{ Past tenses: practice}