English Past Tense
Note that in the biography about President Obama  only the Simple Past and Past Perfect tenses are highlighted.
Simple Past	Past Progressive	Past Perfect	Past Perfect Progressive
Two years ago, I played baseball in New York.	I was playing baseball, when you called yesterday.	I had played baseball a little before I moved to New York.	I had been playing baseball for about five years before I moved to New York.
Use for an action that happened at a point in time in the past. e.g. - I ate lunch this afternoon.	Use for an action that was happening for a length of time in the past when another action happened in the middle of it. e.g. - I was eating lunch when my sister called.	Use for an action that happened in the past before another action. e.g. - I had already eaten lunch when my sister arrived.	Use for an action that was happening for a length of time in the past up to the moment when another action happened. e.g. - I had been eating lunch for 15 minutes when my sister arrived.
Biography Passage: Text Coded
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