What comes first in a paragraph? Past perfect or past simple?

[Niranjan Krishnamoorthi]

I read in my grammar book that while we are talking about the past, in the English language; we follow a chronology. But it was not clear for me what order speakers follow.

 

[riquecohen]

If you post some examples, we'll be happy to comment.

 

[Tdol]

By the time I arrived, all the food had been eaten. :tick:
The food had all been eaten by the time I arrived. :tick:

The verb forms make the chronology clear, so the order in the sentence is not fixed.

 

[Niranjan Krishnamoorthi]

"When we give an account of a sequence of past events, we usually put these events in chronological order with the past simple. If we want to refer to an event out of order - that is, it happened before the last event we have talked about - we use the present perfect."

This is what was written in my book. Can someone explain?

 

[Raymott]

Do you mean 'past perfect'?
Yes, that's the natural way to narrate events. You start at the chronological beginning, and narrate forwards.
"I got up in the morning, I had a shower and then I had breakfast. Then I left work work. I had already (past perf.) fed the cat. When I arrived at work ..."
But it would be boring if stories were written that way. It's not necessary that stories be told chronologically if you use the right techniques.