When the verb in the independent clause is the past tense, the verb in the dependent clause is usually in a past tense as well. The past tenses are the simple past, the past progressive, the past perfect, and the past perfect progressive.

The verb in a dependent clause should accurately reflect the temporal relationship between the two clauses.

If the action in the dependent clause occurred before the action in the independent clause, the past perfect is usually the most appropriate tense for the dependent clause, as in the following sentences. 

Mr. Whitaker denied her entry to the store even though Miriam had arrived at 4:58 p.m.

All the events in this sentence took place in the past. The action of the dependent clause ("even though Miriam had arrived at 4:58 p.m.") is described with a past perfect tense ("had arrived") because the act of denial takes place after the act of arriving.

After we located the restaurant that Christian had raved about, we ate supper there every Friday.

Since actions of the second dependent clause ("that Christian had raved about") precede the other actions in the sentence, the past perfect is the most appropriate verb tense. 

We fed the elephant oats for a week because it had eaten all the hay.

In this sentence, both actions take place in the past, but the action of the independent clause (the feeding oats) follows the action of the dependent clause (the eating of the hay) and, as a result, the predicate of the dependent clause is in the past perfect ("had eaten"). 

After she had learned to drive, Alice felt more independent.

In this example, the predicate of the dependent clause is in the past perfect ("had learned") because the act of learning preceded the independent clause's act of feeling independent.

The tenses usually match if the action in the dependent clause occurs simultaneously with the action in the independent clause. So if the simple past is used in the independent clause, the simple past may also be used in the dependent clause.

When the verb of the independent clause is one of the progressive tenses, the simple past is usually the most appropriate tense for the dependent clause, as in the following sentences: 

Lena was telling a story about the exploits of a red cow when a tree branch broke the parlour window.

Here the action "was telling" took place in the past and continued for some time in the past. The breaking of the window is described in the simple past and interrupts the ongoing action of telling a story. 

When the recess bell rang, Jesse was writing a long-division problem on the blackboard.

This sentence describes actions ("ran" and "was writing") that took place sometime in the past and emphasizes the continuing nature of the action that takes place in the independent clause ("was writing").

One of the most common source of verb sequence error arises from a confusion of the present perfect ("has walked") and the past perfect ("had walked"). Both tense convey a sense of pastness, but the present perfect is categorised as a present tense verb.

One of the easiest ways of determining whether you've used the perfect tenses correctly is to examine the auxiliary verb. Remember "has" and "have" are present tense auxiliaries and "had" is a past tense auxiliary. The future tense auxiliary is "will."