Narrative Tenses
A narrative is a story. As we can’t predict the future, and it is very difficult to be sure of the relevance (importance) of current events to a story, we generally tell stories using past tenses sometimes called narrative tenses.
Past Simple- This is used in narrative to talk about actions that come one after another. This is usually the main narrative tense because it describes the main events in a story.
I/you/he/she/it/we/they/you did
The past simple indicates an action that was completed in the past.
“Harry went home” “They opened the box” “We tried to help”
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Past---------------------------------------Now-------------------------------------Future
Task 1
Put these sentences into the past simple
1. I wake up in the morning.
2. I wash and brush my teeth.
3. I catch the bus but it is late.
4. When I arrive in work I speak to my manager.
5. She says that I don’t get the right bus; there is an earlier bus that I can catch.
6. I have to work late. .
7. When I come home I am tired.
8. I eat my dinner and go to bed.
Past Continuous- This is used to describe a longer, continuous past action. It is usually used in narrative to describe a longer action, which was happening when a shorter action happened.
I/he/she/it + was + doing
you/we/they/you were
This tense focuses on the duration of a past action.
“I was looking away” “You were driving home” “He was meeting his manager”
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Past---------------------------------------Now-------------------------------------Future
The past continuous is very often used together with the past simple to demonstrate a longer past activity, which was interrupted by a shorter past action:
“I was looking away when the boy fell down” “You were driving home when I saw you” “He was meeting his manager when I spoke to him”
past action
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Past---------------------------------------Now-------------------------------------Future
Task 2
Decide which the longer action is and write a sentence using both verbs, the longer in the past continuous and the shorter in the past simple.
2. watch television knock the door
3. eat lunch see a friend
4. get hurt play football
5. think of you write a letter
6. crash not driving the bus
Past Perfect-This is used to describe an action which happened before the main events in a story.
I/you/he/she/it/we/they/you + had + done
This tense is often the cause of unnecessary confusion. If you consider it as being the present perfect tense set in the past you will find it easier to understand.
It is used to describe an action that had an outcome in the past and is connected with another action further back in the past.
“Paul had left when I arrived” “I had visited London before we went on holiday there last year” “They had met before Kerry introduced them”
action main events
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Past---------------------------------------Now-------------------------------------Future
Task 3
Write sentences using the past perfect, it will be necessary to change the sentences quite a lot.
1. I knew how to get to Liverpool. I visited Liverpool before.
2. Melanie arranged the meeting last month, she told her staff last week.
3. Last week Betsy saw an elephant at the zoo, before then she never saw an elephant.
4. I never broke a bone before I broke my arm in 1999.
5. Did you meet David before you met him last night?
6. France and England had political differences before World War I.
Past Perfect Continuous- This is used to describe a longer action that was in progress before the main events in a story.
I/you/ he/she/it/we/they/you + had + been + doing
The past perfect continuous, like the past continuous combined with the past simple, focuses on the duration of a past action up to the point in the past when it stopped.
“I had been studying all night when you called” “They had been looking for the keys for hours until they found them” “She had been trying to pass the exam for a long time”
start stop
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Past---------------------------------------Now-------------------------------------Future
Task 4
Answer these questions using the past perfect continuous
1. Why was Gareth sweating?
2. Why didn’t your car work?
3. Why was there a cold plate of food on the table?
4. Why did it smell of paint in your house?
5. What were you doing before you came to the UK?
6. Why did Mat smell of alcohol?
Task 5
Find narrative tenses in the text and decide which tense they are and why it is used.
I was waiting for my mother to come home from work; I loved it when she arrived because my brothers and I got so excited. It was about 5.30 and it was getting dark, we had been waiting since our grandmother had picked us up from school at 3.15. When she arrived she said that she’d had a hard day and was feeling tired. It was time to wait for Dad…
Task 6
Describe the difference in meaning between these sentences
1. When Mum arrived home Dad prepared some food.
2. When Mum arrived home Dad was preparing some food.
3. When Mum arrived home Dad had prepared some food.
4. When Mum arrived home Dad had been preparing some food.
