Narrative Tenses

Narrative Tenses

Telling stories

introduction

We use the narrative tenses to talk about the past. We can use them to tell a story or to describe past events, including personal anecdotes.

The four narrative tenses are:

Past Simple

Past Perfect Continuous

Past Continuous

Past Perfect Simple

When I lived on the island, I enjoyed walking on the beach in the early morning.

When we arrived at the theatre, the movie had already started.

The sun was shining ... I was strolling along the beach one day when suddenly ...

It had been raining.

01

past simple

The past simple is often used in stories and dialogue, too. - When Bobby went down for breakfast, Matt looked up. - “Did you hear the storm last night?” - Bobby didn’t answer. - “Your brother went out last night. He didn’t come back. Do you know where he went?”

• We can use the past simple for actions that started and finished in the past, for example a series of events in someone’s life.
• Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. He became the first black President of South Africa. He spent 27 years in prison in his battle against the system of apartheid.

02

Past continuous

We use the past continuous for background information and to describe a scene or situation that continued for some time. At 6 o’clock that evening Dan was still missing. Bobby was feeling worried. Bonnie was barking loudly.

03

Past simple and past perfect

We can use the past perfect with the past simple together in a sentence to describe an action that happened before another past action. We use the PAST PERFECT for the earlier action and the PAST SIMPLE for the following action She couldn't drive (action 2) because she had lost (action 1) her keys.

04

Past perfect continuous

We use this tense to describe an action that started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. It's an action that takes place over a period of time.

Practise grammar

Practise grammar

Practise grammar

Practise grammar

Practise grammar

Practise grammar

Practise grammar

Practise grammar

put the sentences in the correct order

To be continued...

Put the sentences in the correct order

questions?

Past simple and past continuous

We often use the past simple and past continuous together when one action interrupts another. I was strolling along the beach one day when suddenly, Bonnie ran off. It was still raining when Bobby woke up the next morning. Dan was sitting at the table when she went into the kitchen.