narrative tenses (b2.1)

or how am I even supposed to tell a story?

NArrative tenses

Look at the sentences. Match them to the correct use. THen, write the name of the tense they use above the box.

It was raining when we arrived.

We’d been enjoying a morning on the beach when something strange happened.

I was sleeping when the phone rang.

It had been snowing all night and my flight was cancelled

It was one of the coldest winters in memory.

I’d always wanted to visit Australia, so I bought the tickets right away!

When they arrived, the thieves had left.

He got in the car, started the engine and drove away.

Describe a longer activity up to the main event.

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Describe a longer activity before the main event.

Describe the background to the main story.

Describe The background to an event within the story. Generally an interruption.

1 when we need to make it clear that one past event happened before another one.

2 to describe something that happened before the main event(s)

2 to describe a general state in the past.

1 to describe the main events in sequence

PAST perfect continuous

PAST continuous

PAST perfect

PAST SIMPLE

We’d been enjoying a morning on the beach when something strange happened.

It was raining when we arrived.

It had been snowing all night and my flight was cancelled

I was sleeping when the phone rang.

I’d always wanted to visit Australia, so I bought the tickets right away!

When they arrived, the thieves had left.

It was one of the coldest winters in memory.

He got in the car, started the engine and drove away.

Describe a longer activity up to the main event.

Describe a longer activity before the main event.

Describe the background to the main story.

Describe The background to an event within the story. Generally an interruption.

1 when we need to make it clear that one past event happened before another one.

2 to describe something that happened before the main event(s)

2 to describe a general state in the past.

1 to describe the main events in sequence