Narrative tenses

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Narrative tenses

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We use 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 the past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous and one or more of these can be used in a sentence.

Past simple

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. The past simple is often used in stories and dialogue, too. Example: 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. We also use the past simple to talk about past habits or past states. Examples: We often went to the bar for a drink before dinner.

Past continuous

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

Past perfect

We use this tense to describe something that has been happening over a long period of time. We use the past perfect simple to talk about an earlier past: events which happened before the main event. Example: When she opened the door, he had already left. We use the past perfect simple (and not continuous) to say how much or how many we had done of something earlier in the past. Example: We had driven 500 miles, and we needed some rest.

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