Narrative Tenses

Narrative Tenses

By Reyna Alonzo

​WHAT ARE THEY?

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• They are verb tenses that are used to talk about the past. 

• You can often find them in stories, textbooks, spoken accounts and in descriptions of past events.

​Some text here about the topic of discussion.

How many past tenses do you Know?

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Open Ended

List all the past tenses that you know

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 simple past

We use the past continuous for background information and to describe a scene or situation that continued for some time.

​​The past Continuous

​We use the past perfect to make it clear that one action happened before another past action.

​​The past perfect

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​Past actions in progress that took place before the main past events in a story.

The past perfect continuous

​Narrative tenses

Let's review each one of them!

​ The Simple Past Tense Use

​We use the Simple Past Tense

• For actions in the past, in a specific time (last month, 6 months ago, etc.)

• or a single repeated action in the past: 

E.g. I took the bus to work yesterday.

• When you tell about a main event or a sequence of events that happened one after another 

E.g. I picked up the children from school and drove to the supermarket.

Form

Open Ended

Write 3 sentences using the simple past tense (1 affirmative, 1 negative, and 1 interrogative)

​ The Past Continuous Tense Use

​We use the Past Continuous...

• ​To describe the scene or a background to a story

   Ex. It was a sunny day; the birds were singing happily.

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• For activities or situations that were in progress when another action took place 

  Ex. I was taking a shower when suddenly somebody knocked on the door.

  We were discussing the final question when my computer broke down.

Form

Open Ended

Write 3 sentences using the Past Continuous Tense (1 affirmative, 1 negative, and 1 interrogative)

​ The Past Perfect Tense Use

​We use the Past Perfect Tense...

​To emphasize a past actions that took place before the main past events in a story

​

Ex. I arrived at the office and I realized that I had left the stove turned on. 

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Ex. He looked everywhere but he couldn’t find the book he had promised to lend to his friend.

Form

Open Ended

Write 3 sentences using the Past Perfect Tense (1 affirmative, 1 negative, and 1 interrogative)

​ The Past Perfect Continuous Tense Use

​We use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense...

​for past actions in progress that took place before the main past events in a story

​

Ex. He didn’t hear the phone because he had been reading.

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Ex.  He was tired in the evening because he had been working all day in the garden.

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