The Narrative Tenses

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The Narrative Tenses

• Gabriel Roberts
• ELTC

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Aims and Objectives

• Aim
• To enable students to use narrative tenses more
  effectively.
• Objectives TSSBAT
• Recognise the relationship between verb tenses
  and their uses in the narrative tenses.
• Use the narrative tenses correctly.

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• A narrative is a story.
• As we cant 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.

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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

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• The past simple indicates an action that was
  completed in the past.
• Harry went home.
• They opened the box.
• We tried to help.
• ?Past-----------------------Now------------------
  ----Future?

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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.

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• 5. She says that I dont 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.

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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

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• This tense focuses on the duration of a past
  action.
• I was looking away.
• You were driving home.
• He was meeting his manager.
• ?Past---------------------Now--------------------F
  uture?

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• 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

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• 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
• ?Past---------------------Now--------------------F
  uture?

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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.
• 1. wake up sleep
• 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

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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.

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• 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.

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• 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
• -------------------
• ?Past--------------------Now---------------------F
  uture?

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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.

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• 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.

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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

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• 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.

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• 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
• ?Past---------------------Now------------------Fut
  ure?

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Task 4

• Answer these questions using the past perfect
  continuous
• 1. Why was Gareth sweating?
• 2. Why didnt 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?

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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
  shed had a hard day and was feeling tired. It
  was time to wait for Dad

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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.

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Aims and Objectives

• Aim
• To enable students to use narrative tenses more
  effectively.
• Objectives TSSBAT
• Recognise the relationship between verb tenses
  and their uses in the narrative tenses.
• Use the narrative tenses correctly.