NARRATIVE TENSES WORKSHEET

Narrative tenses are the grammatical structures that you use when telling a story, or talking about situations and activities which happened at a defined past time. When narrating past events, DO NOT mix past and present tenses (avoid using the present perfect and present simple), as these will confuse the reader/listener about when things really happened. ere are the most common narrative tenses and how they are used! PAST SIMPLE "he past simple tense is used! a) "o express a completed action at a definite time in the past. "he separate events which occur in se#uence in a narrative are expressed using this tense. $.g. % woke up at half past seven yesterday& % had a shower and ate some breakfast. % left for work at #uarter past eight. N.'. "he past simple is the most common tense after (when)* b) to express habits. N.'. Used to + verb is often used to express past hab ts and states that happened in the past, but do not happen now. +sed to can not be used for actions which only occured once. $g. I !sed to work for ,etrobr-s. (% don(t work for them now) % didn"t !se to like living in %panema. (% do like it now) Where did #o! !se to go for lunch) (.ou don(t go there now)

PAST $ONTINUOUS /s with all continuous tenses, the past continuous gives the idea of activity and duration. "he past continuous is used! a) "o describe the situation in which the events of the narrative occurred. /lso to set the scene of the story! background information.

$.g. When % saw her (0), she was wearing (1) a blue dress and was driving (1) a 2ercedes. b) to express an activity in progress at a time in the past. N.'. "he past continuous is the most common tense after (wh %e( in #uestions and statements. "he past continuous also expresses the idea of! An nterr!&ted a't v t# $g. 3he was cooking dinner when the door bell rang. (3he cooked dinner 4 she finished it) An !n( n shed a't v t# $g. % was reading a book yesterday. (% read a book... 4 % finished reading the whole book) A re&eated a't on $g. "hey were shooting at the enemy. ("hey shot.... 4 "hey fired the gun one time only) A te)&orar# s t!at on $g. e was standing on the corner waiting for a bus. (%t stood on the corner. 4 ,ermanent situation)

PAST PER*E$T SIMPLE "he past perfect simple is used a) to show that an action or situation happened '$567$ the events in the narrative described in the simple past. % woke up at half past seven yesterday. % had slept very badly because there had been a power cut during the night. N.'8 %t is bad style to use too many verbs in the past perfect. /s soon as it is clear that the events happened before the time that the narrative is set, use the simple past.

PAST PER*E$T $ONTINUOUS "he past perfect continuous is used for longer activities that were happening continuously up until a specified time in the past.

e looked very tired (0), he had been working very hard (1) over the past three weeks. /s with the past continuous, the past perfect continuous can show the following! Un( n shed a't v t# $g. e hadn(t heard the telephone ring because he(d been reading. Re&eated a't v t# $g. % was tired. %(d been cutting wood all day. With the past perfect simple, the focus is on the completed activity. $g. e(d read three reports that morning. e(d cut a huge pile of wood.

PRA$TI$E P!t the verb n bra'+ets nto the 'orre't (or), Where both the &ast s )&%e and &ast &er(e't s )&%e are &oss b%e- wr te ".OTH", 9 0. +ntil % :::::::::::: (explain) the situation to her % felt guilty. 1. /fter % :::::::::::: (finish) my lunch % went back to work. ;. When the police :::::::::::: (interview) me they let me go home. <. /s soon as % got home my brother :::::::::::: (go out). =. "he children had to stay in until the rain :::::::::::: (stop) >. When % :::::::::::: (see) ?ohn coming towards me % walked in the other direction. @. % phoned my mother to find out why she :::::::::::: (not write) for so long. A. We stayed in our seats until the film :::::::::::: (finish). $ont n!e the (o%%ow n/ senten'es !s n/ the words n bra'+et n e ther the &ast &er(e't s )&%e or 'ont n!o!s, 9 0. 2y landlord threw me out of my flat because (not pay the rent for six months / and break all the windows) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 1. When % eventually got to the meeting % was bad tempered and exhausted8 % (sit in traffic Bam <= minutes / motorist bump into me / and get completely lost) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ;. 'y the time = o(clock arrived 'renda was furious. 3he (wait for an hour / drink six cups of tea / and they still not arrive) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: <. % was so depressed that % couldn(t do the exam. % (study every day for two months / and give up see my friends) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::