NARRATIVE TENSES

New English File AdvancedA PowerPoint by Ana Flores

When we narrate a story, we use: Past Simple Past Continuous Past Perfect Past Perfect Continuous Would / Used to

We use narrative tenses when telling a story, or talking about situations and activities which happened at a past time.

When telling past events, DO NOT mix past and present

tenses.

PAST SIMPLE TENSE We use Past Simpleo to express a completed action at a definite

time in the past: When I was little we lived in another village.o To express past habits: I woke up very late at weekends when I

was a teenager.

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE We use Past Continuouso For an action which was in progress at a stated time

in the past: At 3 o´ clock , my son was sleeping.o For a past action which was in progress when another action interrupted: I was talking on the phone when someone knocked

at the door.

o For two or more actions which were happening at the same time in the past:

My husband was working on the computer while I was preparing lunch.

o To give background information in a story: It was getting really dark and the wind was

blowing as I was walking to work.

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE We use Past Perfect to go back to a sencond

past.o We use it to talk about things that had already

happened before that specific time in the past Some students got to school late. When they

arrived, the exam had already started.o We use it to make the narrative more

interesting and easy to read.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS We use Past Perfect Continuous to talk about

longer actions or situations which had continued up to the past moment:

Before we went to bed that night, I had been reading a very scary story about a wicked witch.

TIME CLAUSES WHEN+ SIMPLE PAST_________ SIMPLE PAST When I read the news, I cried.

WHEN+ SIMPLE PAST_____PAST CONTINUOUS When he phoned me, I was cooking.

WHEN+SIMPLE PAST_____PAST PERFECT When she arrived there, he had already gone.

WHEN+S.PAST____PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS When they found a cure for cancer, they had

been researching for years.

WHILE/AS/JUST AS+PAST CONT___SIMPLE PAST While I was watching a new serial on TV, I fell

asleep. As I was walking along the street, I bumped

into an old friend of mine.

WHILE/AS/JUST AS+PAST CONT___PAST CONT As I was writing an essay, my son was studying in his

bedroom. While he was studying Maths, he was listening to music on

his iPod. JUST AS/AS+SIMPLE PAST______ SIMPLE PAST As I woke up, I saw a cat staring at me! Just as I picked up the home phone,the mobile phone

rang.

JUST AS+BE ABOUT TO______SIMPLE PAST Just as I was about to leave, my sister-in-law

arrived. IT/THIS/THAT WAS THE 1ST,2ND,3RD.. TIME

__ PAST PERFECT That was the last time I had seen her. It was the first time I had eaten octopus.

AFTER+SIMPLE PAST_____SIMPLE PAST After she graduated from Malaga University,

she went to Oxford. BEFORE+SIMPLE PAST____PAST PERFECT Before she got married,she had spent most of

her time in London. BEFORE+SIMPLE PAST____SIMPLE PAST Before I went to Italy, I bought a lot of new

clothes.

BY THE TIME+SIMPLE PAST_____PAST PERFECT By the time his first film came out, he had

taken part in lots of theatre plays. BY THE TIME+SIMPLE PAST___PAST P. CONTIN. By the time he settled down in Estepona, he

had been travelling around the world. UNTIL/TILL+ SIMPLE PAST___SIMPLE PAST We waited until he finished his homework.

UNTIL/TILL +SIMPLE PAST_____PAST PERFECT

Until they found a new job,they had been unemployed for years.

AS SOON AS/THE MOMENT/ONCE/IMMEDIATELY+ PAST PERFECT/SIMPLE PAST___ SIMPLE PAST

As soon as I had seen her, I understood that something was wrong.

Once she decided to leave him, nobody was able to change her mind.

BY +PAST EXPRESSION_______PAST PERFECT By the mid 20th century, many women had

gained the right to teach. HARDLY/SCARCELY+PAST PERFECT(INVERSION) _______WHEN+SIMPLE PAST I had hardly entered the classroom when I

noticed a student speaking in Spanish. Hardly had I entered the classroom when I

noticed a student speaking in Spanish.

NO SOONER+PAST PERFECT(INVERSION)___ THAN+SIMPLE PAST No sooner had I left the office than it started

to rain.

WHAT ARE STATE VERBS?

When a verb describes a state and not an action we do not use the continuous tense. For example, 'play' is an action so we can say 'playing' whereas 'be' is a fixed state which does not change: 'To be, or not to be'.

Grammatically it is not correct to say "Im loving it" even though McDonald's have made this expression famous. 'Love' is a state verb and so we should say "I love it".

State verbs generally fall into 4 groups:• Emotion: love, hate, want, need• Possession: have, own, want, belong• Sense: see, hear, smell, seem• Thought: know, believe, remember

Here are some more examples of state verbs: doubt dislike understand suspect loathe like

mean forget prefer live Some verbs can be both state and action verbsThe meaning of these verbs is then different.

Have a look at these:•

• 'I have a car.' – state verb showing possession• 'I am having a bath.' – action verb which, in

this case, means 'taking'.• 'I think you are cool.' – state verb meaning 'in

my opinion'.• 'I am thinking about buying a motorbike.' –

action verb meaning 'considering'.

USED TO- WOULD USED TO: (semi-modal) I used to go climbing a lot ( but I don´t now) The negative form is either: I didn´t use to or I

used not to ( rare for some speakers). The form I didn´t used to may also be found. This is usually considered incorrect, unless we consider used to as an unchanging semi-modal form.

USED TO it is used to describe past habits or states. When

we use used to we suggest that the action is no longer true and so make a strong contrast with the present.

I used to get up at 8, now I get up at 7 (habit) I used to live in a flat, now I live in a house ( state)

WOULD it is used to describe a person´s typical

activities in the past.It can only be used to describe repeated actions, not states. It is mainly used in writing, and in personal reminiscences.

Every evening was the same. Richard would turn on the radio, light his pipe and read a newspaper.

That´s all folks!!!

ANA FLORESENGLISH DEPARTMENT

EOI ESTEPONA2011-2012