Narrative

tenses

Gloria Esperanza García Medina

602017
English
Narrative tenses
 Narrative Tense
Narrative tenses are verb tenses that are used to talk about the past. They
are often found in stories and descriptions of past events, such as personal
anecdotes.

Examples:
Past simple - 'We left on a rainy day’
Past continuous - 'It was pouring down even at midday’
Past perfect - 'It had rained off and on for ten days’
Past perfect continuous - 'We had been waiting to escape for what seemed ages'
 Uses Narrative Tenses
 Narrative tenses are used to talk about past events and to tell stories
 The most common of these is the past simple.
 Narrative tenses are four tenses that we often use for talking about past
events. 
 It is useful to look at these tenses together in the context of the
function narrating - relating past events.
 The other three tenses, the past continuous, the past perfect simple and
the past perfect continuous, can help us to say what we want more efficiently. 
 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
 Time clauses
WHEN+SIMPLE PAST, SIMPLE PAST

When I helped her complete her work, she thanked me.

When I read the letter, I cried.

WHEN+SIMPLE PAST, PAST CONTINUOUS

When she called me, I was cooking the meal.
When I met him, he was working in a hospital.
 Time clauses
WHEN+SIMPLE PAST, PAST PERFECT/PAST PERFECT CONT.
They had been touring the country for a month when we last
saw them.
When he arrived there, they had already gone.
 
WHILE/AS/JUST AS+PAST CONT, SIMPLE PAST
He fell asleep while I was cleaning the room.
As we were walking by the sea, we noticed a huge bin near
the small hut.
 Time clauses
WHILE/AS/JUST AS+PAST CONT,PAST CONT
As I was cleaning the kitchen, my sister was tidying the dining
room.
While you were reading the newspaper, I was working on my
project.
 
AS+SIMPLE PAST,SIMPLE PAST
As I opened my eyes I heard a strange voice.
The doorbell rang just as I picked up the phone.
 Time clauses
JUST AS+BE ABOUT TO, SIMPLE PAST
Just as I was about to resign from my position, I got
promoted.
Just as we were about to go out, it started to rain.
 
IT/THIS WAS THE FIRST/SECOND/THIRD....TIME+PAST
PERFECT
It was the last time we had seen each other.
That was the last word she had said.
 References
narrative tenses - English grammar reference notes |
ELTbase.com. (2019). Retrieved 22 July 2019, from
https://www.eltbase.com/notes-201-narrative-tenses