NARRATIVE TENSES

1. What tenses are the underlined verbs?

a) I got the next train, but after about 30 minutes, that train broke down.

b) A police car was driving past when it suddenly stopped

c) We arrived about two hours, late, and that meant I´d already missed the
interview.

2. When we tell a story we use a range of past tenses.

1. We use the ________________________ to describe the main events in

a story, in the order that they happened.
2. We use the ______________________ to describe a longer action that
is interrupted by a shorter event. We also use it to describe a longer
action that is not a main event in the story, such as the weather.
3. We use the ______________________ to describe an event that
happened before the main events in the story.

3. Match timelines (a-d) with the rules (1-3).

4. Complete the stories with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

I ____________ (travel) to work on the train when a ticket inspector

_____________ (ask) to see my ticket. I ____________ (look) everywhere, but
I had no idea where I _____________ (put) it. I emptied out my pockets but it
________________ (disappear) completely. There were two kids opposite me,
and while I __________ (pay) the inspector, I _____________ (notice) they
_______________ (smile and laugh). They got off at the next station, and my
ticket __________ (be) on their seat. They _____________ (find and hide) it.

5. Put the pictures in the correct order and retell the stories.