Narrative Tenses

In English, to narrate a story we can use:

 Narrative Tenses
Use the past simple for complete actions in the * Consecutive actions in the past
past which tell the main events in a story.
When I arrived, my friends left. When he arrived (then) she made a cake.

Use the past continuous (was/were +verb + - ing):
To describe an action in progress
• at a specific time or point in the story.
• when another shorter action/event happened (usually
in the past simple tense.
He was sleeping when the plane landed.
•Longer, continuous past action. It is
action in progress when another short
action happened
When he arrived she was making a cake.

• to set the scene of the story or a section of the story.

I was walking along the street when I noticed the man.
 Narrative Tenses
Use the past perfect simple (had + past participle) to
link the past to a point further back in the past. It is used
to talk about completed actions/events that happened
• before another action/ event/ the story began.
My friends had left by the time I arrived.
Or: When I arrived at the restaurant, my friends had left.
 Here we say the events (left, arrived) in a different order from which they occur

•Use it about the action which had happened

and was finished before the main event

When he had arrived, she made a cake.

 Narrative Tenses
Use the past perfect continuous (had + been + verb –
ing)
To talk about longer actions or situations which
started
• before the story began and continued to the
beginning of a story. The length of the action is often
mentioned with for or since.
• before a point or an action in the story and continued
up to that action.

She had been living there for a week before they met. *Use it for a past longer continuous
action that had happened before the
main one

• before a point where there is evidence of a recent When he arrived she had been
activity. making a cake – something shows
David looked very tired because he’d been working all the action
Narrative Tenses
Narrative Tenses
Narrative Tenses