Narrative Tenses:
Past Simple, Past Continuous,
Past Perfect and Past Perfect
Continuous
Nivel Intermedio 2 – Sergio V. 2014
Narrative tenses like the Past Simple,
Past Continuous, Past Perfect and
Past Perfect continuous are used to
tell stories or to talk about activities
and situations that happened
in the past.
LET'S CHECK THE TENSES!
PAST SIMPLE
- The Past Simple expresses an action that
started and finished in the past:
I had breakfast and I went to work.
- It also expresses a past habit. It usually
goes after WHEN:
She played in a band when she was young.
* It uses regular and irregular past verbs and
the auxiliary DID or DIDN'T.
PAST CONTINUOUS
- The Past Continuous is used to describe a
longer continuous past action which was in
progress when another action happened:
We were having dinner when the plane hit
some turbulence.
- Its verb form is: was/were + verb -ing
- We can't use state verbs with the Past
Continuous:
- Emotions: need, love, hate...
- Possession: want, belong, have...
- Sense: smell, see, hear, taste...
- Thought: think, remember, believe, know...
- The Past Continuous usually goes after
WHILE or AS.
PAST PERFECT
- The Past Perfect describes a past action that
happened before another action in the past.
When we arrived at the airport, we suddenly
realised that we had left one of the suitcases in
the taxi.
- Its verb form is HAD + Past Participle
PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
- We use the Past Perfect Continuous to talk
about a longer continuous action that was
going on before the main events happened.
Non-action verbs are not normally used in
the Past Perfect Continuous:
We had been driving for about two hours when
we finally got to the hotel.
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE OR PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS?
The Past Perfect Continuous emphasises the continuation of
an activity:
She was crying because she had been reading a very sad book.
The Past Perfect Simple emphasises the completion of an
activity:
She didn’t want to see the film because she had already read
the book.
What happens when we tell a story?
The Past Continuous sets the scene.
The Past Simple describes the main events.
The Past Perfect makes the story more
interesting.
LET'S PRACTICE
I. Complete the story using the past simple, past perfect,
or past continuous of the verbs in brackets.
It (be) Tuesday evening and I (get) ready to go to bed
when the phone (ring). To my surprise, it (be) my friend
Peter. He (call) from his mobile and he was very annoyed
because he (lose) his keys and he (cannot) get into his
flat. He (think) he (leave) them at work but now it was
midnight and the office was closed so he (cannot) get in
to check. Luckily I had the keys to his flat because a
month before he (give) me a spare set so that I could look
after his cat while he was on holiday. When he finally
(arrive) to pick them up, it was three o'clock in the
morning, and I (lie) on the sofa fast asleep.
It was (be) Tuesday evening and I was getting (get)
ready to go to bed when the phone rang (ring). To my
surprise it was (be) my friend Peter. He was calling
(call) from his mobile and he was very annoyed
because he had lost (lose) his keys and he couldn't
(cannot) get into his flat. He thought (think) he had
left (leave) them at work but now it was midnight and
the office was closed so he couldn't (cannot) get in to
check. Luckily I had the keys to his flat because a
month before he had given (give) me a spare set so
that I could look after his cat while he was on holiday.
When he finally arrived (arrive) to pick them up, it
was three o'clock in the morning, and I was lying (lie)
on the sofa fast asleep.
Material prepared and
selected by
Danitza Lazcano Flores
Teacher of English
Master in Education and
Educational Counselor
Adapted by Sergio V.