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Narrative tenses are the grammatical structures used to refer to the past time. They are used to tell stories and describe past events and states.
Past simple, past continuous, past perfect simple and past perfect continuous are all narrative tenses. Also, the expressions "used to" and "would" plus infinitive can be used to talk about the past.
These past tenses are used to express:
-A finished action or state that happened at a definite time in the past (Past simple)
I saw an interesting film last night.
-An action in progress happening at a specific time in the past (Past continuous)
We were having dinner when someone knocked on the door
-An action or state that happened before a past action or state (Past perfect simple)
When we arrived at the theatre, the play had already started
-An action in progress that was happening before another past action (past perfect continuous)
When she arrived he had been waiting for over an hour!
-Things we did in the past but do not do any more ("used to"+infinitive-for actions and states- and "would"+infinitive-only for actions)
My father used to smoke a lot, but he gave up some years ago.
When I was a child, we used to live in the countryside and we would walk to school every day.
If you are interested in looking into Narrative Tenses more closely, you can check out the following PowerPoint presentation:
- Grammatube - Lesson About The Past Perfect Simple And The Past Perfect Continuous
Do you know when and how to use the past perfect simple and the past perfect continuous in English? If you?re not sure, we recommend you reading this post as it contains a selection of YouTube videos that explain in a clear way how to use the past perfect...
- Past Continuous Tense Explanations And Examples
Past Continuous Tense is one of the most popular tenses in English Language Teaching... FORM[was/were + present participle]Examples: You were studying when she called.Were you studying when she called?You were not studying when...
- Tenses: English Grammar
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- Uses Of Different Forms Of Verbs
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- Combination Of Verbs
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Narrative Tenses
Narrative tenses are the grammatical structures used to refer to the past time. They are used to tell stories and describe past events and states.
Fifty years ago, schools used to be single sex.
These past tenses are used to express:
-A finished action or state that happened at a definite time in the past (Past simple)
I saw an interesting film last night.
-An action in progress happening at a specific time in the past (Past continuous)
We were having dinner when someone knocked on the door
-An action or state that happened before a past action or state (Past perfect simple)
When we arrived at the theatre, the play had already started
-An action in progress that was happening before another past action (past perfect continuous)
When she arrived he had been waiting for over an hour!
-Things we did in the past but do not do any more ("used to"+infinitive-for actions and states- and "would"+infinitive-only for actions)
My father used to smoke a lot, but he gave up some years ago.
When I was a child, we used to live in the countryside and we would walk to school every day.
If you are interested in looking into Narrative Tenses more closely, you can check out the following PowerPoint presentation:
Narrative tenses new english file advanced, Past simple, Past Continuos, Past Perfect Simple, Past Perfect Continuous, Action/ State verbs, Used to / Would, from Lola Domínguez
Now, you could try the following excersises to practice Narrative Tenses:
Narrative Tenses 1
Narrative Tenses 2
Narrative Tenses 3: Used to / Would
For a detailed explanation about "used to", "would", and "be used to" you can follow this link
Narrative Tenses 1
Narrative Tenses 2
Narrative Tenses 3: Used to / Would
For a detailed explanation about "used to", "would", and "be used to" you can follow this link
- Grammatube - Lesson About The Past Perfect Simple And The Past Perfect Continuous
Do you know when and how to use the past perfect simple and the past perfect continuous in English? If you?re not sure, we recommend you reading this post as it contains a selection of YouTube videos that explain in a clear way how to use the past perfect...
- Past Continuous Tense Explanations And Examples
Past Continuous Tense is one of the most popular tenses in English Language Teaching... FORM[was/were + present participle]Examples: You were studying when she called.Were you studying when she called?You were not studying when...
- Tenses: English Grammar
Tenses: English Grammar In English Grammar Tense is considered to be the most important and vital factor. I like to light upon the importance of Tense in English Grammar. From the very beginning of learning English, a learner has to know that Tense is...
- Uses Of Different Forms Of Verbs
Uses of Different Forms of Verbs We now know that Verb has six forms: 1. Present Form 2. Past Form ...
- Combination Of Verbs
Auxiliary Verbs It is clear that Auxiliary Verbs are used only with the Non-finite Forms of a Verb when they are used as a verb taking a Subject. We now know that Verb has six Forms, namely:1. Present form2. Past form3. Present Participle4. Past...