3. NARRATIVE TENSE
• Fundamental communication skill – Story telling
Stories
Based on real experience
Made up stories
Past
Narrative tenses (Past Tenses) are spoken, or written account of
connected events happened in the past
4. • Simple Past
• Past Continuous
• Past Perfect
• Past Perfect Continuous
When the events exactly happened in past?
Sate of action
• Has it started?
• Was it in progress?
• Was it completed?
To put the events in order
Example: x I went for a bike ride
x I met my friend Raj
How to put them in order? Or which event happened exactly when in the past?
---------x--------------------x--------------------------------------------
Now
5. PAST SIMPLE
Structure: Subject + Verb (past/v2)
Completed actions in the past
1. I drank coffee yesterday
2. She visited me last week
3. He ate a chocolate
4. She drove me home yesterday
IRREGULAR VERBS
give gave given
drive drove driven
draw drew drawn
come came come
build built built
• With time expression
Rayen called last week.
• Without time expression
Rayen called.
• Recent past
We visited her yesterday
• Distant past
She died a long time ago
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
Worked Didn’t work
Positive Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
Work
Question
Did
-----------x---------------------------------------
Now
6. LET’S PRACTICE
Positive
• I play tennis
• They study math
• We drink coffee
Negative
• It rained
• John called
• We sent a mail
Question
• She cried
• Mohan questioned him
• She drove me home yesterday
7. PAST CONTINOUS
Structure: Subject + was/were + Verb(+ing).
He was reading a book when/while I entered his room
Unfinished ongoing action at the particular moment in the past + (finished
action) Precise action
he was reading book.. I entered the room
<----------------- x -------------------------------
past now future
We / they / you were
I / He / she / it was
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
Question
Was/were Verb +
ing.
8. LET’S PRACTICE
• Yesterday at six I (prepare) dinner.
• The kids (play) in the garden when it suddenly began to rain.
• I (practise) the guitar when he came home.
• While Aaron (work) in his room, his friends came.
• I tried to tell them the truth but they (listen / not) .
• What (you / do) yesterday?
• Most of the time we (sit) in the park.
9. REVIEW
past now future
Past simple
• I walked to school yesterday <--------x------------------------>
Past continuous x
• I was walking to school when it rained <--------------------------------->
10. LET’S PRACTICE
• Yesterday I ______ (go) to the library.
• I _______ (sit) in a cafe when you ______ (call).
• He _________ (take) a shower when the telephone _____ (ring).
• Sylvia _____________(run) when she ___________(dropped) the
DVDs.
• They _________ (not listen) when you _________ (asking) for remote
control.
• ________ you _______ (see) my friends while you _______ (go) to
school?
• You ______ (play) while I _________ (study)
11.
12. PAST PERFECT
Structure: Subject + had + Verb (v3)
The first completed action in the past (when there are two or
more past actions)
1. When we got to the theatre, the movie had started
2. The train had already left, when we arrived at the station
3. I was sick because I had eaten too much food the previous night
<--------x-----x------------------------------>
past now future
We / they / you / I had
He / she / it had
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
Question
had V3?
13. LET’S PRACTICE
• When she went out to play, she (do / already) her homework.
• My brother ate all of the cake that our mum (make) .
• The doctor took off the plaster that he (put on) six weeks before.
• The waiter brought a drink that I (not / order) .
• I could not remember the poem we (learn) the week before.
• The children collected the chestnuts that (fall) from the tree.
• (he / phone) Angie before he went to see her in London?
• She (not / ride) a horse before that day.
14. PAST PERFECT CONTINOUS
Structure: Subject + had + been + Verb(ing)
1. I was so tired because I had been driving all day
2. The ground was wet because it had been raining since this morning
3. When he resigned his job at the factory, he had been working there for 20 years
The first continuous past action (when there are two or more past actions)
<----x---------------x------------------------>
past now future
-----------
• Emphasize more on the length and duration of the action
16. LET’S PRACTICE
• We ________(sleep) for 12 hours, when he woke us up.
• They ________(wait) at the station for 90 minutes, when the train finally arrived.
• We _________ (look for) her ring for two hours and then we found it in the
bathroom.
• I ____________(not / walk) for a long time, when it suddenly began to rain.
• How long ___________(learn / she) English before she went to London?
• Frank Sinatra caught the flu because he ___________(sing) in the rain too long.
• He _________ (drive) less than an hour, when he ran out of petrol.
• They were very tired in the evening because they ___________(help) on the
farm all day.
• I ________ (not / work) all day so, I wasn't tired and went to the disco at night.
• They ________ (cycle) all day so their legs were sore in the evening.
17.
18. PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
It emphasizes what happened when the interruption occurred. It shows only
continuity at a particular moment in the past.
Example: When I arrived, Lisa was reading newspaper.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
It emphasizes the process of the action before the interruption. It shows
continuity and duration of the action.
Example: We had been looking for the wallet for 2 hours when Susan found it.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PAST CONTINUOUS AND PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
