Narrative Tenses

Grammar Reference

Narrative Tenses — Exercises

Which narrative tense?

Tap the correct form.

1. It was a grey morning. Commuters were rushing / rushed / had rushed through the departure lounge.
   (were rushing / rushed / had rushed) 
2. When the journalist arrived / was arriving / had arrived, investigators were already there.
   (arrived / was arriving / had arrived) 
3. The entrepreneur realised she had made / was making / made a serious error the previous year.
   (had made / was making / made) 
4. While the team celebrated / was celebrating / had celebrated their win, the coach gave a speech.
   (was celebrating / celebrated / had celebrated) 
5. By the time the new data privacy laws were introduced, companies already shared / had already shared / were already sharing user data for years.
   (had already shared / already shared / were already sharing) 
6. The redundancy notice arrived / was arriving / had arrived without warning on a Monday morning.
   (arrived / was arriving / had arrived) 
7. She was working / worked / had worked on the algorithm for three hours when the system crashed.
   (was working / worked / had worked) 
8. Once the company had addressed / was addressing / addressed its carbon footprint, investors returned.
   (had addressed / was addressing / addressed) 

Complete the narrative

Use the verb in brackets in the most appropriate narrative tense.

1. The entrepreneur (sit) in her office when she first (read) about automation.
   
2. By the time the redundancies (begin), the workforce (already / sense) something was wrong.
   
3. While the protest (take place) outside, directors (hold) an emergency meeting inside.
   
4. The investigation (reveal) that the company (violate) data privacy laws for years.
   
5. She (land) a major contract after she (spend) months building her network.
   
6. The sustainability report (show) that carbon emissions (rise) steadily for a decade.
   

Write a short narrative

Write 4–6 sentences about a professional turning point. Use all three narrative tenses. Include a past perfect for background, past continuous for setting, past simple for main events.

Exercise four — Production

1. Write a narrative sentence that correctly combines past perfect continuous with past simple.
   

Narrative Tenses — Answer Key

Which narrative tense?

1. were rushing
2. arrived
3. had made
4. was celebrating
5. had already shared
6. arrived
7. was working
8. had addressed

Complete the narrative

1. was sitting
2. began
3. was taking place
4. revealed
5. landed
6. showed

Write a short narrative

1. Sample answer: She had been working in the same company for ten years when the restructuring began. While her colleagues were updating their CVs, she was considering a new direction. She had never thought about becoming a freelancer, but the redundancy changed everything. Within a year, she launched her own consultancy.

Exercise four — Production

1. Open answer — graded automatically online; no single fixed model answer.