Narrative Tenses

Grammar Reference

Common mistakes

1. When I arrived, the film already started. → When I arrived, the film had already started.
   it started before I arrived → past perfect
2. While I watched TV, the phone was ringing. → While I was watching TV, the phone rang.
   long background → continuous; short interruption → simple
3. We waited for an hour when the bus came. → We had been waiting for an hour when the bus came.
   how long, up to a moment in the past → past perfect continuous
4. I was knowing the answer, but I was too shy. → I knew the answer, but I was too shy.
   know, like, want, believe are not used in the continuous

Narrative Tenses — Exercises

Which narrative tense?

Circle the correct form.

1. It was a cold evening. My friends and I were walking / walked / had walked home from the station.
2. When we got to the cinema, the film already started / had already started / was already starting.
3. While I was typing an email, my cat was jumping / had jumped / jumped onto the keyboard.
4. I was knowing / knew / had been knowing the answer, but I didn't say anything.
5. By the time the concert started, we were queuing / queued / had been queuing for three hours.
6. By half-time, our team had scored / had been scoring / was scoring three goals.
7. Maya's eyes were red. She cried / had been crying / was crying all afternoon, but now she was smiling.
8. Suddenly the lights were going / had gone / went out and everybody screamed.

The lost phone

Complete the story. Put the verb in brackets in the best narrative tense.

1. I   (wait) for the bus when I   (realise) my phone wasn't in my pocket.
2. I ran back to the café, but by the time I   (get) there, a waiter   (already / put) it behind the counter.
3. While the waiter   (look) for it, I   (notice) a message on another customer's screen.
4. When I got the phone back, I saw that my sister   (call) me six times. She   (try) to reach me for an hour!
5. When I finally   (phone) her back, she   (already / leave) home to look for me.
6. In the end we   (laugh) about it, but I   (never / feel) so silly before.

Write a short story

Write 5–7 sentences about a day when something went wrong: a trip, a match, a party or a journey. Use all four narrative tenses. Compare yours with the model answer afterwards.

Narrative Tenses — Answer Key

Which narrative tense?

1. were walking — this sets the scene: an action already in progress in the background of the story, so past continuous.
2. had already started — the film started before we got there. The earlier of two past events takes the past perfect.
3. jumped — a short action that interrupts the longer background action (was typing) is past simple.
4. knew — know is a state verb, not an action, so it is not used in continuous forms.
5. had been queuing — for three hours says how long an activity went on up to a moment in the past (by the time the concert started): past perfect continuous.
6. had scored — three goals is a finished result you can count, so past perfect, not continuous.
7. had been crying — the crying went on for a while before this moment in the story and explains the red eyes: past perfect continuous.
8. went — suddenly introduces the next main event in the sequence: past simple, like screamed.

The lost phone

1. was waiting · realised
2. got · had already put
3. was looking · noticed
4. had called · had been trying
5. phoned · had already left
6. laughed · had never felt

Write a short story

1. Model answer: It was the last day of our holiday and we were sitting on the bus to the airport. We had been travelling for two hours and everyone was tired. Suddenly the bus stopped. The driver had taken a wrong turn and we were completely lost! While he was looking at the map, my friend Leo found the way on his phone. By the time we arrived, check-in had already closed.