Narrative Tenses - sc, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Lingua Inglese

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Sarah Moore 20.09.

Narrative Tenses

English File B2 Digital Gold 4th Edition

In 2008 I lived in Rome. One day I was walking

along the street with my friends. I had been

working all day and then had been for dinner after

work. We were walking home, chatting, when

suddenly I felt someone grab hold of my bag. Two

men on a moped were trying to steal my handbag.

I held on for as long as possible but then I realised

I couldn’t hold on any more and I let go. The men

drove off with my bag. I went straight to the police

station. Luckily I had put my phone and keys in my

pocket when I left the restaurant.

We use the narrative tenses together to give dimension to a story

1. Past Simple

• The Past Simple is used for the main sequence of events in a story
• I lived in Rome, I felt someone grab my bag, I held on,I let go, I went to the police station.
• I went, I didn’t see, I looked, I had, Did you buy….?
• Auxiliary = do (did/didn’t) + infinitive

2. Past Continuous

• The Past Continuous is used to talk about a background action, set the scene, say what was happening at the time.
• I lived in Rome,^ I was walking along ,^ I was chatting , I felt someone grab my bag, I held on,I let go, I went to the police station.
• Only use this with action verbs
• I was running, was he cooking, it wasn’t raining
• Auxiliary = be (was/were/wasn’t/weren’t) + ‘ing’

4. Past Perfect Continuous

• The Past Perfect Continuous is also used to take 2 steps back in time, to talk about an action that had been in progress (had been happening) before another past (so you can use this to talk about a past action that was repeated or in progress before a past simple or continuous action)
• I lived in Rome,^ I had been working all day,^ I had been for dinner, I was walking along, I was chatting, I felt someone grab my bag, I held on,I let go, I went to the police station, Luckily I had put my phone in my pocket.
• Only use this with action verbs
• She had been reading, Had he been smoking..? I hadn’t been studying
• Auxiliary = have (had/hadn’t) + been + ‘ing’