NARRATIVE TENSES
Narrative tenses are used when telling or writing a story. It can be a fictional story or a recollection of past events. When narrating, you should never mix past and present tenses. In addition to their regular use, they can also be used:
PAST SIMPLE
- for main events of the story
PAST CONTINUOUS
- to describe the background and create an atmosphere
PAST PERFECT
- for flashbacks
SAMPLE STORY:
Jemima and Jeremy were a young, rich couple who lived and worked in the centre of London. Jeremy’s father had found them both lucrative jobs so they lived very comfortably.
One Sunday evening, they were driving home in their Jaguar, when they saw a car, closely resembling their Porsche, speeding in the opposite direction. They rushed home and to their horror, they discovered that their Porsche was not there; it had been stolen! They felt terrible and called the police, who said that they would do what they could to help them.
However, to their surprise, when they got back home from work the following day, their precious car was sitting outside their house. On the windscreen was a note, which said:
“Thanks very much, we just borrowed the car to go to an important meeting as our car had broken down. Here are some tickets for the best seats at the theatre for tomorrow night.”
The next night, the couple happily went to the theatre and had a wonderful time. But when they got home, they were horrified to find that their house had been burgled.
Source: http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/pdf-content/narrative-tenses-lesson-plan/550869.article
Narrative tenses are used when telling or writing a story. It can be a fictional story or a recollection of past events. When narrating, you should never mix past and present tenses. In addition to their regular use, they can also be used:
PAST SIMPLE
- for main events of the story
PAST CONTINUOUS
- to describe the background and create an atmosphere
PAST PERFECT
- for flashbacks
SAMPLE STORY:
Jemima and Jeremy were a young, rich couple who lived and worked in the centre of London. Jeremy’s father had found them both lucrative jobs so they lived very comfortably.
One Sunday evening, they were driving home in their Jaguar, when they saw a car, closely resembling their Porsche, speeding in the opposite direction. They rushed home and to their horror, they discovered that their Porsche was not there; it had been stolen! They felt terrible and called the police, who said that they would do what they could to help them.
However, to their surprise, when they got back home from work the following day, their precious car was sitting outside their house. On the windscreen was a note, which said:
“Thanks very much, we just borrowed the car to go to an important meeting as our car had broken down. Here are some tickets for the best seats at the theatre for tomorrow night.”
The next night, the couple happily went to the theatre and had a wonderful time. But when they got home, they were horrified to find that their house had been burgled.
Source: http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/pdf-content/narrative-tenses-lesson-plan/550869.article