NARRATIVE TENSES: DESCRIBING THE PAST

 

NARRATIVE TENSES are verb tenses that are used to talk about the past. They are often found in stories and descriptions of past events, such as personal anecdotes.

Past time is expressed through different grammatical elements in English:

  1-  The past tense relates to an action (or state) that is finished or happened at a definite point in the past.

1.1. Past Simple:  He was in prison for 3 years (now he’s out).

1.2. Past Continuous or Progressive:  It was raining when I left (now it’s not).

See more examples below

2-  The present perfect isn’t a past tense as such, however, it relates to an action (or state) that started at some point in the past and is connected to the present time (it still continues or has just finished).

2.2. Present Perfect Simple –Have you ever lost something important and got into trouble because of it? (This is one of the uses of the Present Perfect, used to talk about life experiences. The answer to this question ‘Yes, I have’, may continue with an anecdote narrated using different past tenses, see example picture above).

2.3. Present Perfect Continuous or Progressive – I have been working here since the summer (emphasis on the extent/duration of the action).

See more examples below

 3.  The past perfect is used to connect two past actions in chronological order, that is the past of the past. You have a past simple event and another past event further back in time – the past perfect:

3.1. Past Perfect Simple:  I had already left the house when the thieves broke in.

3.2. Past Perfect Continuous or Progressive:  He had been working for 3 hours before I rang.

See more examples below

 4.  Adverbials: Adverbs (yesterday), Adverbial phrases (two weeks ago), Prepositional phrases (in the last month), Conjunctions (when I left school).

 5. The present tense with past meaning is used for vividness when telling a story or anecdote.  The curtain raises and Juliet is in bed; suddenly, the window opens and Romeo jumps in.

You may want to listen to this BBCLearningEnglish video-program about Narrative Tenses. Very helpful.

1.1.           Examples of different uses of the past simple:

• Haydn was born in 1732.  These ruins were discovered in the eighteen century (we use adverbials to refer to a past point or period of time).
• Did the postman come? (context: we know that the postman comes everyday at the same time, so we don’t need to add any time expression).
• They told me you were ill (we can use the past simple when no apparent definite time exists).
• I bought this dress in Paris (we can also use the past simple without mentioning a specific time in the past, it is probably irrelevant in many contexts).
• He married secretly; his mother was shocked (here we don’t need to mention when, as the important thing here is “secretly” and that’s why his mother was shocked)
• Where have you been? I’ve been to the cinema. Did you enjoy the film? (questions after a present perfect).
• If I went to London, I would visit The Parliament (Conditional Sentence 2)

1.2.           Examples of different uses of the past continuous:

• She was having lunch (a past action whose exact limits are unknown or unimportant)
• When I arrived, Ally was having lunch (same as above, but with a time expression, we are describing an action going on when I arrived).
• He was having breakfast at 8 (a past action with a point in time – at 8 – expressing that the action started before it and continued after it).
• It was raining outside and the dog was sleeping in front of the heater (descriptions, note that two actions may happen together or at the same time)
• What were you doing before you came here? (asking about periods of time)
• I was talking to Paul the other day and he told me you’re pregnant, Congratulations!  (in spoken English, if you want to give the impression that the action was casual or a coincidence, you use the past continuous.  Compare with “I talked to Paul the other day and he told me…” this example indicates that I took the initiative to talk to Paul, it wasn’t just a coincidence) .

2.1. Examples of the Present Perfect Simple:

• This house has always been empty (and still is). (A state leading up to the present time).
• Have you ever been to the US? (An indefinite event leading up to the present time).
• They’ve attended classes regularly this term. (A habit in a period of time leading up to the present)
• The flight has arrived, let’s rush to the gate. (A past event, recently finished with results in the present)

2.2. Examples of the Present Perfect Continuous or Progressive:

• What have you been doing this evening? I have been writing a letter to my nephew. (Actions leading up to the recent past, the letter has been written. Here, I also want to emphasise the duration of the action.  It has the same meaning as the Present Perfect Simple except for the emphasis on the duration of the period leading up to the present).
• You’ve been fighting I can see the bruises on your face. (The effects of the past action still remain in the present)
• I’ve been reading your book. (This example, however, means that I’m still reading your book, I haven’t finished it yet.  If I say: “I have read your book already” I mean that I’ve finished it recently).
• How long have you worked here for?  Or, How long have you been working here for? (These examples mean the same, I use the continuous form for emphasis on the period of time.  The same happens with the following verbs: live, study, learn, and wait).

3.1. Examples of the uses of the Past Perfect Simple:

• The house had been empty for several moths when I bought it. (The past of the past).
• He refused to go until he had seen all the pictures.
• Mary had left the house, when/before John arrived. (Both actions are complete)
• After the speaker had shouted angrily, the audience kept silent.
• He said he had been in England five years ago. (Indirect Speech).

3.1. Examples of the uses of the Past Perfect Continuous:

• At 7 pm he had been working for 8 hours, he was very tired. (A past action that continued up to the past point mentioned, duration is being focussed here).
• He had been trying to get her on the phone. (A repeated action in the past, we don’t know If he finally got her).

English – Spanish False Friends

This is a table with some of the most common English-Spanish false friends.  Please, post in any others you may have encountered and/or experienced yourself.  Thanks!

Spanish correct translation	English		Spanish	English correct translation
real	actual		actual	current
asistir	attend		atender	take care of
ayudar	assist		asistir	attend
extraño or estrafalario	bizarre		bizarro	brave
cuerpo or tronco	body		boda	wedding
campamiento or a camping	camping		campo	a field or the country
alfombra	carpet		carpeta	folder
tez or cutis	complexion		complexión	physiological build
transigir	compromise		compromiso	promise, obligation, or commitment
estreñido	constipated		constiparse, constipación	to catch a cold
contender, concursar	to contest		contestar	to answer
escribirse con	to correspond with someone		corresponder	to match
deleite	delight		delito	a crime
una vergüenza or una deshonra	a disgrace		desgracia	a misfortune
desesperado	to be desperate		despertar	to wake up
asco or repugnancia	disgust		disgusto	displeasure or misfortune
tiene vergüenza or se siente avergonzado	to be embarrassed		embarazada	to be pregnant
emocional	to be emotional		emocionante	thrilling or (emotionally) moving
totalmente or completamente	absolutely		en absoluto	not at all or absolutely not
una salida	exit		éxito	a hit or a success
tejido, tela	fabric		fábrica	a factory
fútbol americano	(American) football		fútbol	Soccer
presentar	to introduce someone		introducir	to bring in, to begin, to put, or to place
abusar sexualmente or faltar al respeto	to molest		molestar	to bother or to annoy
una vez	once		once	eleven
padres	parents		parientes	relatives
conservante	preservative		preservativo	condom
jabón	soap		sopa	soup
compasivo	sympathetic		simpático	nice, friendly

Grammar reference books and self-study guides

LEVEL: UPPER-INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED

• Swan, Michael: PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE.  Oxford University Press.
• Vince, Michael: FIRST CERTIFICATE LANGUAGE PRACTICE. Heinemann.
• Hashemi, Louise & Thomas, Barbara: GRAMMAR FOR FIRST CERTIFICATE with answers. Cambridge .
• Walker, E. & Elsworth, S.: GRAMMAR PRACTICE FOR UPPER-INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS (with key). Longman. Pearson Education Limited.
• Dooley, Jenny & Evans, Virginia: GRAMMARWAY 4. Express Publishing.
• Vince, Michael: ADVANCED LANGUAGE PRACTICE. Heinemann.
• Hewings, Martin: ADVANCED GRAMMAR IN USE with answers. Cambridge University Press.
• Foley, Mark & Hall, Diane: ADVANCED LEARNER´S GRAMMAR. A self-study reference & practice book with answers. Longman. Pearson Education Limited.

WHY LEARN GRAMMAR?

Many learners of English don’t like or even hate working on Grammar. This can even happen to teachers!  However, there are many opinions putting grammar in the foreground in language learning, here are some of them:

 1. You need to learn words, phrases, structures, etc for production; your knowledge of grammar will provide you with the means to generate a potentially enormous number of original sentences.

 2. Intelligibility and correctness: take a look at this sentence: “Last Monday night I was boring in my house”, well… you might guess the message, though with difficulty….  you have also spotted a few grammar mistakes there; as you can see, this example leads to ambiguity and needs to be grammatically improved to convey its real meaning. Listeners/readers can have a hard time trying to understand ungrammatical English. Besides, ungrammatical communication can lead to important grades of confusion…

Mind you! native speakers do make grammar mistakes as well…

Grammar allows greater subtlety of meaning.  There comes a point where simply stringing words and phrases fails to communicate, particularly in the case of written language, which needs to be more explicit than spoken language.

 3. You need to learn grammar in order to progress, so that your linguistic competence does not fossilise.  Besides, learning how to produce language properly and accurately is motivating for students who want to progress towards a proficiency level.

 4. Grammar is a solid base for further practical learning.  Students with a good linguistic knowledge are aware of certain features of the talk which enable a better comprehension as well as a more fluent production.

5. Native speakers often make grammar mistakes, however they make different types of mistakes. Read this article for more information: click.   Did you know that from all US Presidents so far, George W. Bush had the lowest level range of grammar and vocabulary? and Abraham Lincoln the highest?

Let’s reflect then on what we’ve just read:  What do you think? Do you agree with me on the importance of having a good grammar range? Do you remember Tarzan?  What a great character! A great swimmer too…., but his grammar knowledge was pretty basic, wasn’t it? He got by, but…. well… we don’t want to be Tarzans, do we?…. Then, we better get down to work on our grammar, and we’ll easily and quickly get better…. even much better than ‘funny’ George W. Bush ….

Now, you may want to click on the links below for some fun and funny links for grammar mistakes:

Some of the most amusing misuses of the English language

Images

Genuine English found around the world on signs, notices etc. Most of them have mistakes, a couple are here just for their amusement value.

9 Most Confusing Confusions in English Grammar (native)

Donald Trump’s level of grammar…. bellow 6th grade level….

THE EXPRESSION OF PRESENT TIME

When we want to make reference to something which occurs at the present moment we can use the following verb forms:

1. The Simple Present 2. The Continuous or Progressive Present and 3. The Past Simple   USE OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT

1. When we talk about a present and permanent state: 

1.a.  General statements /permanent situations:  

I am a nurse.

My parents live near Dover.

He works for the Bank of Ireland.

1.b.  Universal/general truths:

The sun rises from the east.

The USA consists of 50 states.

Water freezes at 0º Celsius.

2. Present/ permanent habit: 

He always/often/never visits me on Sundays.

I play tennis every Saturday.

 3. Present event:

I declare the meeting closed. 

I promise I’ll help you.

Zidane passes the ball.

USE OF THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS / PROGRESSIVE TO EXPRESS PRESENT TIME

1.   Temporary present action (around now):

What are you doing? I’m reading.

Where is Paul? He’s playing tennis outside.  

(A commentary on the radio) Sampras is serving.

 2.   Temporary habit (repeated actions around now/the present):

I’m travelling a lot these days. 

I´m taking dancing lessons at the moment.

 3. Wilful repetition (to express annoyance)

         3.a.     + always:     She’s always speaking on the phone.

           3.b.   + whenever:    Whenever I see him, he’s smoking a huge cigar 

 USE OF THE PAST SIMPLE TO EXPRESS PRESENT TIME

We use the Past tense to express present time in formal contexts such as :

Did you want to speak to me? 

I wondered/ was wondering  If you could help me.