Narrative

ROOFTOP
THE LIFT
VIEW
Can you remember Bradley Garett’s adventure in Legacy Tower?
Retell the story using these words.
friends, sit, try to get up, get in, residents, open

NARRATIVE FORMS
When we tell stories or talk about actions in the past, we can use the following tenses:
past simple
past continuous
past perfect
used to

PAST SIMPLE
to describe completed actions and situations in the past (e.g. I bought a ticket last week)
if actions happen one after another (e.g. When the food arrived they sat down and started to eat)
to describe repeated past actions (e.g. When I was younger, I walked to school every day)

PAST CONTINUOUS
to give background information or to describe a situation when other things happen (e.g. Some people were already dancing when we arrived at the party)
to describe an incomplete action when another action happened (e.g. The train left while they were buying coffee)
the actions are often connected with linking words – when, while, as (e.g. She was checking her bag when she realized that her passport was missing)

PAST PERFECT
to show that one past action finished before another past action (e.g. She had already been to Peru and didn’t want to go back)
the actions are often connected with linking words – after, before, as soon as, by the time, when, by

MATCH
When the police searched the train, the man got off.
When the police searched the train, the man was getting off.
When the police searched the train, the man had got off.
The man got off before the police started searching the train.
The man got off at the same time as the police started searching the train.
The man got off after the police started searching the train.
c
b
a

MATCH
Everyone had left when she go home.
Everyone left when she got home.
Everyone was leaving when she got home.
Everyone left after she got home.
Everyone left before she got home.
Everyone left at the same time as she got home.
b
a
c