six -minute grammar from BBC Learning English Hello, welcome to six -minute grammar with me, Finn.
And me, Catherine. Hello!
In today's programme, we're talking about narrative tenses.
Yes, narrative tenses.
That means the past simple tense, the past continuous, the past perfect and the past perfect continuous.
Yes, we use these tenses to describe events that happened in the past and for telling stories.
We'll explain when to use each tense.
We'll give you lots of examples.
And there'll be a quiz at the end of the show, so listen carefully.
Let's begin with the past simple.
We use the past simple tense for events and actions that started and finished in the past.
Here's Mike with our first example.
I had a terrible day last Monday.
It all started when I woke up late.
So, those three verbs – had, started and woke up – are all in the past simple because they describe events which started and finished in the past.
Now, if Mike wants to describe the background to his story or to talk about things that started before his story started and continued through his story, he can use the past continuous tense like this.
It all started when I woke up late.
I opened the curtains.
It was raining and the traffic was moving very slowly.
So, that's it was raining and the traffic was moving in the past continuous to set the scene and describe past activities.
We'll come back to the past continuous a little later on, but first, let's look at two more tenses.
First, the past perfect Mike.
When I looked at my phone, I realised I had slept through the alarm.
So, Mike used the past perfect.
I had slept with the past simple when I looked and another past simple I realised to show one past action happened before another one.
That's right, so first, Mike slept through his alarm, then he looked at his watch and realised.
Mike swaps the order of events in his sentence and uses the past perfect tense to signal that the second thing he talks about actually happened first.
One more time, please, Mike.
When I looked at my phone, I realised I had slept through the alarm.
The past perfect continuous works in pretty much the same way.
But this time, for activities that continued for a length of time.
When I looked at my phone, I realised I had slept through the alarm.
I had been sleeping like a log.
Mike had been sleeping like a log.
Now, a past activity that continued for a length of time before another past event.
So, we use a range of tenses to build up a story about past events.
Let's demonstrate this now.
Catherine, tell me something that happened to you today.
OK, Finn. Well, funnily enough, while I was walking to work this morning, I saw a monkey in a tree.
You never did. I did.
I don't believe you.
It's true. OK, Catherine confined the past continuous I was walking with the past simple I saw.
That's right and I did that to show that one action happened whilst another one was still happening.
So, for interrupted activities, in other words.
So, Catherine, what happened next?
Well, a man told me that the monkey had chased a cat up the tree.
Really? Yeah. Right, so that's past perfect to say what happened earlier in the past.
Exactly. But did it really happen, Catherine?
I'm not sure about this.
No. Yes, OK, so... But let's go with it.
So, Catherine, what was a monkey doing in a busy London street?
Well, a film crew had been making an advert when the monkey spotted a cat and chased it up the tree.
I really don't believe this.
But there were two more examples of the past simple.
Spotted and chased with the past perfect continuous had been making.
You're listening to BBC Learning English.
We're talking about narrative tenses.
Time for a quiz. Fill the gaps in this short story.
Number one. Inspector Jones was called to a robbery but by the time he arrived the thief A went or B had gone.
It's B had gone. Well done.
And number two. While he...
In the garden, Inspector Jones noticed an open window and two sets of tiny footprints.
Is it A was looking or B had looked?
It's A was looking.
That's right. Number three.
When Inspector Jones looked up he...
Who had stolen the ring?
Is it A was seeing or B saw?
And this one is B saw.
And you know, I think I know who the thieves were.
Really? It must be that cat and monkey who got into this story now.
Finn Sherlock, well done.
Thank you. And well done to you if you got those right.
And check out our website at bbclearningenglish .com for more information on tenses.
Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar.
Bye.
