3 Narrative tenses Past Simple and Present Perfect

3 Narrative tenses Past Simple and Present Perfect The Past Simple differs from all three uses of the Present Perfect. 1 The Past Simple refers to finished past. I ate so much on holiday! (The holiday is over. ) I’ve eaten too much today! (Today is not over. ) 2 There is no present result. He lost his keys. He’s lost his keys. (He can’t find them now. ) 3 It refers to definite past. We played cards last night/on Tuesday/last month. I’ve been tired recently/for weeks/since breakfast. We use indefinite adverbials with the Present Perfect. © Oxford University Press

3 Narrative tenses Past Simple The Past Simple is used: 1 to express a finished action in the past. Irma published her novel in 2010. 2 to express actions which follow each other in a story. The dog ran into the house, jumped on the sofa, and went to sleep. 3 to express a past state or habit. Every winter, we walked to school and played in the snow. We used to throw snowballs at each other. © Oxford University Press

3 Narrative tenses Past Continuous The Past Continuous is used: 1 to express an activity in progress before and probably after a time in the past. At 7. 00 I was eating breakfast. 2 to describe a past situation or activity. The sun was shining and everyone was sitting outside in the garden. 3 to express an interrupted past activity. She was cooking dinner when I arrived. © Oxford University Press

3 Narrative tenses 4 to express an incomplete activity in the past. I was answering emails at lunch. (I didn’t finish answering them. ) I answered all my emails at lunch. (I finished them. ) 5 to express an activity in progress at every moment during a period of time. They were painting all afternoon. Make the sentences. 1 I / read / a book / when the electricity went off I was reading a book when the electricity went off. 2 They / paint / all day / but they ran out of time They were painting all day but they ran out of time. © Oxford University Press

3 Narrative tenses Notice these differences between the Past Simple and the Past Continuous: What did you do at school? Why didn’t you answer my text? I took a maths test. I was taking a maths test. Simple, complete facts Activity in progress Past Simple Past Continuous Questions in the Past Simple and Past Continuous refer to different times. When I rang, Lena was sleeping. She woke up and picked up the phone. What was Lena doing when I rang? What did Lena do when I rang? She was sleeping. She picked up the phone. © Oxford University Press

3 Narrative tenses Past Perfect The Past Perfect is used to look back at a time in the past and refer to an action that happened before then. 6. 00 6. 20 waiting the bus came 6. 25 the bus left 6. 30 Toby arrived When the bus came, we had been waiting since 6 p. m. (The continuous refers to longer actions or repeated activities. ) Toby arrived at 6. 30 pm, but the bus had already left. (The simple refers to shorter, complete facts. ) © Oxford University Press

3 Narrative tenses Past Perfect and Past Simple 1 Verbs in the Past Simple tell a story in chronological order. On Tuesday evening, a burglar broke into my aunt’s shop and stole all the jewellery. In the morning, I arrived at work and found the door open. I rang the police. I answered their questions for a long time. Then my aunt arrived and interrupted us. 2 By using the Past Perfect we can tell the story in a different order. When I arrived at work, I saw that a burglar had broken in and had stolen all the jewellery. I had already rung the police by the time my aunt arrived. I had been answering questions for a long time when she interrupted us. © Oxford University Press