NARRATIVE VERB FORMS

A brief overview

Which tenses/forms do we use to express the PAST in English?

• Past Simple• Past Continuous• Past Perfect Simple• Past Perfect Continuous• Used to• Would

PAST SIMPLE (regular verbs)

• Regular verbs add -ed to the base form of the verb.– open => opened; explain => explained

• Verbs ending in -e add -d to the base form of the verb.– arrive => arrived; phone => phoned

• In verbs ending in a consonant + -y, we change -y to -i before adding -ed.– try => tried; cry => cried BUT play => played; obey =>

obeyed

PAST SIMPLE (regular verbs)

• One-syllable verbs with a single vowel followed by a single consonant double the final consonant.– stop => stopped; beg => begged

• Two-syllable verbs double the final consonant when there is a single vowel followed by a single consonant in the last syllable and the last syllable is stressed.– pre´fer => pre´ferred; ad´mit => ad´mitted– !EXCEPTIONS! to the rule:

• ´label => ´labelled; ´quarrel => ´quarelled; ´signal => ´signalled; ´travel => ´travelled

PAST SIMPLE (irregular verbs)

• There are about 150 irregular verbs in English. Their past forms must be studied and remembered .

– put => put; cut => cut; cost => cost– ring => rang; sing => sang; sink => sank– know => knew; blow => blew; grow => grew– learn => learnt; mean => meant– write => wrote; drive => drove– buy => bought; bring => brought– go => went; be => was/were

PAST SIMPLE

• The form of the Past Simple is the same for all persons.

+ I/She/They remembered him very well.

- You/He/We didn’t understand anything.

? Did you apologize for shouting at her?

PAST SIMPLE is used:

• to talk about events, actions or situations which happened in the PAST and are now finished. We might use a definite time expression.

(I went to a great concert yesterday. Did you visit any foreign countries last year?)

• to talk about habits in the past (like “used to“)(I smoked twenty cigars a day when I was thirty.)

• in reported speech (She said she didn’t feel like going.)

Time expressions used with the PAST SIMPLE

yesterdayyesterday afternoonthe day before yesterdaylast yearlast monthlast summerfour years agoin 2007

in April

at 7.00

a long time ago

in the 20th century

then (tehdy)

when

...

PAST CONTINUOUS

Form: was/were + -ing form of the verb

+ I/He/She was working in New York in 2009.

+ You/We/They were playing polo at 7 p.m. yesterday.

- I/He/She wasn’t having a shower when you came.

- You/We/They weren’t waiting for a long time.

? What was he/she doing yesterday evening?

? Why were you/they sitting by the door?

Form: was/were + -ing form of the verb

PAST CONTINUOUS is used:

• to describe longer actions that were in progress at some time in the past(I was living in New York in 2009. They were playing curling yesterday afternoon.

• to talk about an event that was in progress when another event happened (He was running down Českolipská Street when he saw a ghost. We met each other when we were studying at university.)

PAST CONTINUOUS is used:

• to talk about two or more actions which were in progress at the same time (parallel actions) (I was watching Doctor Who while my husband was hovering the carpet.)

• to talk about anticipated events that did not happen

(They were going to Paris on holiday but finally they changed their mind and went to Rome.)

PAST CONTINUOUS is used:

• with hope, think and wonder to make polite inquiries(I was wondering if you could lend me your mobile phone.)

• to describe repeated actions in the past that annoy us or happen more than usual

(When we went to school, we were always getting into trouble.) – An adverb of frequency is necessary here.

NOTE

• We often use WHEN, WHILE, AS with the Past Continuous

PAST SIMPLE and PAST CONTINUOUS

• In narrative we use the Past Continuous to set the scene of the story, to describe the background situation which is not part of the main story.

• We use the Past Simple to tell the main events of the story in chronological order.

• We often use the Past Continuous to describe an action in progress which is interrupted by a sudden event expressed by the Past Simple.

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

• Form: had + the past participle of the verb

+ When I arrived at the party, Jim had already gone home.

- I was really scared as I hadn’t ridden a horse before.

? How long had you known each other before you got married?

Form: had + the past participle of the verb

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE is used:

• to describe an event in the past that was completed before another event in the past expressed by the Past Simple(By the time we got to the theatre, the play had already started.)

• as the past form of the Present Perfect Simple COMPARE: I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten anything.

I was hungry, I hadn’t eaten anything.

• in reported speech

(She said she hadn’t told him.)

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

• Form: had been + -ing form of the verb

+ They’d been studying English for a few years before they went to London.

- He hadn’t been listening to the music for a long time when his daughter came and asked him to read

her a fairy-tale.

? How long had you been waiting when she finally turned up?

Form: had been + -ing form of the verb

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS is used:

• to say how long something had been happening before something else happened

(I had been working in a circus for twenty years before I retired.)

• as the past form of the Present Perfect ContinuousCOMPARE: How long have you been waiting? (until now)

How long had you been waiting when she finally turned up?

Past Perfect

• We don’t have to use the Past Perfect when it is clear which event happened first.Jane left before we got to the station. OR Jane had left before we got to the station.

• The Past Perfect is often used after knew, thought, realized, remembered, forgot etc.

I knew she’d been working in Buckingham Palace for a long time.

I realized I’d seen her before.

USED TO

• Form: used to + infinitive

+ I used to read poetry.

- She didn’t use to wear bright colours.

? Did you use to obey your parents?

Form: used to + infinitive

USED TO is used:

• to talk about a past habit that no longer happens

(I used to go jogging every morning, but I’m really lazy now. She didn’t use to eat chocolate, but she seems to be addicted to it now.)

• to talk about a state that no longer exists(We used to live in the country, but now we live in Prague. Did you use to have longer hair?)

WOULD

• Form: would + infinitive

+ In summer we would get up early and go for a walk.

- Whenever I was angry I wouldn’t talk to anybody for several days.

? Would you smoke a lot when you were younger?

Form: would + infinitive

WOULD is used:

• particularly in narrative to talk about a past habit that no longer happens. We often use used to or the past simple at the beginning of a story, then we continue with would + infinitive. (When I was a boy we always spent/used to spend our holidays in the country. We would get up early and we would go for a swim. ...)

NOTE:

• WOULD + infinitive is NOT used to talk about past statesI had two cats. OR I used to have two cats. NOT I would have two cats.

References

• ALEXANDER, L.G.: Longman English Grammar. New York: Longman, 1991. ISBN 0-582-55892-1

• MURPHY, R.: English Grammar In Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-521-28723-5.

• VINCE, M. and EMMERSON, P.: Intermediate Language Practice with key. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2003. ISBN 1-405-00768-0.

• VINCE, M. and EMMERSON, P.: First Certificate Language Practice with key. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2003. ISBN 1-405-00765-6.