3A4F -- WEEK 4 -- Narrative Tenses

Presentation

•

English

•

5th Grade - Professional Development

•

Medium

Used 4+ times

FREE Resource

15 Slides • 15 Questions

3A4F -- WEEK 4 Narrative Tenses

Today we will learn how to tell stories better.

Open Ended

But first, I want to know the name of a story that you like to listen to or read. I want your story to come from literature or comic books, not from films or tv series, ok?

Type response here

BUT FIRST,

let's understand a few of the things that make a story ... a story.

Multiple Choice

Now, let's think here a little: in what time period are most stories told in? TIP: I'm not talking about the setting (time-place of the plot).

present

past

future

NARRATIVE TENSES

As you know, most stories are told using past tenses (and some present tenses, too). We call these the ''narrative'' tenses because they are used in telling stories (building narratives).

AND they also have specific functions

We use the simple past for the main events of the story.
We use the past perfect to talk about events that happened before others.
and we use the past continuous for background actions, or establishing moments.

Poll

Look at these three moments from a story. Which one happened first, in your opinion, class?

Sparky, the dog.

Good storytelling involves writing sentences which make the listener or reader understand the events in an elegant and communicative way.

So, we know that Sparky destroys the house happens before Joe and Lisa arrive home and Joe and Lisa are crying.

SO ....

Joe and Lisa were crying because when they arrived home Sparky had destroyed the house.

we put the three together here, but it's more common to have pairs of verb tenses working together than three.

SIMPLE PAST

We use the simple past as the spinal column of the story. It is the tense we generally use to present the main events, in sequence.

Yesterday, Sparky went to the park, and he played with a stick. He didn't get dirty.

The simple past is

--ed if the verb is regular
column II if it is irregular
didn't + verb if negative

Past Continous

We use it to ''establish'' a moment or to mention an event that happens ''in the back'' or ''at the same time''

The sun was shining bright and the birds were singing, but Sparky was angry because Billy was eating his food.

The past continuous is the mix of:

the verb be (was or were)
and the verb in the --ing form
negative (add n't)

Past Perfect

We use it to tell events which happened (or didn't finish or happen) before others in a story. It is an alternative to a boring sequence of simple pasts...

Past Perfect

Compare:

Sparky didn't finish his milk. I took a picture of him.

Sparky hadn't finished his milk when I took a picture of him.

The past perfect is the mix of:

the verb HAD (or HADN'T)
and the past participle of the verb (column III or -ed)

CHALLENGE

(what is the difference between these 3)

I had cooked dinner when they arrived.
I was cooking dinner when they arrived.
I cooked dinner when they arrived.

Multiple Choice

Unfortunately, he ______________ at 8.30am because his alarm didn't go off.

slept

was sleeping

had slept

sleeps

Multiple Choice

He____________ for New Zealand before I came to Australia.

left

was leaving

had left

leaved

Multiple Choice

Henry and I _____ TV when the electricity went off.

watched

was watching

had watched

were watching

Multiple Choice

When I went to Australia last year, I ______ a real koala on the side of the road.

saw

was seeing

had seen

have seen

Multiple Choice

When I got to school this morning, I realised that I ______ my homework last night.

didn't do

wasn't doing

hadn't done

weren't doing

Multiple Choice

Anne ____________ in a cafe when she was at university.

worked

were working

had worked

Multiple Choice

What ____________ when Peter came in?

will you do

were you do

were you doing

Multiple Choice

Their car broke down while they _____________ home.

were driving

was driving

had driven

Multiple Choice

We wanted to go to Peru because we _____________ there before.

weren't going

hadn't been

didn't go

Multiple Choice

He admitted that he ____________ all the money from the box.

takes

was taking

had taken

Multiple Choice

When he entered the room, somebody ____________ him in the head.

hit

was hitting

had hit

Multiple Choice

When he entered the room, somebody ____________ him in the head.

hit

was hitting

had hit

3A4F -- WEEK 4 Narrative Tenses

Today we will learn how to tell stories better.

Show answer

Auto Play

Slide 1 / 30

SLIDE

Similar Resources on Wayground

21 questions

FRIENDSHIP

Presentation

•

5th Grade - University

23 questions

Note taking for the test

Presentation

•

23 questions

PERFECT TENSES REVIEW

Presentation

•

24 questions

Unit 4: Me On The Map (4 weeks)

Presentation

•

22 questions

TRAVELING

Presentation

•

6th - 12th Grade

25 questions

Ölçme&değerlendirme genel müdürlüğü soruları 4. ünite part2

Presentation

•

5th Grade - Professio...

21 questions

ENT1126 - L7: Daily activities

Presentation

•

KG - University

Popular Resources on Wayground

10 questions

Safety Day 2026 – Student Review

Quiz

•

9th Grade

21 questions

Continents and Oceans

Quiz

•

6th Grade

20 questions

Parts of Speech

Quiz

•

5th Grade

16 questions

Subject & Predicate

Quiz

•

5th Grade

25 questions

Multiplication Facts

Quiz

•

5th Grade

12 questions

Map Skills

Quiz

•

3rd Grade

22 questions

Continents and Oceans

Quiz

•

5th Grade

15 questions

Rounding Decimals

Quiz

•

5th Grade

Discover more resources for English

20 questions

Parts of Speech

Quiz

•

5th Grade

16 questions

Subject & Predicate

Quiz

•

5th Grade

20 questions

Context Clues

Quiz

•

6th Grade

10 questions

Inference and Textual Evidence

Quiz

•

7th Grade

25 questions

Making Inferences

Quiz

•

6th - 8th Grade

20 questions

Figurative Language Review

Quiz

•

6th Grade

12 questions

Figurative Language Review

Interactive video

•

5th Grade

20 questions

4 Types of Sentences

Quiz

•

4th - 5th Grade