1. Have you ever
seen or heard a
ghost or had any
kind of
supernatural
experience?
Have you ever
locked
yourself out of
your house?
Have you ever
fallen asleep on
the train or bus
and missed your
stop?
SPEAKING:
Work as a whole. Choose
one of these questions and
share your storie.
Narrative tenses are the grammatical structures that you use when
telling a story, or talking about situations and activities which
happened at a defined past time.
Have you ever done
anything really
embarrassing?
Simple Past
-All the things that happen and are interrupted.
-Finished actions
-Most common tense after 'When?' in questions.
-Expressing past habits.
- E.g. I woke up at 8am, had a shower and ate some breakfast. I
left for work at 9am.

2. Put the verb in brackets into the correct form in the gap AFTER the verb.
Where no verb is given, put the following linking words into the gaps:
While / finally / and / although / however / as soon as / then / before / when
The Unlucky Burglar
One evening Paul (watch) ____________ the television ____________
(eat)____________ his supper ____________ the door suddenly (open)
____________ and a burglar (come) ____________ in. He (wear) ____________ a
mask and (carry) ____________ a sack. ____________ doing anything else he (tie)
____________ Paul to the chair. ____________ he went upstairs to look for money.
____________ he (not find) ____________ any money he (find) ____________ a lot
of jewellery, which he (put) ____________ into his sack. In his rush to get
downstairs he (not see) ____________ the dog (lie) ____________ at the bottom of
the stairs, and he (fall) ____________ over it, losing his glasses. ____________ the
burglar (look for) ____________ them, Paul (try) ____________ to free himself.
____________ Paul (manage) ____________ to escape and he (phone)
____________ the police. ____________ the burglar (find) ____________ his
glasses he (run) ____________ out of the house. ____________ unfortunately for
him, the police (wait) ____________ for him at the end of the garden.
Past Continuous
- To describe the situation in which the events of the
narrative occurred “surroundings”.
-To express an activity in progress at a time in the past.
-To express an activity; unfinished, repeated, temporary.
- E.g. When I woke up at 8am the sun was shining and
the birds were singing. I had a shower, ate some
breakfast and left for work at 9am.
Past Perfect
- An action happened in the past and it’s finished.
-CONJUNCTIONS as a reference; after, as soon as, before,
by the time, once, till, when, unless, until.
-Before a thing in the past.
-E.g. When I arrived my mom had cooked lunch.
Past Perfect
Continuous
-Something that had just happened. E.g. you had been being
an ashole.
-Past from past.
-Action happened in the past but it doesn’t stop.
-Sometimes you may have evidence.
- Longer activities that were happening continuously up
until a specified time in the past.
- He looked very tired, he had been working very hard
over the past three weeks.

3. Put the verb in brackets into the correct form. Where possible, use
'used to' and 'would'.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens ____________ (born) in 1812 in Portsmouth. The family
____________ (move) to London in 1823. When he was twelve he
____________ (work) in a blacking factory. He worked by a window
facing the street and passersby ____________ (pause) and watch him at
work. Every day he ____________ (trudge) through the London streets
from Camden Town to Southwark. His family ____________ (be) very
poor. His mother ____________ (hope) to open a small school. While
she ____________ (try) to do this, her husband ____________ (send) to
prison for being £40 in debt. When Charles ____________ (be) twenty-
four, his first work, sketches by Boz, ____________ (publish). This
____________ (follow) by Pickwick Papers with which he ____________
(achieve) financial security and popularity. For the rest of his life, work
simply ____________ (pour) from his pen. He ____________ (die) of a
stroke in 1870.
WRITING:
Have you ever fallen asleep on the train or bus and missed your
stop? Write about it. If you don’t write an anecdote from your
childhood.

4. PRE
Speaking: work as a whole. Choose one of these questions and share your story.
WHILE
-Explain uses of narrative tenses.
- Put the verb in brackets into the correct form in the gap AFTER the verb. Where no
verb is given, put the following linking words into the gaps:
While / finally / and / although / however / as soon as / then / before / when
- Put the verb in brackets into the correct form. Where possible, use 'used to' and
'would'.
AFTER
Correct answers:
R1:
1. Was watching
2. And eating
3. When
4. Opened
5. Came
6. Was wearing
7. Carrying
8. Before
9. Tied
10. Then
11. Although
12. Found
13. Put
14. Didn’t see
15. Lying
16. Fell
17. While
18. Was looking for them
19. Tried
20. Finally
21. Managed
22. Phoned
23. As soon as
24. Had found
25. Ran
26. However
27. Were waiting
R2:
1. Was born
2. Moved
3. Worked
4. Used to pause
5. Would trudge
6. Was
7. Hoped
8. Was trying
9. Was sent
10. Was
11. Was published
12. Was followed
13. Would achieve/achieved
14. Poured
15. Died
AFTER
Writing: Have you ever fallen asleep on the train or bus and missed your stop? Write
about it. If you don’t write an anecdote from your childhood.