ABOUT THIS GRAMMAR

After studying this particular grammar – which is slightly different from the previous ones – you will have to do some practice exercises.

These activities will focus their attention on how time relationships are expressed in narrative texts, that is through the use of certain tenses, adverbial phrases, and time clauses introduced by certain conjunctions.

Having done the mentioned exercises, you will be able to formulate some 'rules' for yourself through analysis of the completed texts.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

1.

What are the grammatical differences between during, while and meanwhile?

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DURING is a preposition and is used with a noun phrase (e.g. during the next few days);

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WHILE is a conjunction and introduces a time clause (e.g. While a cloud of radioactive dust was spreading over Scandinavia ...);

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MEANWHILE is an adverb (e.g. Meanwhile, urgent plans were made to build homes).

2.

When do I use soon, and when do I use as soon as?

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SOON is an adverb (e.g. The authorities soon started to evacuate the entire area);

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AS SOON AS is a conjunction introducing a time clause (e.g. As soon as news of the tragedy had been broadcast ...).

3.

When can I use after and when should I use afterwards?

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AFTER is used as part of a prepositional phrase (e.g. two weeks after the earthquake), or to introduce a clause (e.g. They washed the dishes after they had finished eating).

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AFTERWARDS (without the 's' in American English) is an adverb and is used by itself in the sentence (e.g. Afterwards we regretted that decision).

4.

What does by mean in by the end of the following year?

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BY + a time expression is used to indicate that something will have been done at or before the time stated (e.g. OM Personal promised their FCE course would be completely developed by March 2007).

5.

When do I use the past perfect tense in a time clause?

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You use the past perfect tense in a time clause to show that one past event happened before another past event, in a clause introduced by AS SOON AS, WHEN, AFTER or BEFORE) (e.g. As soon as OM Personal News had been distributed, subscribers started to thanks us).

6.

When do I use the past progressive tense in a time clause?

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You use the past progressive tense in a time clause to show that one action was happening at the same time as another action, in a clause introduced by WHILE or WHEN (e.g. While a cloud of radioactive dust was spreading over Scandinavia ...).

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Also you can use the past progressive when you want to show that one action was interrupted by another (e.g. I was watching the television news when the phone rang).

7.

What is the difference in meaning between first and at first?

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FIRST is used when you want to show the order or sequence of a series of events (e.g. First they put out the fire and then they photographed the damage.)

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AT FIRST is a synonym of INITIALLY and it is used when you are contrasting the early stages of an event with what happened later (e.g. At first they said 55,000 people had died but later the figure was lower).

8.

In this example: 'A plane crashed when trying to land', how can the words in blue be rewritten?

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ANSWER: '... when it was trying to land'.

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Instead of using a time clause with a finite verb you can often use a time conjunction + a present or past participle. Let us see these examples:

Since seeing the accident Maria has had bad dreams.
(= Since she saw the accident)

When restored the building will be sold.
(= When it has been restored)