|
Let's talk about the past... |
|
NARRATIVE TENSES |
|
When we describe specific incidents in the past, we
use narrative tenses, i.e. the past simple, past continuous, and
past perfect simple or continuous. Now check these basic rules:
a) Use the past simple to talk about the main actions in a story (We
went to bed... I woke up... I screamed).
b) Use the past continuous to set the scene (We were sleeping in my
parents bedroom) and to describe actions in progress in the past (Somebody
was standing at the end of my bed).
c) Use the past perfect and the past perfect continuous to talk about
the earlier past, i.e. things which happened before the main events {My
father had gone away... I had been reading a story).
And now check this text below: |
|
This
happened
when I was
about five years old. My father
had gone away
on business for a few days and my brother and I
were sleeping
in my parents' bedroom. Before we
went to
bed that night, I
had been reading
a very scary story about a wicked witch. In the middle
of the night I
woke up with a start and
saw that
a figure in a dark coat
was standing
at the end of my bed. I
screamed
at the top of my voice. |
|
|
USED TO – WOULD |
|
We often use used to + infinitive as an
alternative to the past simple to talk about things that we did
repeatedly in the past. We can also use used to + infinitive to
talk about situations or states which have changed, e.g. I used to
have much longer hair when I was younger. |
|
Every summer my family
rented an
old house in the South of France. My sister and I
used to walk
to the harbour every morning and watch the fishermen
cleaning their nets. |
|
|
We also use would + infinitive as an
alternative to used to to talk about things that we did
repeatedly in the past. However, we don't use would with
stative verbs, i.e. to talk about situations or states which have
changed NOT I would have much longer
hair when I was younger . |
|
Every night before we went to bed
my mother would
tell us a story, but she
would never read
them from a book – she
would always
make them up herself. |
|
|
We can also use always + past continuous for
things that happened repeatedly, especially when they were irritating
habits. |
|
When I was a teenager, my friends
were always
teasing me because of my red hair. |
|
|
NOTE: When we describe past habits or repeated
past actions we tend, for stylistic reasons, to use a mixture of used
to, would, or the past simple (with adverbs of frequency).
Used to and would make it clear that you are talking about
something that happened regularly and both of them often convey a sense
of nostalgia. |
|
On the next page you will be able to practise
this grammar. |
Pulsa este
ícono
para abrir y
consultar
las
respuestas correctas.
