Narrative tenses /revision/

• English
• Vocational Education

Narrative tenses review

Pre-Intermediate 3

Past Simple

to talk about the main events in a story.

A man in Germany had a horrible surprise when he checked his email one morning. 

Past Perfect

to talk about actions that happened 

before the main events in the story.

When the bank realised the mistake, Bob had spent $85.000.

Past continuous

to talk about actions in progress at a certain time in the past or describe the background situation. 

I was walking to work yesterday when someone called me. 

Choose the correct answers.

p164 PRACTICE 2

1. They ____ married when
we met them.

1. had already got
2. already got
3. were getting

2. I got up, ____ breakfast and left.

1. was having
2. had had
3. had

3. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining and the birds _____.

1. sang
2. had sung
3. were singing

4. I was sure I ____ him somewhere before, but I couldn't remember where.

1. saw
2. had seen
3. was seeing

5. She walked out of her flat.
As she shut the door, she realised she ___ the key.

1. forgot
2. was forgetting
3. had forgotten

6. My leg started to hurt
while I ___ hockey.

1. played
2. was playing
3. had played

7. I grew up in Haiti and I ____ in New York for a few years in the 1990s.

1. had lived
2. was living
3. lived

8. When I was a child, I didn't know what job I ___ to do in the future.

1. had wanted
2. was wanting
3. wanted

9. The fire alarm went off when
we ____ a French lesson.

1. had
2. had had
3. were having

10. He ____ when I called him this morning.

1. worked
2. was working
3. had worked