(Grammar) Narrative tenses

Random Idea English Blog Practice and explanation 



Compare these two sequences: what is different?


How it actually unfolded....

If we tell this story with past simple tense only it goes like this.....

1. Mr and Mrs X visited elderly grandmother
2. Mrs X persuaded husband to let grandmother come home to live with them
3. Mr and Mrs X started to travel home
4. Mr and Mrs X drove through desert
5. Grandmother sat in back of car
6. Grandmother complained about heat
7. Mr and Mrs X chatted
8. Grandmother didn't speak for some time
9. Mrs X turned around
10. Grandmother didn't reply
11. Grandmother spluttered and groaned
12. Grandmother died
13. Grandmother was large
14. Mr and Mrs X tied grandmother to roof of car
15. They drove across the desert
16. They decided to stop at a gas station to phone family
17. They phoned the family
18. Someone stole their car
19. They came out of the station
20. Their car disappeared into the distance
21. Grandmother lay on the roof





How we tell the story...

Using narrative tenses


1.

1. Mr and Mrs X visited elderly grandmother
2. Mrs X persuaded husband to let grandmother come home to live with them
3. Mr and Mrs X started to travel home
4. Mr and Mrs X drove through desert

What happens if we start telling the story at event number 4? e.g:

Mr and Mrs X were travelling home.

How do we include the events 1-3 in the story? (the background events)








To do this we must use the following verb structures:

Mr and Mrs X     had been visiting      elderly grandmother
Mrs X      had persuaded     husband to let grandmother come home to live with them

NB: It's not necessary to mention event 3, because obviously they would have started to travel....




Stop and discuss why we are rearranging the order of events and changing the verb forms.





The story continues... change the verb forms yourselves:




Context = past continuous (was/were + verb-ing)
Causal event = past simple (past verb)
Background = past perfect (had + pp)

(context) Mr and Mrs X    drive      through desert
(context) Grandmother        sit          in back of car
(context) Mr and Mrs X           chat
(background) Grandmother      not speak         for some time
(causal event) Mrs X         turn         around
(background) Grandmother        complain         about heat
(causal event) Grandmother     not reply
(causal event) Grandmother       splutter      and        groan
(background) Grandmother     die
(context) Grandmother       be     large
(causal event) Mr and Mrs X        tie           grandmother to roof of car
(context) They          drive         across the desert
(causal event) They        decide         to stop at a gas station to phone family
(context) They       come out         of the station
(context) Their car       disappear        into the distance
(context) Grandmother        lie          on the roof
(background) They       phone        the family
(background) Someone       steal      their car

How do we decide if something is context, causal event or background?

Contextual action is primary / secondary to the plot.
Causal events are described sequentially / non-sequentially.
Background actions occur later / earlier in the story timeline. 




"Contextual events" are things that happen but don't directly progress the chain of events. People might be going somewhere, sitting around, it might be raining, they might be having lunch... often these things get interrupted by a causal event. They provide the scene or context for the key events in the story.

"Causal events" occur in chronological and sequential order. One event leads to the next. They drive the story.

"Background" means events that have already happened at this point in the sequence of causal events.  Often they are things people in the story realise or discover after they've happened. Sometimes they're things that occurred before the story even began.