Writing: Narrative Writing (B1) - Lesson 3: Using Past Tenses Consistently in Narratives
Tip: Click on many text parts to hear them read aloud! (Requires browser support for speech).
Hello B1 Storytellers! 👋
When you write a story about events that have already happened, it's very important to use past tenses consistently. This means using the correct past forms of your verbs throughout your story so that your reader understands the timeline clearly.
In this lesson, you will:
- Understand why consistent past tense is important in narratives.
- Briefly review the Simple Past tense for main actions.
- Practice identifying and correcting tense inconsistencies in short narratives.
Why is Tense Consistency Important in Narratives?
Using verb tenses consistently, especially the past tense for stories, helps your reader to:
- Understand the Timeline: It clearly shows that all the events you are describing happened in the past and in a certain order.
- Follow the Story Easily: If tenses jump around without reason (e.g., from past to present and back again), it can confuse the reader.
- Believe Your Story: Consistent tenses make your narrative more professional and believable.
Imagine reading a story that says: "Yesterday, I go to the park. I played on the swings, and I see a dog." It sounds a bit strange and confusing, right? It should be: "Yesterday, I went to the park. I played on the swings, and I saw a dog."
Quick Review: Simple Past Tense
For most main actions in a story that happened and finished in the past, we use the Simple Past Tense.
- Regular Verbs: Add -ed (e.g., walk → walked, play → played, watch → watched).
(Remember spelling rules: study → studied, stop → stopped) - Irregular Verbs: These change in special ways (e.g., go → went, eat → ate, see → saw, have → had, am/is → was, are → were). You need to learn these!
Background Actions (Briefly)
Sometimes, you might describe an action that was in progress in the past when another (main) action happened. For this, we can use the Past Continuous Tense (was/were + verb-ing).
Example: The sun was shining when I woke up.
For today, our main focus will be on using the Simple Past Tense consistently for the main events of your story.
Spotting Tense Inconsistencies
When you write a story about the past, all your main action verbs should generally be in the past tense. Switching to the present tense by mistake can confuse the reader.
Example of Inconsistent Tenses:
Yesterday was a busy day. I woke up early and eat breakfast quickly. Then, I went to school. After school, I do my homework. My friend called me, and we talk for an hour. It was a good day.
In the example above, "eat", "do", and "talk" are incorrect. They should be in the past tense: ate, did, and talked.
Corrected Version:
Yesterday was a busy day. I woke up early and ate breakfast quickly. Then, I went to school. After school, I did my homework. My friend called me, and we talked for an hour. It was a good day.
Practice Tense Consistency!
Activity 1: Choose the Correct Past Tense Verb
Complete the sentences in this short narrative by choosing the correct simple past tense form of the verb.
Activity 2: Find and Correct the Incorrect Verb
Read the short paragraph. One verb is in the wrong tense. Type the paragraph correctly with all main verbs in the simple past tense.
✨ Tips for Past Tense Consistency ✨
- Decide Your Main Tense: If your story is about the past, commit to using past tenses for the main events.
- Check Every Verb: When you proofread, look at each verb. Ask yourself: "Did this happen in the past of my story?" If yes, is it in a past tense form?
- Watch Out for Common Irregular Verbs: Make a list of irregular verbs you often use and practice their past forms (go/went, see/saw, eat/ate, etc.).
- Read Your Story Aloud: Sometimes you can hear when a verb tense sounds wrong or out of place.
- Time Clues: Words like "yesterday," "last year," "one day" signal that past tense is needed.
Keeping Your Story in the Past! 🎉
Using past tenses consistently is key to writing clear and easy-to-follow narratives. Keep practicing, and it will become natural!