Writing: Narrative Writing (Simple) (A2) - Lesson 1: Writing a Sequence of 2-3 Simple Sentences about a Past Event

A2 Lesson 1: Writing a Sequence of 2-3 Simple Sentences about a Past Event

You have learned to describe things in the present. Now, let's learn how to tell a simple story about something that already happened. This is called narrative writing¹.

To do this, we need to use the Simple Past Tense² for our verbs.

Using the Simple Past Tense

The past tense shows that an action is finished. For many verbs, you just add -ed to the end. These are called regular verbs³.

Present Tense (Now)	Past Tense (Finished)
walk	walked
cook	cooked
watch	watched

Important Irregular Verbs

Some very common verbs are special, or irregular⁴. You must memorize their past tense forms. Here are a few of the most important ones:

• go → went
• eat → ate
• see → saw
• is / am → was
• are → were

Putting Events in a Sequence

A story needs to be in a logical order. We can use time words and sequencers to help the reader understand.

Let's tell a story about "Yesterday":

Yesterday was a busy day. First, I cleaned my house. Then, I cooked dinner for my family. After that, we all watched a movie together.

The highlighted words are all in the past tense.

✍️ Simple Story Checklist

• ✔️ Is my story about a past event?
• ✔️ Did I use the correct past tense form for my verbs (e.g., walked, went)?
• ✔️ Are the sentences in a logical order or sequence⁵?
• ✔️ Did I check my capitalization and punctuation?

🧠 Practice Quiz: Choose the Correct Past Tense Verb

Choose the correct past tense verb to complete the sentence.

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1. Last night, I ______ a delicious bowl of noodle soup.

1. eat
2. eated
3. ate

Answer: C. ate (Eat is an irregular verb).

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2. My brother ______ football with his friends yesterday afternoon.

1. played
2. play
3. plays

Answer: A. played (Play is a regular verb).

📝 Homework: Write Your Own Mini-Story

Get your notebook and pen. It's time to write a short story about your own life.

Choose ONE topic below:

• What you did last weekend.
• What you did this morning.
• Your last holiday or vacation.

Write a short story of 3-4 sentences. Remember to use past tense verbs and put the events in a clear order. Use the checklist to check your work!

Example Answer for "What I did this morning":

This morning, I woke up at 6:30. First, I drank a cup of hot coffee. Then, I went to the market to buy some vegetables for my mother.

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Narrative Writing: (Noun Phrase) - ការសរសេរនិទាន - Writing that tells a story. ↩
2. Simple Past Tense: (Noun Phrase) - កិរិយាស័ព្ទអតីតកាលធម្មតា - A verb tense used to talk about actions that happened and finished in the past. ↩
3. Regular Verb: (Noun) - កិរិយាស័ព្ទធម្មតា - A verb that forms its past tense by adding "-ed". ↩
4. Irregular Verb: (Noun) - កិរិយាស័ព្ទមិនទៀងទាត់ - A verb that has a special form for the past tense (e.g., go → went). ↩
5. Sequence: (Noun) - លំដាប់ - The order in which related events or things follow each other. ↩