Rewrite the following sentence using the past perfect tense to emphasize that one action happened before the other: 'I closed my eyes and then I fell asleep.'

I had closed my eyes before I fell asleep.

Why is it important to use a variety of narrative tenses when telling a story?

Using a variety of narrative tenses helps to establish the sequence of events, provide background information, and create a more engaging and dynamic narrative.

Telling Stories with Tenses

10th Grade•40 minutes•Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences

Learning Objective

I can use narrative tenses to show the order of events in a story.

Key Concepts

The narrator was walking home by the River Thames after a long day at work and stopping for a few pints of beer.

The narrator fell asleep by the river and woke to see a green arm reaching out of the water, but a man calling himself 'the doctor' saved him from the monster.

The doctor warned the narrator to be careful of the full moon and the moon goblins, then disappeared in a blue flash.

Practice Questions

This lesson includes 8 practice questions to reinforce learning.

View questions preview

1. In the story, which tense is primarily used to describe the main sequence of events?

2. Give an example of a sentence from the story that uses the past perfect tense, and explain why the past perfect is used in that sentence.

3. Identify a sentence where the past continuous and past simple tenses are used together, and explain the relationship between the two actions.

...and 5 more questions

Educational Video

Mystery Story / Narrative Tenses

Luke's English Podcast

Learning Objective

Key Concepts

Practice Questions

Educational Video

Create Your Own Lesson