UNIT 5 LESSON 2

REVIEW: NARRATIVE TENSES

Remember to use a range of tenses when you are narrating a sequence of past events.

PAST SIMPLE

Use past simple to describe completed events.

 

There was a big earthquake off the coast. 

PAST CONTINUOUS

Use the past continuous to provide background detail, such as what was going on when something happened.

 

People were swimming in the water when the tsunami hit.

PAST PERFECT

Use past perfect to place several past events in sequence.

 

We had been told to get out of the water before the wave came, but some people hadn't listened. 

   

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Use past perfect continuous in a similar way to past continuous – to add background detail.

 

Before the disaster, people had been enjoying themselves on the beach. 

PRESENT SIMPLE

To make the story feel more immediate, you can tell it in the present tense, even though it happened in the past.

 

The big wave hits the beach with incredible force. I am absolutely terrified.

FEATURES OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

In this part of the lesson, you'll watch a real-life person who lived through a real natural disaster. As Kevin talks about his frightening experience, notice these features of spoken English:

Beginning sentences with 'and'

Kevin frequently uses the word and to start his sentences.

And then nobody even talked about it. 

   

HESITATIONS

When he is thinking about what to say next, he hesitates and inserts the sound uh.

I was living in Japan in a little city called, uh, Odawara. 

     

ADDING EMPHASIS

In informal conversation, speakers often add emphasis with the word really. To add even more emphasis, Kevin uses the word twice.

'How come'

Kevin sometimes uses how come, instead of why.

How come everybody isn't even talking about this? 

Adding interest with sense words

Speakers sometimes use words that help the listener experience the sounds and sights of a story. For example, Kevin uses the verbs squeaking andcreaking to describe sounds.

You could hear this squeaking or creaking.

 

All of a sudden it got really, really quiet.

The big wave hits the beach with incredible force. I am absolutely terrified.

Expressing shock

People express shock in different ways.

 

I've never experienced anything like that before. 

I thought I was going to die! It was crazy! 

Sometimes shock can be expressed by just giving information about the disaster.

 

• Two men went into the water and saved the boy. They were heroes! 
• The whole building started shaking. 
• Then all the windows shattered. 
• Most of the buildings had collapsed. It was awful. 
• The earthquake was 7.0 on the Richter scale! We're lucky to be alive! 
• There were injured people everywhere. That could've been me.

There were injured people everywhere. That could've been me.

People were swimming in the water when the tsunami hit.