Narrative Tenses

That yellow sheet meant that they ... quarantined.

• were just

• were just being

• had just been

Five days later, Mr Clark was at the docks. He ... the house and now he ... their ship leave to the United States without him or his family.

• left, had watched

• was leaving, watched

• had left, was watching

When the ship ... over the horizon, he ... and ... back home, crying.

• disappeared, had stood up, was going

• was disappearing, stood up, had gone

• had disappeared, stood up, went

A few days later, the tragic news spread throughout Scotland - the mighty Titanic 20 ... taking hundreds of lives with it.

• sank

• was sinking

• had sunk

We use ... to tell stories about what happened in the past. The most important ... are: past simple, past continuous, past perfect simple, and past perfect continuous.

• narrative tenses; narrative tenses

• past simple; past continuous

• past perfect simple; past perfect continuous

• past tenses; present tenses

It was getting late and Eric LeMarque decided to have one final run on his snowboard. As he ... down the mountain, he came across a thick fog and headed in the wrong direction.

• 'd gone

• was going

It was getting late and Eric LeMarque decided to have one final run on his snowboard. As he was going down the mountain, he ... across a thick fog and headed in the wrong direction.

• came

• was coming

On the eighth day Eric was seen by a helicopter that ... for him. He was completely exhausted but alive.

• had searched

• had been searching

A farmer couldn't believe what he saw when he came across a stranger living on his farm. The man, Ricky Megee ... off the land in the Australian bush for two months.

• lived

• had been living

Ricky ... near the border of Western Australia and Northern Territory. He stopped to help some people whose car had been broken down and offered them a lift to a nearby town.

• had been driving

• had driven

• was driving