Los tiempos narrativos o narrative tenses son aquellos tiempos verbales que se utilizan para hablar del pasado. Es decir para contar historias, describir hechos que sucedieron en el pasado, contar anécdotas personales, etc.
Estos tiempos verbales son: pasado simple o simple past, pasado continuo o past continuous , pasado perfecto o past perfect y pasado perfecto continuo o past perfect continuous y uno o más de ellos puede ser usado en una sentencia.
A continuación se detallan los usos para cada uno de estos tiempos verbales.
Past Simple
- Acciones completadas en el pasado. Normalmente se dice cuando sucedieron esas acciones:
- She practiced English every day and gained confidence in speaking.
- Hábitos y estados pasados:
- I needed something to ease the pain, .. (nota: need es un verbo estativo, es decir que expresa una emoción, sensación o estado)
- After that day, I remembered that look in my sisters' eyes every day, every time I wanted to drink (nota: want es un verbo estativo, es decir que expresa una emoción, sensación o estado)
- After the intensive course, she felt assured enough to apply for English-speaking jobs
- Situaciones que comenzaron y finalizaron en el pasado:
- He joined a conversation club, where he spoke English fluently with native speakers
- Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. He became the first black President of South Africa. He spent 27 years in prison in his battle against the system of apartheid.
- Narración de acontecimientos de una historia en orden cronológico:
- She registered for the course, started learning English, and practiced speaking daily.
Past Continuos
- Acciones en progreso en un determinado tiempo en el pasado, en un punto determinado de una historia:
- She had improved her accent, but she was still hesitating to speak English in public.
- Bonnie was barking loudly.
- En las narraciones, se lo utiliza para preparar la escena al comienzo de una historia:
- In the small, quiet town, the sun was painting the sky…
- At 6 o’clock that evening Dan was still missing. Bobby was feeling worried.
Past Simple y Past Continuos
Frecuentemente se utiliza el pasado simple y el continuo juntos cuando una acción interrumpe a otra.
- I was strolling along the beach one day when suddenly, Bonnie ran off.
- It was still raining when Bobby woke up the next morning.
- Dan was sitting at the table when she went into the kitchen.
Past Perfect
- Describir una acción que ocurrió en el pasado antes que otra.
- By the time he finished the leadership training program, he had strengthened his confidence.
- I had watched the movie before I read the book
- Hablar de una acción que ocurrió antes de un tiempo específico en el pasado
- I had fallen asleep when the clock rang at 11 PM
- Hablar de acciones que iniciaron en el pasado y continuaron hasta un tiempo determinado también en el pasado
- I had been happy in all my jobs until I got this one
- After I had practiced English for months, my confidence in speaking greatly improved
- Decir cuánto o cuántas cosas habíamos hecho anteriormente en el pasado (how many/how much):
- we had driven 500 miles and were tired
- how many hours had he slept when you woke him up?
- When I saw Clara, I realised that she hadn't changed much in all those years.
- Hablar de estados o situaciones que habían comenzado anteriormente en el pasado (con verbos de estado)
- The day Anne died, they had been married for 48 years.
- The day I left, I had been in England for exactly four years.
- She told me she had always hated her sister.
Past Simple y Past Perfect
Se puede utilizar el pasado simple y el pasado perfecto juntos para describir una acción que sucedió antes de otra, ambas en el pasado.
- I quickly realised that the storm the previous night had washed up the body.
- Bobby knew that Dan hadn’t wanted to come home but she also knew that he hadn’t had any other option.
Past Perfect Continuos
- Describir algo que ha sucedido por un largo periodo en el pasado:
- I could tell that the body had been lying on the beach for several hours because the man’s clothes were dry.
- Britain had been trying to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Poland and Germany.
- Hablar de acciones continuas más largas que comenzaron antes en el pasado que los eventos principales de la historia (con verbos dinámicos).
- I told John not to drive because he had been drinking all night
- I was furious. I had been waiting for him in the cold, and he didn’t call to say he’d be late.
- We had been driving for less than an hour when the car broke down.
- Acciones repetidas desde tempreno en el pasado (con verbos dinámicos)
- I couldn’t believe it. She had been writing a letter every day for over a year.
Ejercicios
Aca les comparto algunos link de sitios donde se podrá ejercitar sobre los tiempos narrativos:
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