Learning English

Hi Guys! Dan for BBC Learning English here. This time we're going to be taking about narrative tenses, which are story tenses. And we're going to try and do the whole thing in 90 seconds. Are you ready? Here we go.

So, can you see this scar? I got this scar when I was about five or six years old. You see, I used to love jumping on the bed.

I say used to, because used to is used for a past habit, which is something that we don't do any more in the present. Although, I still quite like jumping on the bed. Don't tell anybody, OK?

So, one day after I had arrived home from school, I went upstairs to jump on the bed.

Now, I say had arrived, because had arrived is the past perfect. And this means that the action is complete before the past simple verb. I could say, I went upstairs after I had arrived home. It doesn't make any difference to the meaning: the past perfect always comes first.

Now, my mum was quite tired because she had been working all day, so she didn’t see me go upstairs.

Had been working is the past perfect continuous. It's exactly the same as the past perfect, except we use it for longer actions: she had been working all day.

Anyway, while I was jumping on the bed, my mum came in and told me to get off.

While I was jumping: was jumping is the past continuous. We use this   or an action which is in progress at a past time. We often combine it with the past simple to give the interrupted past. While I was jumping, my mother walked in and told me to get off the bed.

So, I decided to get off the bed. But instead of walking off like a sensible person, I jumped off and I went completely out of control and I bashed my head on my mother's bedside table, giving me this scar. I was quite lucky because I could have taken out both of my eyes, and I have quite lovely eyes. BEEP. Oh, excuse me. I have quite lovely eyes. So, the moral of the story is, always listen to your mother!

Now I use the past simple to describe the main events of the story, because the past simple is the most important tense, and it's at the point that we want to focus on. Did you get it? Alright guys. Dan for BBC Learning English, signing off.