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Narrative tenses quiz : a spooky experience


The sentences on this page make a complete story so read all of them before you start choosing the correct verb forms.
1  This happened about ten years ago. I _______________ with a college friend, Sarah, in the country.
 was staying
 stayed
 had stayed
 have been staying
2  They ____________ an old country house a few miles from Cambridge
 recently bought
 have recently bought
 had recently bought
 had been buying
3  and she ______________me down to see it.
 had invited
 invited
 had been inviting
 was inviting
4  Anyway, it was a dark, winter afternoon and we _____________ in the sitting room.
 have been chatting
 were chatting
 chatted
 had chatted
5  Sarah's mum ____________________ a little while earlier, so we were alone in the house.
 went shopping
 had been shopping
 had gone shopping
 had been going shopping
6  Then, to our surprise we ____________ someone walking around in the room above.
 have heard
 had heard
 heard
 had been hearing
7  But Sarah said, 'Oh I expect Mum _________________ something - she always does.'
 has forgotten
 had forgotten
 forgot
 was forgetting
8  So we took no notice and ___________________ talking.
 had carried on
 were carrying on
 have been carrying on
 carried on
9  Imagine our surprise when five minutes later we looked out the window and _________Sarah's mum in her car driving up to the house!
 had seen
 saw
 had been seeing
 seen
10  So who...or what...______________ around upstairs?
 had walked
 walked
 had been walking
 was walking
Resources page for narrative tenses
Notes on narrative tenses
Gap fill exercises
Narrative tenses news story
Gap-fill exercise on narrative tenses based on a short news story about a girl who was kidnapped.
Narrative tenses - incident on a plane
Complete the anecdote about an incident on a plane by putting the verbs in the correct tense.
Narrative tenses exercise - James Bond
Narrative tenses gap-fill exercise based on a short passage from the James Bond story Diamonds are Forever.
Pakistan - China by bicycle
Personal account of a bike trip. Fifteen gaps. Past simple, past continuous, past perfect, and past perfect continuous.
Past simple and continuous - anecdote - the Donkey Dog
Short anecdote about a frightening experience, gapped for past continuous and past simple plus 'enormous' and 'the biggest'
Narrative tenses exercise: past perfect simple and continuous; past simple
Text about an engine failure during a flight. Advanced levels.
Present perfect, past simple and past continuous 01
Gapped dialogue. 'Have you ever...?' with a short anecdote as the reply using past simple and past continuous.
Present perfect, past simple and past continuous 02
Gapped dialogue. 'Have you ever...?' with a short anecdote as the reply using past simple and past continuous.
The Great Train Robbery
 
<i>Black Mirror</i>
 
Escape from the canyon