Past Simple and Past Continuous: storytelling

(Episode 8: Past Simple and Past Continuous: storytelling)
(Photo by Cailin Grant-Jansen)

Storytelling has been with us since forever. We love to sit around (preferably around a bonfire, like the one in the picture, while eating something delicious!) and share our stories. And what’s the most important element here? Yep, the timeline. Without it, how can you follow what happened?

Do you tell stories? Of course you do! Every time you talk about something that happened in the past, about a memory, or the reason why you did something you are telling a story. So come along and learn how to use past simple or past continuous to tell stories. These are the basics!

Turn the CC on to see the transcript as you listen!

Episode transcript

Hello there! Happy you are here again. It’s ok! Take that deep breath. Shoulders relaxed, jaw unclenched, and we will get through this like a breeze!

Welcome back to English Airs, the podcast that will give you effortless accuracy. This voice you are hearing is Parya. I am an English instructor, among other things, and at the moment I live and work in Tokyo. I was not born here, so how did I end up in Japan? Well, that is a rather long story. And here is how it begins: in 2016, I was self-studying Japanese, and used to check a lot of different online resources to improve. I saw a banner that advertised job positions, so I sent an email…

Wait. Wait a minute. So, I was studying? Did I finish it? Did I continue? Why does it even matter?

Well, it matters because when you tell a story (and that means talking about anything in the past, from your childhood memories to reports) you want to do two important things. One: Create a clear picture for your listener, and two: help them follow the timeline.

So let’s get going. What are you doing now? I mean right now, other than listening to this podcast of course.
Wow! Some of you are very busy! Are all your days like this? What were you doing yesterday at this time?

Me? I was sleeping, when an earthquake woke me up. Don’t worry; in Japan, they are pretty common and we are used to them. Back home they were scary. I remember one time, I was chopping some vegetables when the earthquake hit, and I cut my finger!

So you see how we use these two forms? Let’s check together:
What was I doing yesterday at this time? I was sleeping. _{(description of a moment in the past)}
– Why did I cut my finger when the earthquake hit? Because I was chopping vegetablesand I had a knife in my hand._{(giving background information when telling a story)}

– Did I cut my finger before or after the earthquake? After: The earthquake hit, then I cut my finger. _{(talking about events in the order they happened)}

– Did I keep cutting my finger? No! Of course not!

Easy, wasn’t it? We use simple past to talk about events that happened, in the order they happened. Let’s get a mini practice with that: Think about your morning, and tell the first five things that you did. Go on.

Great! But I have to say it again, that much before breakfast?! You are too busy! Now, let’s use past continuous to give some background information. I am going to ask a few questions, and I will pause a little so that you can think and answer:

Did you receive any messages yesterday? What were you doing at that time?

Did you see something beautiful? When?

Did somebody call your name? What were you doing?

Fantastic! Now on to practicing it on your own. What to put on the reminder? A simple question: “How come?” As you may know, how come means why, but it’s more casual. So the actual question is “Why did you do that?”, but at least to me, it sounds like someone is accusing me of something! “How come?” is much friendlier, and invites the story behind an action. The best part is, you can just choose whatever action you want. So, the answer will be something like this:

“Well, I was walking home from the station when I smelled something fantastic! Then I saw there was a new bakery there. I went inside and as I was looking at all the fresh bread, I realized I couldn’t decide which one I wanted. So, I bought one loaf from each!”

My answer was pretty long, but you can stop after two or three sentences. Just make new ones every day. Also, listen to the podcast a few times. Naturally, your answers will be different every time.

Don’t forget: the transcript has extra explanations and as always it is color-coded, so it will be easier to remember. And on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter there will be announcements, questions, and quizzes!

Remember that I am always happy to receive any comments or questions, so share your thoughts. If you’d like me to make an episode about something specific, let me know and I will see where I can put it. Oh, and please tell anyone who might need this podcast about it. If you help, we can reach more and more people and help them with their English! That would be great, wouldn’t it?

Parya out!