Pripovedovalni časi (tako imenovani narrative tenses) so glagolski časi, ki se jih uporablja za opisovanje preteklosti. Pogosto jih najdemo v zgodbah in opisih preteklih dogodkov, kot so naprimer anekdote ipd.
Med te čase spadajo:
- Past Simple
- Past Continuous
- Past Perfect Simple
- Past Perfect Continuous
We were walking as usual one day, when all of a sudden, Bonnie shot off. She started to bark furiously. I saw a man sleeping face down on the sand. Bonnie continued to bark, but the man didn’t wake up. He wasn’t sleeping; he was dead. It was clear that the storm had washed up the body.
PAST SIMPLE
Uporabljamo ga za dogodke, ki so se začeli in končali v preteklosti, na primer zaporedje dogodkov v nekogaršnjem življenju.
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.
Past Simple bo pogosto uporabljen tudi v dialogih.
– When Bobby went down for breakfast, Matt looked up.
– “Did you hear the storm last night?”
– Bobby didn’t answer.
– “Your brother went out last night. He didn’t come back. Do you know where he went?”
– Bobby’s heart sank. She knew exactly where Dan had gone…
PAST CONTINUOUS
Ta čas bo uporabljen za opis postranskih informacij, kraja dogajanja ali situacije, ki se je dogajala nekaj časa.
At 6 o’clock that evening Dan was still missing. Bobby was feeling worried. Bonnie was barking loudly.
PAST SIMPLE IN PAST CONTINUOUS
Časa uporabljamo skupaj, ko eno dejanje prekine drugo.
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 SIMPLE IN PAST PERFECT
Kombinacijo Past Simple in Past Perfect časa uporabimo v stavku, kjer opisujemo preteklo dejanje, ki se je zgodilo pred nekim drugim preteklim dejanjem.
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 CONTINUOUS
Ta čas uporabimo za opis nečesa, kar se je dogajalo dlje časa pred neko točko v preteklosti.
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.
POMEMBNO!
Ko pripovedujemo zgodbo se pogosto poslužujemo besed oziroma fraz, ki združujejo stavke ali povedi. Gre za tako imenovane “linking words” (vezalne besede). Nekatere izmed njih lahko uporabimo za izražanje zaporedja dogodkov ali dejanj.
Nelson Mandela never gave up on his struggle against apartheid. As the years went by, his fame spread to every corner of the world. In the end, under enormous global pressure, the government had no option but to release him.
Druge vezalne besede in fraze, ki nakazujejo vrstni red dogodkov so: First of all …, Then …, Next …, Finally …, After that …, After several months/days/hours/weeks …, By the time …, All of a sudden …
