Traditional Culture
Senior 4 · English (Languages)
Traditional Culture
Lesson 3 of 5
35 min
Let's begin
A legend, a wedding memory and a myth have one thing in common: they all happened before the moment of telling. English gives a storyteller four tenses to arrange past events: one to move the story forward, one to paint the background, one to step back to an earlier event, and one to show how long something had been going on before that earlier moment. Grandmother Mukamana used all four without thinking: "I had been sitting still in that chair for nearly two hours when we arrived." In this lesson you learn to choose between them deliberately, which is what examiners look for in a narrative.
A personal narrative written by Ganzaa. The narrator, Uwase, and the people in it are imagined.
1 I was fourteen the year the power failed in my grandfather's village in Gicumbi. It happened on the second night of the holidays. My cousins and I were sitting around the radio, waiting for the football results, when the bulb flickered and died. Nobody moved for a moment. Then my grandfather laughed in the dark and said, "Good. Now we can have a proper evening."
2 He sent my cousin Gatete to fetch old Rugira, who lived on the next hill. Rugira had been the best storyteller in the area for as long as anyone could remember. By the time he arrived, my grandmother had lit a fire in the courtyard, and the neighbours had been gathering for almost an hour. Some had brought stools; others were sitting on mats with small children asleep across their knees.
3 Rugira did not start at once. He drank the milk that my grandmother had warmed for him, looked slowly round the circle and asked a riddle. "Sakwe sakwe!" he called. "Soma!" we shouted back. Nobody guessed the answer, and he refused to tell us. Then he began a tale about a hare who had been stealing honey from the king's hives all season.
4 I don't remember every detail now. I remember that the fire was crackling, that a dog was barking somewhere down the valley, and that the youngest children, who had been fighting sleep all evening, gave up long before the end. Above all, I remember the moment when the hare was caught. Rugira had been speaking more and more softly for several minutes, and we were all leaning towards him. Suddenly he clapped his hands, and every one of us jumped.
5 When the electricity came back two days later, I was almost sorry. I had heard hundreds of stories on the radio before that night, but I had never felt one.
| Tense | Form (+ / − / ?) | Use in a narrative | From the text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past simple | told / didn't tell / Did he tell…? regular verbs + -ed; irregular past forms | The main events, one after another: the story's backbone | He drank the milk, looked round the circle and asked a riddle. |
| Past continuous | was / were + -ing wasn't sitting / Were they sitting…? | The background: an action in progress at a past moment, often interrupted by a past simple event | We were sitting around the radio … when the bulb flickered. |
| Past perfect | had + past participle hadn't lit / Had she lit…? | A step back: a completed event before another past event | By the time he arrived, my grandmother had lit a fire. |
| Past perfect continuous | had been + -ing hadn't been waiting / Had they been waiting…? | Duration: an activity that went on up to, or until just before, a past moment; often with for, since or all evening | The neighbours had been gathering for almost an hour. |
One past moment (red) anchors the other three tenses: a background action in progress around it (blue), a completed earlier event (green), and an activity that lasted up to it (orange).
Definition
Key terms
| Past perfect (had + participle) | Past perfect continuous (had been + -ing) |
|---|---|
| Focus on the completed result or the number of times: She had told three stories by midnight. | Focus on the activity and how long it lasted: She had been telling stories since sunset. |
| The action was finished: Grandmother had warmed the milk (it was ready). | The action may not be finished, or it explains a visible result: His voice was hoarse because he had been talking all evening. |
| Used with state verbs: Rugira had known my grandfather for fifty years. | Not used with state verbs: |
| Word | Usual pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| when | past simple + past simple (one after the other) or past continuous + past simple (interruption) | When he clapped, we jumped. / We were leaning in when he clapped. |
| while, as | past continuous (two actions in progress) | While the fire was crackling, a dog was barking. |
| by the time, before, already, never … before | past perfect in the earlier event | By the time he arrived, the fire had been lit. |
| for, since, all evening | past perfect continuous for duration | The children had been fighting sleep all evening. |
| after | past perfect optional: after already shows the order | After he (had) drunk the milk, he asked a riddle. |
Worked example 1: one sentence, two meanings
Compare: (a) When Rugira arrived, the children fell asleep. (b) When Rugira arrived, the children had fallen asleep.
Worked example 2: choosing all four tenses in one passage
Complete: By the time the story ___ (end), we ___ (sit) on the cold ground for three hours, and the fire ___ (burn) down to red coals. My little brother ___ (sleep) on my lap. He ___ (never / stay) awake so late before.
Warning
Four mistakes examiners see every year
Tip
Ask "before what?" Before you write had, ask: before what? If you cannot name a later past event in the same passage, you don't need the past perfect. Then ask "for how long?": if the answer matters, use had been + -ing.
The past perfect continuous tense, from the 6 Minute Grammar series by BBC Learning English (about 6 minutes, 2015). Watch for how the presenters use the tense to give background to a past event, and note one example to compare with the timeline above.
Write a paragraph of 120–150 words about an evening when people in your family or village gathered: a storytelling evening, a celebration, a power cut, a match on the radio. Begin with a reference point (By the time I arrived… or When the lights went out…). Use each of the four tenses at least once, then underline them and label each one.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Quick check
Choose the correct form: By the time Rugira arrived, the neighbours ___ for almost an hour.
