Take a look back at “A weekend in San Francisco – a tale of three breakfasts”. It describes the story of a trip to San Francisco.
Did you notice anything unusual about the writing style?
There are only 2 past tenses used in the whole story – even though it takes place at a time in the past.
Ann (the writer) has used the Present Simple to tell the story.
Why?
We sometimes do this to recreate the experience, to make it seem more energetic and dynamic, as though it is happening now.
Read the first part of the story again – this time in the Past Simple. It is still grammatically correct but it changes the style and energy of the story.
A weekend in San Francisco – a tale of three breakfasts
We arrived in San Francisco late at night and exhausted after a ten-hour flight from London. The next day we were up early – we had an exciting new city to explore, new people to meet and new foods to taste. We played safe the first day and had breakfast in our hotel. It was a buffet and we chose freshly squeezed orange juice, bircher muesli, and country sausage with eggs. The sausages were thin, spicy and delicious. No lunch for us! We set off on a nine-mile walk from the centre of town, across the Golden Gate Bridge and returned by ferry.
Now time for you to practise Telling a Story
Read the first paragraph of the following story and put the correct form of the verbs into the gaps (remember to keep all the verbs in the Present Simple to keep it fresh and energetic). You may find that some words fit into more than one sentence but there is only one complete solution.
- begin – come – see – drive – feel – take – make –
- hear – miss – be – follow – turn – can (not) – take –
My first cooking holiday in France
It __________1 me a gruelling 10 hours to reach Boulogne because of the horrendous traffic jams on the motorways and I almost __________2 the ferry! But I finally __________ 3 onto French soil and __________ 4 my culinary vacation. Henri, the owner, __________ 5 out to meet me and his wife __________ 6 him. What a charming couple they __________ 7. They__________ 8 me feel very welcome and I __________ 9 wait to meet the other guests. Henri __________ 10 me through to the kitchen – my home from home for the next week – and I __________ 11 thrilled to be here. I __________ 12 the sound of voices and __________ 13 around. Oh no! I __________ 14 ………….
