What's on this chapter?
- Recount text
- Past simple tense
- Past continous tense
- Past perfect tense
- Adverbs of time, place and manner
- Pronouns
Recount text
A recount text is a text which retells events or experiences in the past.
The purpose of recount text is to tell the readers what happened in the past through a sequence of events.
Kinds of recount texts
- Personal recount
- Factual recount
- Imaginative recount
- Historical recount
The Structure of Recount
- Orientation: introducing the participants, place and time.
- Events: describing series of events that happened in the past.
- Reorientation: it is optional. Starting personal comment of the writer to the story.
Language Elements of Recounts
- Introducing personal participant - I, my group, my family, my school, etc.
- Using chronological connection - Then, first, next, after that, first of all, etc.
- Using linking verbs - Was, were, saw, heard, etc.
- Using action verb - Look, go, change, run, arrive, take, laugh, sing, etc.
- Using simple past tense, would + verb 1, past perfect tense, past continous tense.
Simple Past Tense
- Basic simple tense - I/you/he/she/it/we/they helped.
- Question form - Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?
- Negative form - I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not (didn't) help.
Past Continous Tense
We use the past continuous for:
- Something which continued before and after another action: E.g. The children were doing there homework when I got home.
- The use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story: E.g. The other day I was waiting for a bus when..... - Last week as I was driving to work.....
- Something that happened before and after a particular time: E.g. It was eight o'clock. I was writing a letter.
- Something that was happening again and again: E.g. I was practising every day, three times a day. - They were meeting secretly after school. - They were always quarrelling.
- With verbs which show change or growth: E.g. The children were growing up quickly. - Her hair was going grey. - The town was changing quickly.
Past Perfect Tense
It is often used when we are relating two events which happened in the past.
After he had locked all the doors he went to sleep
The first action : he had locked all the doors
The second action : he went to sleep
he had locked all the dorrs before he went to sleep
The first action : he had locked all the doors
The second action : he went to sleep
Adverbs of Time
We use adverbs of time to say:
- When something happened: Ex. I saw Mary yesterday. - She was born in 1978. - There was a storm during the night. - I will see you later.
- For how long: Ex. We waited all day. - They have lived here since 2004. - We will be on holiday from July 1st until August 3rd.
- How often (frequency): Ex. They usually watched television in the evening. - We sometimes went to work by car.
