Reading Simple Stories: Who, When and What Happened
How to follow a short English story — keeping track of who is doing what, and in what order.
A short story is harder than a sign, because you have to hold several things in your head at once: the people, the order of events, and the time. Here is how to keep track.
Who is who
English uses a name once, then switches to he / she / they / it. When you lose the thread, go back to the last name you saw.
Marta arrived late. She had missed the bus, so she walked. When she got there, Tom was already waiting.
She is Marta every time. The moment a new name appears — Tom — the pronouns may change too.
The order of events
Stories are not always told in the order things happened. These words tell you the real order:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| then, after that, later | the next thing |
| before | earlier than |
| already | it happened earlier than expected |
| suddenly | quickly and unexpectedly |
| finally, in the end | the last thing |
Watch for before. She ate before she left means eating came first, even though left is the last word in the sentence.
Past simple carries the story
The events of a story are almost all in past simple: arrived, walked, waited, saw. When you meet had + verb (had missed), that is something that happened even earlier:
When she got there, Tom had already left.
Tom left first. She arrived second — and he was gone.
Feelings tell you why
Stories explain actions with feeling words: worried, annoyed, relieved, surprised. If you understand the feeling, you usually understand why the person did the next thing.
A worked example
Sam checked his bag twice. His passport wasn't there. He ran back to the flat, but the door was locked and his keys were in the bag he had left at the café. Finally, he phoned his sister.
Order of events: he left the bag at the café (earliest — had left), checked his bag, ran back, found the door locked, phoned his sister. The feeling behind it all: panic.
Test yourself
The quiz below asks who did what, and when.