Telling a short story about your day
Turn "How was your day?" into a real answer: simple past, First / Then / After that / In the end, and a whole conversation that uses everything in this course.
The past: -ed, the irregular few, and what "did" does
Most verbs just take -ed: worked, asked, waited. A small group changes shape and you simply learn them: go→went, have→had, see→saw, get→got, take→took, say→said, buy→bought. And the rule broken most often: after did or didn't, the verb goes back to its plain form, because "did" is already carrying the past.
- I went to the bank and waited for an hour.
- Did you see the email? — No, I didn't see it.
- Did you saw the email? / I didn't went.
- worked sounds like "workt", played like "playd", wanted like "WANT-id"
Check yourself
Two friends are talking about last night. Choose the right form of the verb.
A: Did you ____ the film last night? B: Yeah, it was great.
Show the answer
see
THE SHAPE
Every small story is three parts
Setup: when and where, one line. What happened: two or three short lines, joined with First, Then, After that. The ending: how it finished and how you felt. Then stop. A story that keeps going with "and… and… and…" loses the listener, and it's the ending that tells them when to react.
"This morning I was late for work. First my alarm didn't go off, then I missed the bus. After that I just gave up and walked. In the end I got there twenty minutes late, and nobody even noticed."
The words that hold it together
- First… starts it. "First I went to the bank."
- Then… / After that… move it forward. Use both, so you aren't repeating one word five times.
- so gives a result, but gives a surprise: "It was closed, so I walked back." "I was late, but nobody noticed."
- In the end / Finally tells the listener the story is landing, which is their cue to react.
- Careful: in the end is how things turned out. At the end is a place or a point in something: "at the end of the film", "at the end of the street".
Check yourself
A friend asks what you did this morning. Say the first thing, starting with "First".
Show the answer
First I went to the bank
Right. "First" opens the sequence, and "go" becomes "went" in the past.
Omid: Hey, how was your day?
Sara: Honestly? A bit of a disaster.
Omid: Oh no, what happened?
Sara: Well, first my alarm didn't go off. Then I missed the bus, so I took a taxi.
Omid: On a Monday morning? That must have been expensive.
Sara: Tell me about it. And after all that, the meeting was cancelled.
Omid: You're joking. So you got up early for nothing?
Sara: In the end, yes. But at least I got a quiet morning.Sara never builds a long sentence. Omid reacts after almost every line, which is the react-echo-ask move from lesson 3 seen from the listener's side."Tell me about it" is back from lesson 1: it means "I know, same here", not "please explain".
In the end, I just took a taxi.
After everything that went wrong, what I finally did was take a taxi.
- In the end how it turned out, after everything (not "at the end")
- just only, nothing more; it softens the decision
- took past of "take"; you take a taxi, a bus, the metro
- a taxi the vehicle you pay to drive you
You'll never guess what happened. /jul ˈnɛvər ˈɡɛs wʌt ˈhæpənd/
An opener that promises something surprising, so the listener asks for the story
You'll never guess what happened on the way home. — What?
Check yourself
Where does each line belong in a story?
- You'll never guess what happened.
- So, this morning…
- Then the bus broke down.
- After that, I just walked.
- In the end, I got there late.
- Anyway, that was my day.
Show the answer
Starting it: You'll never guess what happened., So, this morning…
Moving it along: Then the bus broke down., After that, I just walked.
Ending it: In the end, I got there late., Anyway, that was my day.
The whole course in one conversation
- 1 · Open it (lesson 1)
"Hey, how's it going?" — "Pretty good, thanks. You?" Short, positive, question back.
- 2 · Ask something real (lessons 1 and 3)
"How was your weekend?" Then react, echo, ask: "Oh really? How was it?"
- 3 · Tell your story (this lesson)
Setup, then First / Then / After that, then In the end. Keep the sentences short.
- 4 · Handle the trouble (lesson 10)
Missed something? "Sorry, could you say that again?" or "What does that mean?" Never just nod.
- 5 · Ask for what you need (lesson 7)
"I was wondering if you could send me that link." A question, not an order.
- 6 · Close it
"Anyway, I should get going. Good to see you!" "I should get going" is the standard, friendly way to end a chat without seeming bored.
Check yourself
Tom asks Negar, "How was your weekend?" She spent it moving to a new flat and she's exhausted. Which reply does the most work?
- Exhausting, honestly. I moved flat on Saturday. How about you?
- Fine.
- It was good, thanks.
- I was moving my home in the weekend and I am very tired and it was a very difficult two days for me and my brother.
Show the answer
Exhausting, honestly. I moved flat on Saturday. How about you?
Yes. One honest feeling, one concrete detail he can ask about, and the question handed back. That's the whole course in a single line.
Lesson recap
- Simple past: -ed for most verbs, a small group changes (went, saw, took, had). After "did", the plain form: "Did you see it?"
- A small story is three parts: setup, what happened, how it ended.
- Hold it together with First, Then, After that, so, but, In the end.
- "In the end" is how it turned out; "at the end" is a place or a point in something.
- The whole course in one chat: greet, ask something real, react, tell your story, ask for what you need, then "I should get going."