Markers for Simple Narration

Level 2

Use narrative markers to show sequence, overlap and the end of a story.

How It Works

Primer introduces an initial step, després places another event later, and mentrestant shows overlap. Llavors or aleshores can locate an event at that point in the story. Al final introduces what eventually happened at the end.

The marker and tense do different jobs. Després vam sortir advances the story with a completed event; mentrestant plovia sets an ongoing background. Do not choose an imperfect solely because a sentence contains a time word.

Distinguish temporal then from a logical consequence. Doncs can draw a conclusion, but it is not the default replacement for every narrative then. You can place a marker at the beginning for orientation or later when the relationship remains clear. Punctuation helps separate a scene-setting opening from a longer clause.

Examples (3)

  1. Primer vam dinar; després vam sortir.

    First we had lunch; then we went out.

  2. Mentrestant, la Júlia preparava el cafè.

    Meanwhile, Júlia was making coffee.

  3. Al final vam trobar les claus.

    In the end, we found the keys.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Markers for Simple NarrationLevel 2

Learn This First

Recognize how a linking word relates neighboring ideas.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.