Study guide
6.2 Narrative Language and Connectors
Cambridge A2 Key KET
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1 Introduction & Exam Overview
1.1 What Is Cambridge A2 Key (KET)? 1.2 Exam Format: Three Papers 1.3 Who Takes A2 Key and How It Is Delivered 1.4 Study Hours and Preparation Path
2 Scoring, Grades & Results
2.1 The Cambridge English Scale 2.2 Grades A, B, C and Certificates 2.3 How Your Overall Score Is Calculated
3 Reading Parts 1–3: Understanding Texts
3.1 Reading Overview (Parts 1–5) 3.2 Reading Part 1: Short Texts and Main Message 3.3 Reading Part 2: Multiple Matching 3.4 Reading Part 3: Longer Text Detail and Gist
4 Reading Parts 4–5: Vocabulary and Grammar Cloze
4.1 Reading Part 4: Multiple-Choice Cloze 4.2 Collocations and Phrasal Verbs for Part 4 4.3 Reading Part 5: Open Cloze 4.4 Grammar Words for Open Cloze
5 Writing Part 6: Guided Message
5.1 Writing Overview (Parts 6–7) 5.2 Part 6 Guided Writing Task 5.3 Model Emails and Content-Point Checklists
6 Writing Part 7 & Assessment Criteria
6.1 Part 7 Picture Story 6.2 Narrative Language and Connectors 6.3 Writing Assessment: Content, Organisation, Language
7 Listening Parts 1–3
7.1 Listening Paper Overview 7.2 Listening Part 1: Short Dialogues and Pictures 7.3 Listening Part 2: Gap Fill Notes 7.4 Listening Part 3: Conversation Multiple Choice
8 Listening Parts 4–5 & Detail Skills
8.1 Listening Part 4: Gist and Main Message 8.2 Listening Part 5: Matching 8.3 Numbers, Times, Prices and Spelling
9 Speaking Test
9.1 Speaking Test Format 9.2 Speaking Part 1: Interview 9.3 Speaking Part 2: Discussion 9.4 Speaking Assessment Criteria
10 A2 Grammar Essentials
10.1 Present and Past Tenses 10.2 Future Forms, Modals and Obligation 10.3 Comparatives, Superlatives, Adverbs and Word Order 10.4 Questions, Negatives and There Is/Are
11 A2 Vocabulary Topics
11.1 People, Home and Daily Routines 11.2 Free Time, Hobbies, Travel and Transport 11.3 Food, Shopping, Money and Health 11.4 Places in Town, Services and Simple Technology
12 Functional Language for Exam Tasks
12.1 Requests, Offers, Invitations and Suggestions 12.2 Opinions, Agreeing, Disagreeing and Preferences 12.3 Describing People, Places and Events; Simple Narration
13 Exam Day and Test Strategy
13.1 Digital vs Paper-Based and the 2026 Change 13.2 What Happens on Exam Day 13.3 Full Practice Tests and Timing Plans
14 Results and Next Steps
14.1 Interpreting Your Statement of Results 14.2 From A2 Key to B1 Preliminary
6.2 Narrative Language and Connectors
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
Past simple is the core tense for most A2 Key Part 7 stories about completed events (walked, saw, bought, helped).
Past continuous is useful for background or interrupted actions (It was raining when the bus left).
Sequence words—First, Then, Next, After that, Suddenly, Finally—make Organisation clearer and link the three pictures.
Time phrases such as Yesterday, Last weekend, In the morning, and Two hours later set the scene without long introductions.
Optional short dialogue with simple tags (she said, he asked) can add life if it stays easy and accurate.
Last updated: July 2026
6.2 Narrative Language and Connectors
Quick Answer: Tell most Part 7 stories in the past simple , use past continuous for background or interrupted actions when useful, and join stages with sequence words ( First, Then, Next, After that, Suddenly, Finally ) plus simple time phrases . Short dialogue is optional.
Section 6.1 explained the Part 7 job: three pictures, one ordered story, 35+ words. This section gives you the language engine for that job. At CEFR A2 you do not need literary style. You need controlled narrative tools that examiners see every day in successful scripts: regular and irregular past forms, a few continuous frames, clear connectors, and everyday story vocabulary.
Past simple: the core of the picture story
Most Part 7 pictures show finished events . Past simple is the default:
Mia waited at the bus stop.
The bag broke and the apples fell .
They played football and Sam scored .
Regular past forms (add -ed)
Base Past Example in a story
walk walked She walked to the park.
wait waited He waited for his friend.
start started It started to rain.
help helped A woman helped him.
smile smiled They smiled at the end.
kick kicked Sam kicked the ball.
open opened Tom opened the car door.
Spelling reminders at A2: stop → stopped , plan → planned (double consonant after a short vowel in common verbs); try → tried , carry → carried (y → i before -ed after a consonant).
High-value irregular past forms for stories
Memorise these as a Part 7 “emergency pack.” They appear constantly in picture narratives:
- Base Past Base Past
- go went see saw
- get got take took
- come came give gave
- buy bought bring brought
- find found lose lost
- break broke fall fell
- run ran leave left
- say said tell told
- make made have had
- put put hit hit
- win won meet met
- feel felt become became
- Consistency beats decoration
A story that stays in accurate past simple scores better than a story that jumps randomly between tenses:
Consistent: She missed the bus. Then it rained . Finally Tom arrived .
Inconsistent: She missed the bus. Then it rains . Finally Tom is arriving .
If you start in past simple, finish in past simple unless you deliberately use past continuous for a background frame.
Past continuous: when it helps
Past continuous ( was/were + -ing ) is useful in two common Part 7 situations:
Background weather or scene: It was raining hard. / The sun was shining .
Interrupted longer action: She was waiting for the bus when it left without her.
Simple patterns
Pattern Example
Background It was raining, so Mia got wet.
Two people, same time While Leo was shopping, his phone rang. (only if the picture supports it)
Interrupted action They were playing football when Sam scored.
Do not force past continuous into every sentence. Many high-scoring A2 stories use mostly past simple and only one continuous line for atmosphere.
- Common continuous errors to avoid
- She was go to the shop. → She was going / She went
- It was rain. → It was raining / It rained
- They was playing. → They were playing
- Sequence words: the Organisation toolkit
Sequence words tell the examiner you can organise a narrative. They also protect you from writing three disconnected captions.
Core set for A2 Key Part 7
Connector Typical use Example
First Opening stage / Picture 1 First, Mia waited at the bus stop.
Then Next stage Then it started to rain.
Next Another step Next, she called her friend.
After that Later step After that, a car stopped.
Suddenly Surprise or quick change Suddenly, the bag broke.
Finally / In the end Closing stage / Picture 3 Finally, they both smiled.
Light variety without complexity
You do not need advanced linkers ( nevertheless, whereas ). A2-friendly extras that still help:
Later — Later, her friend arrived.
At last — At last, the rain stopped.
- So — It rained, so she got wet. (result)
- Because — She was sad because the bus left. (reason)
- But — She waited, but the bus did not stop. (contrast)
- And — join two short related actions carefully; do not chain five ideas with only and
- Model paragraph using connectors
Yesterday morning, Anna went to the bus stop. First , she saw the bus coming. Then it left without her. Suddenly , it started to rain. After that , her brother arrived in a car. Finally , Anna got home and had a hot drink.
Notice: connectors mark stages; verbs stay mostly past simple; the reader never wonders which event came first.
Time phrases: set the scene fast
Time phrases replace long introductions and help Organisation:
Time phrase Example start
Yesterday Yesterday, Leo went shopping.
Yesterday morning / afternoon / evening Yesterday afternoon, they played football.
Last night / last weekend / last Saturday Last Saturday, Mia missed the bus.
One day One day, Sam found a lost dog.
In the morning In the morning, the bag was full of apples.
Two minutes later Two minutes later, a woman helped him.
After a few minutes After a few minutes, the rain started.
At the end of the day At the end of the day, they were very happy.
Open with one time phrase, not three. Yesterday last weekend in the morning is confusing.
Story verbs by common picture themes
Build small theme banks so you are never searching for a basic verb under time pressure.
- Travel and transport
- waited, arrived, left, missed, caught, stopped, drove, walked, ran, got on, got off
- Weather and problems
- started to rain, got wet, dropped, broke, fell, lost, forgot, looked for, found
- Helping and feelings
- helped, thanked, smiled, laughed, cried, was happy/sad/surprised/tired/angry, felt better
- Free time and sport
- played, kicked, scored, won, lost, watched, listened, danced, cooked, bought
- Home and shopping
- went into, put, paid, carried, opened, closed, cleaned, cooked, ate, drank
Use concrete verbs from the pictures rather than vague lines like They did a thing or Something happened .
Optional dialogue tags
A short line of speech can make Picture 3 feel finished—if it stays simple:
“Thank you!” Mia said.
“Are you OK?” the woman asked.
“We won!” they shouted.
Rules for safe A2 dialogue
Keep speech to one short sentence .
Use common tags: said, asked, answered, shouted, replied .
Put the tag in a simple place: “Hello,” she said. or She said, “Hello.”
Do not write a full conversation of six turns—you will lose time and accuracy.
If punctuation stress you, skip dialogue and use She thanked him instead.
Dialogue is optional . Many strong scripts have none.
Building a sentence that carries a picture
Aim for subject + past verb + detail structures:
Leo bought some apples at the supermarket.
The bag broke and the apples fell on the ground.
A kind woman helped him pick them up.
Upgrade with one connector or time phrase:
Last Saturday, Leo bought some apples at the supermarket.
Then the bag broke and the apples fell on the ground.
Finally, a kind woman helped him pick them up.
That is already a complete Part 7 story shape.
Original language-focused model: The lost phone
Picture sequence: (1) A girl sits in a café and puts her phone on the table. (2) She leaves; the phone stays on the table. (3) A waiter runs after her with the phone; she looks relieved.
Model (55 words):
Yesterday afternoon, Sara sat in a café and put her phone on the table. After a few minutes, she paid and left, but she forgot her phone. Suddenly, the waiter ran after her and said, “Excuse me! Your phone!” Sara was very happy and thanked him. Then she put the phone carefully in her bag.
Language features to copy:
- Time phrase opening
- Past simple chain: sat, put, paid, left, forgot, ran, said, thanked, put
- Suddenly for the surprise stage
- One short dialogue line
- Clear final feeling and action
- From weak language to stronger language
Weak (unclear or ungrammatical) Stronger A2 narrative
Girl bus rain car. First, the girl missed the bus. Then it rained. Finally, a car stopped.
She go to park and play. She went to the park and played football.
It rain and she wet. It was raining and she got wet.
They happy because win. They were happy because they won.
After he falling apples. After that, the apples fell on the street.
Practice drills (10 minutes each)
Irregular sprint: Write 10 past forms from the emergency pack, then use five of them in one tiny story.
Connector rewrite: Take any three-sentence story and insert First / Then / Finally .
Continuous add-on: Add one background line ( It was raining… / The sun was shining… ) to a past-simple story.
Dialogue optional pass: Write a story twice—once with a one-line quote, once with She thanked him —and keep the cleaner version.
What Language marks reward at A2
The Language criterion (detailed fully in Section 6.3) looks for range and control of simple grammar and vocabulary . For Part 7 that usually means:
- Past forms mostly correct
- Basic word order sound
- Everyday story vocabulary that matches the pictures
- Errors that do not stop the reader understanding the event
You are not marked on rare idioms. A clear Then the bag broke beats a confused attempt at advanced phrasing.
Putting it together: 60-second language plan
Before you write:
Choose names and a time phrase .
List three past verbs , one per picture.
Choose two connectors (for example First and Finally , plus Then in the middle).
Decide whether one continuous weather line helps.
Write; then check endings on regular verbs and the irregulars you used.
Narrative language is a small, learnable set. Master past simple, a handful of irregulars, sequence words, and time phrases, and Part 7 becomes a routine task instead of a creative panic. The final section of this chapter explains exactly how examiners turn that writing into Content, Organisation, and Language scores from 0 to 5 .