Meaning & use
narrating
Last updated
“narrating” is a form of “narrate”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
Telling a story or an account of events, either aloud or in writing.
Grammar: May take an object: narrating a tale; or stand alone: she is narrating well.
Patterns
- narrating a story
- narrating events to someone
Grandfather was narrating the story of his journey to the children.
The author is narrating the events from a child's point of view.
She enjoys narrating funny stories at family dinners.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Speaking the commentary for a film, documentary or audiobook.
Grammar: Often used for voice work: narrating a documentary.
Patterns
- narrating a documentary
- narrating an audiobook
A famous actor is narrating the nature documentary.
He spent a week narrating the audiobook in a studio.
She is narrating the video with a calm voice.
Common combinations
- narrating a story
- He was narrating a story about his first job.
- narrating a documentary
- She is narrating a documentary about whales.
- narrating events
- The diary is narrating events from the war.
- narrating in the first person
- The novel is narrating in the first person.
- narrating an audiobook
- He is narrating an audiobook this month.
Synonyms and how they differ
- recounting
- Recounting stresses retelling something that already happened, while narrating can also mean voicing a story or film.
- relating
- Relating is a little formal and means telling an event, whereas narrating suggests a structured story.
- telling
- Telling is the simplest word, but narrating suggests a more organized account.
- describing
- Describing gives details of how something looks or feels, while narrating follows events in order.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: narrating or narrative? narrating or narrator?
narrating vs narrative
Narrative is a noun for the story itself, while narrating is the action of telling it.
narrating vs narrator
A narrator is the person who tells the story; narrating is what the narrator does.
Practice
Which sentence uses narrating correctly?
Choose one answer.
Narrating means telling or speaking commentary for a story or film, so an actor doing a documentary fits. The others are ungrammatical or illogical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “narrating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.