記敘文是記人敘事的文章，它主要是用于說明事件的時間、背景、起因、過程及結果，即我們通常所說的五個“ W ”( what, who, when, where, why )和一個“ H ”( how )。記敘文的重點在于“述說”和“描寫”，因此一篇好的記敘文要敘述條理清楚，描寫生動形象。下面就談談英語記敘文的特點和寫好記敘文的基本要領。
1. 敘述的人稱
英語的記敘文一般是以第一或第三人稱的角度來敘述的。用第一稱表示的是由敘述者親眼所見、親耳所聞的經歷。它的優點在于能把故事的情節通過“我”來傳達給讀者，使人讀后感到真實可信，如身臨其境。如：
The other day, I was driving along the street. Suddenly, a car lost its control and ran directly towards me fast. I was so frightened that I quickly turned to the left side. But it was too late. The car hit my bike and I fell off it.
用第三人稱敘述，優點在于敘述者不受“我”活動范圍以內的人和事物的限制，而是通過作者與讀者之外的第三者，直接把故事中的情節展現在讀者面前，文章的客觀性很強。如：
Little Tom was going to school with an umbrella, for it was raining hard. On the way, he saw an old woman walking in the rain with nothing to cover. Tom went up to the old woman and wanted to share the umbrella with her, but he was too short. What could he do? Then he had a good idea.
2. 動詞的時態
在記敘文中，記和敘都離不開動詞。所以動詞出現率最高，且富于變化。記敘文中用得最多的是動詞的過去的，這是英語記敘文區別于漢語記敘文的關鍵之處。英語寫作的優美之處就在于這些動詞時態的變化，正是這一點才使得所記、所敘有鮮活的動態感、鮮明的層次感和立體感。
3. 敘述的順序
記敘一件事要有一定的順序。無論是順敘、倒敘、插敘還是補敘，都要讓讀者能弄清事情的來龍去脈。順敘最容易操作，較容易給讀者提供有關事情的空間和時間線索。但這種方法也容易使文章顯得平鋪直敘，讀起來平淡乏味。倒敘、插敘、補敘等敘述方法能有效地提高文章的結構效果，讓所敘之事跌宕起伏，使讀者在閱讀時思維產生較大的跳躍，從而為文章所吸引，深入其中。但這些方法如果使用不當，則容易弄巧成拙，使文章結構散亂，頭緒不清，讓讀者不知所云。
4. 敘述的過渡
過渡在上下文中起著承上啟下、融會貫通的作用。過渡往往用在地點轉移或時間、事件轉換以及由概括說明到具體敘述時。如：
In my summer holidays, I did a lot of things. Apart form doing my homework, reading an English novel, watching TV and doing some housework, I went on a trip to Qingdao. It is really a beautiful city. There are many places of interest to see. But what impressed me most was the sunrise.
The next morning I got up early. I was very happy because it was a fine day. By the time I got to the beach, the clouds on the horizon were turning red. In a little while, a small part of the sun was gradually appearing. The sun was very red, not shining. It rose slowly. At last it broke through the red clouds and jumped above the sea, just like a deep-red ball. At the same time the clouds and the sea water became red and bright.