Практическая грамматика английского языка - Болдак И.А., Малышева О.Л
..pdf3. PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS
USE
•When we talk about actions or events that started and finished in the past, we use the Past Simple:
(a)Ramon left the party at 9:00 last night.
•When we talk about an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past, we use the Past Continuous:
(b)Ramon was leaving the party at 9:00 last night.
•We often use the Past Continuous with the Past Simple to describe two
actions in the past:
(c) Ramon was leaving the party when I arrived.
•The Past Continuous refers to an action that was in progress when something else happened. It started before this time and possibly continued after it.
•While, when, and as soon as are time adverbials. While is associated with an action in progress. It means “during that time”:
(a)While I was reading the newspaper, Donald called.
•When is associated with a completed action. It means “at that time”:
(b)When Donald called, I was reading the newspaper.
However, when and while are often used in the same way. When is more common, and we often use it in place of while, especially in informal situations.
•As soon as is also associated with a completed action. It means “immediately after”:
(c)As soon as we heard the good news, we started to celebrate.
•Time clauses answer the question “When?” by giving information about the time an action or event happened. They contain a subject and a verb and are introduced by time terms like when, while, and as soon as:
(a)While Renata was crossing the street, she ran into her exboyfriend.
(b)We left as soon as we got your phone call.
(c)When Phyllis arrived home, everyone rushed out to greet her.
•A time clause is a dependent clause; this means that it is not complete by itself. For example, in order to fully understand, When Phyllis arrived home, we need more information. A time clause therefore depends on the rest of the sentence (the independent or main clause) to complete its meaning:
Dependent Time Clause |
Main (Independent) Clause |
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(d)When Phyllis arrived home, everybody rushed out to greet her.
•A time clause can come at the beginning of a sentence:
(e)While my father was cooking the dinner, our guests arrived.
•A time clause can also come at the end:
(f)Our guests arrived while my father was cooking the dinner.
•If the time clause comes at the beginning of the sentence, use a comma
between the time clause and the main clause: When ______________, _______________ . (time clause) (comma) (main clause) While ______________, _______________ . (time clause) (comma) (main clause)
As soon as ______________, _______________ . (time clause) (comma) (main clause)
•If the main clause comes at the beginning of the sentence and the time clause last, do not use a comma between the two clauses:
____________ when ___________ .
(main clause) (time clause)
____________ while ___________ . (main clause) (time clause)
____________ as soon as ___________ . (main clause) (time clause)
Practice Section
Comment on the use. Translate into Russian.
1.When did you get his answer? — I got his answer yesterday.
2.Were you working at 6 a.m. yesterday? — No, I wasn’t. I was still sleeping.
3.Why was she worried? — Because the baby was crying all the time.
4.When did they have breakfast? — They had breakfast at 8 o’clock.
5.Were they still having breakfast at 8 o’clock? — Yes, they were.
6.Did you make a phone call at 2 p.m? — Yes, I did.
7.Was she still talking on the phone at 2 p.m.? - Yes, she was.
8.When did she have dinner? — She had dinner when her husband got home.
9.What was she doing when her husband got home? — She was having dinner.
10.What did you do when the bell rang? — I opened the door.
11.What were you doing when the bell rang? —I was having breakfast.
12.What were you doing while she was reading? — I was writing a letter.
13.What were they doing at 10 p.m.? — They were watching television.
14.What was he doing while she was playing the piano? - He was reading a book.
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Exercises
Exercise 1. A) Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple.
B)Make questions and answer.
C)Make negative.
1.He (paint) the bathroom last year.
2.I (see) his sister yesterday.
3.Mary (be) very ill last week.
4.Peter (know) the answer.
5.Kathie (break) her arm last Wednesday.
6.They (stop) to have a rest.
7.They (be) at home yesterday night.
8.He (lie) down after lunch.
9.You (study) very hard at school last year.
10.We (leave) the restaurant without paying the bill.
Exercise 2. Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous.
1.Yesterday the sun (shine) when I (cycle) to school.
2.When I (come) home it (get) dark.
3.(He carry) a briefcase when you (see) him?
4.Tom (still read) when the phone (ring).
5.When I (look) for my needle-work the lights (go) out.
6.I (not know) he (prefer) tea to coffee.
7.He (practise) the violin, so he (not hear) me come in.
8.We (have) dinner when John (arrive).
9.Mary (know) that her husband (love) fishing.
10.She (still live) at the seaside when her parents (die).
11.Lucy (dance), but when she (see) me she (stop).
12.The phone (ring) just as I (dress).
13.As a child I (always go) to the seaside in July.
14.The bridge (wear) a white dress (carry) a bouquet of lilies.
15.I (see) the teacher while I (go) to school.
16.The bridegroom (tremble) and (look) pale.
17.The First World War (begin) in 1914.
18.(It - still - rain) when you (come) in?
19.Where (you - buy) this) book? - I (buy) it in London.
20.She (be) so angry that she (not say) a word all day.
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21.She (fall) and (break) her leg while skating.
22.I (wake) at seven, (get) out of bed, (wash), (shave), (dress), (go) downstairs, (put) my overcoat on, (hurry) to the bus stop and (catch) the bus to the station.
23.The sun (just - set) when we (reach) home.
24.He (walk) into the bar and (order) a gin and tonic.
25.Lucy (clean) the windows while Nancy (do) the washing up.
Communicative Activities
Activity 1.
Alibi
An alibi is a story that proves a person did not commit a crime because she or he was at a different place at the time of the crime.
A crime was committed around 10:00 p.m. last night. The purpose of this team game is to create an alibi for your team and to “break” the alibis of the other teams in the game.
Divide into teams of three or four people. You have five minutes to get together with your team to create an alibi for what you were all doing together between 9:00 p.m. and midnight last night. Try to agree on as many details as possible. For example, what were you doing? Where were you doing it? What were you wearing?
When everyone is ready, the first team goes out of the room. The rest of the class are now police detectives, and your job is to question the team one by one to see if they can keep to the same alibi. Call one person back into the room and ask questions about what she or he was doing. Keep notes of the answers. Next, call the second person into the room and ask the same questions. If she or he gives a different answer to any of the questions, his or her team must drop out of the game. (The rest of the team can now come back into the room and become police detectives.) The winning team is the team that keeps to the same story. Good luck.
Activity 2. Take a large sheet of paper and make a time line for your own life like the one in Activity 1. Bring your time line to class and describe the story of your life to your classmates.
Activity 3. In this activity, you will be finding information about your classmates’ lives by asking about what they were doing at the times below. In the last box, add a time of your own choice.
Do not write information about yourself; go around the room and get as much information from as many different people as
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possible. Write the information in the boxes on the right. Be ready to share the most interesting or surprising information you find with the rest of the class.
TIME
at 8:30 p.m. last Saturday
in May 1989
five hours ago
ten years ago today
4. PRESENT PERFECT
AND PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
USE
•The Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuous can both describe actions or situations starting in the past and continuing up to and including now. In this case, it is necessary to add a time adverbial to show how long the activity has been in progress:
(a)Jim has worked here for ten years.
(b)Jim has been working here for ten years.
In both sentences, we understand that Jim still works here.
•The following verbs are commonly used with both Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous to describe an unfinished action:
live work teach study
•You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous to emphasize an activity that started in the past and that continues without interruption to the present:
(c)We have been working on this for a long time.
•You can express the same meaning with the Present Perfect:
(d)We have worked on this for a long time.
•The Present Perfect Continuous emphasizes the fact that the activity has continued without stopping.
•The Present Perfect without a time adverbial shows that an activity finished sometime before now in the past, but we are not sure when:
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(e)They have painted their house.
•As you saw, the Present Perfect Continuous without a time adverbial is often used to talk about an activity that finished very recently before now:
(f)They have been painting their house.
•You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about a regular habit or activity that someone started recently and which she or he continues to do. In this situation, you can add a time adverbial to emphasize that the action started recently:
(a)They’ve been eating out a lot recently.
(b)He’s been working a lot lately.
(c)I’ve been walking to work recently.
(d)I’ve walked to work.
•In (c), we undestand that “walking to work” is a recent habit. I started to do this a short time ago and will continue in the future.
•In (d), we understand that I did this at some time in the past, but I do not do it at the moment. In this situation, you do not usually add a time adverbial.
Practice Section
Comment on the use.
Translate into Russian.
1.How many letters have you written? - I’ve written three letters.
2.What have you been doing? — I’ve been writing letters.
3.How many whiskies have you drunk? — I’ve drunk four whiskies.
4.What’s the matter with him? — He’s been drinking.
5.Have you read the article about the fire? - Of course I have. I’ve read the paper from cover to cover.
6.How have you spent the time? — I’ve been reading.
7.Has she accepted your proposal? — No, she hasn’t. I’ve talked to her three times this month and she still hasn’t said yes.
8.Will they accept his proposal? — I don’t know. They’ve been negotiating for three hours but they haven’t reached an agreement yet.
9.Have you copied all the letters? - Yes, I have. I copied some of them yesterday and I’ve just copied the last one.
10.Have you copied all the letters? — Not yet. I’ve been working on it since
9 o’clock and I won’t have finished till 11 o’clock.
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Exercises
Exercise 1. Open the brackets using the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous.
1.Why are your hands dirty? — Because I (work) in the garden.
2.His breath smells. He (drink) again.
3.(you drink) anything? - Yes, I... I (drink) two brandies.
4.I (knock) at his door three times today, he can’t be at home.
5.For God’s sake, open the door, I (stand) here for a quarter of an hour.
6.I (try) to phone him five times.
7.I (try) to phone him for the last half hour.
8.My feet are killing me! I (walk) five miles.
9.I (walk) all afternoon.
10.(you - finally - clean) the cars? — No, I...not, although I (work) all day.
11.She (not - feel) too well lately, ... she?
12.What are those people looking at? What (happen)?
13.First there was a lot of laughter, then shouting and now singing. What (happen)?
14.I (wait) here for an hour? What (you - do)?
15.Someone (eat) my chocolates. There are only six left.
16.Someone (eat) all my chocolates. The box is empty.
17.(You - finish) the newspaper yet? You (read) it for over an hour.
18.(You - decide) where to go? We (think) about it for the past week.
19.I’m afraid Mr Simpson (just leave) the office.
20.How annoying! I (try) to contact him all afternoon.
Exercise 2. Choose the Simple Present Tense or the Single Present Perfect Tense.
1.He (be) blind ever since he had an accident.
2.How long (she - know) the truth?
3.There (be) 9,000 cells in a square foot of honeycomb.
4.Forgiveness (be) the fragrance a rose (leave) on the boot that (crush) it. 5.The average weight of a man’s brain (be) 3 1/2 lbs, the average weight of a
women’s brain (be) slightly more than 2 lbs.
6. Since when (he-be) the director?
7.You can’t judge a woman by her clothes these days. They (be) not enough evidence.
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8.(you - be) scared of spiders?
9.Let him who (desire) peace prepare for war.
10.He (work) quickly,... n’t he? -Yes, he... . He (already - finish) and I (still -
have) to begin.
11.There (be)three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies and statistics.
Communicative Activities
Activity 1.
You have just received a letter from the editor of your University newspaper. She wants to include information about former students in the next edition of the paper. Write a letter to the editor, telling her what you have been doing recently. (Do not feel you have to use present perfect progressive in every sentence! To make this a natural letter, think about all the other tenses you can use as well.)
Activity 2.
WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?
The purpose of this game is to guess recent activities from their current results.
Work in teams. Each team should try to think of four different results of recent results of recent activities. An example of one of these could be
Recent Activity Present Result
You have been exercising and now you are exhausted.
When everyone is ready, each team takes turns to pantomime the results of the activities they have chosen. For example. Team A has chosen “being exhausted”. Everybody in Team A gets up and pantomimes being exhausted. The rest of the class tries to guess what Team A has been doing. The first person to guess correctly, “You have been exercising and now you are exhausted”, scores a point for his or her team.
Activity 3.
This is another team game. Each team presents a series of clues, and the rest of the class try to guesswhat situation these clues refer to. For example. Team A chooses this situation: A woman has been reading a sad love story. The team tries to think of as many clues as possible that will help the other students guess the situation. When everyone is ready, team A presents the first clue:
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Team A: Her eyes are red.
The other teams make guesses based on this first clue:
Team B: She has been chopping onions. Team A: No. She feels very sad. Team C: She’s been crying
Team A: No. She’s very romantic.
Team D: She’s been fighting with her boyfriend. Team A: No. She was alone while she was doing this. Team C: She’s been reading a sad love story.
You can choose one of the situations below or you can choose one of your own.
1.She or he has been crying.
2.She or he has been watching old movies.
3.She or he has been coughing a lot.
4.She or he’s been training for the Olympics.
5.She or he has been chopping onions.
6.She or he has been feeling sick.
7.She or he has been losing weight.
The person who guesses the correct situation scores a point for his or her team.
Activity 4.
Describe some things that you have been doing since you entered the University that you had never done before. Share your experiences with your classmates. Make a poster depicting everybody’s experiences.
Activity 5.
Listen to a news broadcast. What events have been happening in the world? What are some important events that have happened in the last five years?
5.PRESENT PERFECT AND PAST SIMPLE
USE
•To talk about a completed action, experience, or situation at a specific time in the past, you can use Past Simple to show that you are thinking about the past, not the present:
(a)Last year, she graduated from high school.
(b)He lived in this house from 1980 to 1988.
•To talk about a completed action, experience, or situation in the past when you do not refer to when it happened, use Present Perfect:
(c)He has been to Mexico.
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(d)They have run a marathon.
•Here we show that something happened in the past, but we do not show when it happened. We show only that it happened at some time before now; we are thinking about the past in relation to the present:
(e)I drank champagne last night. (Past Simple because I want to show
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when it happened) |
(f) I have drunk champagne. |
(Present Perfect because I want to |
|
show that the experience is more |
|
important than when I did it) |
•We often use the Present Perfect to introduce the general used and then continue with the Past Simple to give specific details about it:
(g)I’ve been to Thailand. I went there about ten years ago and travelled all over the country. I had a great time, and enjoyed meeting the friendly Thai people.
Practice Section
Comment on the use.
Translate into Russian.
1.Have you written her a letter? - I certainly have. I wrote her a letter last week.
2.Have you ever been to New York? -Yes, I have. I’ve been there twice. I went to New York for the first time in 1980 and I returned in 1982.
3.When did you meet her? - I don’t know. I’ve met her several times.
4.Have you talked to her? — Yes, I’ve talked to her this morning.
5.What did you do this afternoon? - I went for a walk.
6.Have you seen any good films this month? - Yes, I have. I’ve seen “Secret Agent” and “A Spy in Love”.
7.When did you see them? — I saw “Secret Agent” at the beginning of the month and “A Spy in Love” two or three days ago.
8.How much longer will you have to work? — I’ve just finished.
9.What a boring film! It’s the most boring film I’ve ever seen.
10.Please dust the furniture. But I’ve just dusted it.
11.When did she dust the furniture? - It was the first thing she did when she started work.
12.How long have you been here ? — I’ve been here for half a year.
13.How long did he stay in Paris? — He stayed in Paris for two months.
14.How long did you live in the USA? — I lived there from 1989 till 1991.
15.How long have you lived in the USA? - I’ve lived here for a year.
16.How long have you had fever? - I’ve had it since last week.
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