Verbs J (hope) so. Oh look, Jamie eens eeseeeeeeee (come over) here. : (you/want) to meet him? M: Oh yes. THE PAST TENSE 10 Past Simple and Past Cont Past simple FORM Positive: past simple form of verb: arrived, etc. (regular) | Tcame, etc. (irregular) Negative and question form: did + infinitive Short answer: did USE * Completed actions. To talk about events and actions in the past that are now finished. The past simple refers to the complete event. The time or approximate time that the event took place is stated or is understood from the context. It may be in the very recent past: Your mother phoned a few minutes ago. Who opened this window? or it may be in the more distant past: I never learnt to swim as a child * Past habit or regular event. To talk about a regular, repeated or habitual event: We went out for a meal every evening on holiday. He got up at 7 o'clock every morning to go to work. or a past habit or situation of some duration: He smoked for most of his life. She worked there for twenty years. * Past situation at a point in time. With stative verbs, to talk about a situation that existed at a certain time in the past: In 1950, there were fewer than 50 million cars in use around the world. At the time, I had a poorly-paid job in the local shop. a7Verbs 38 Past continuous FORM was/were + present participle: | was studying, etc. USE * Used in conjunction with the past simple to describe an action or event that started before the event in the past simple and was in progress when the event in the past simple occurred: They were watching a film when we arrived. She was studying law when the war started. * To describe an action, event or situation that was in progress at a specified time in the past: In_1982, we were living in a small flat in Bristol. In May of last year, she was studying hard for her final exams, ALG o'clock this morning, I was walking along the beach. * Used with while to describe two actions that were in progress at the same time: While I was driving along this morning, I was thinking about what you'd said. He was cooking the dinner while she was talking to him. * With adverbials beginning with all e.g. all night, all morning, all day yesterday, to show that an action or event was in progress throughout this time: Iwas watching television all evening. Were you working all weekend? © To describe the background and set the scene for a narrative in the past: The wind was blowing and the rain was beating down. John Snell was standing at the bus stop shivering. He was trying to imagine being at home sitting by a warm fire. Finally he saw the headlights of the bus approaching from the distance. Contrast: past continuous versus past simple The past simple describes a complete event in the past. The past continuous does not describe the complete event, it describes the event in progress, at some time between its beginning and its end. Stative verbs, that is verbs that describe thoughts, sentiments and states, cannot normally be put into the continuous form. (See p. 29) Look at the difference between these sentences: He was cooking the dinner when I arrived. (He started cooking the dinner before my arrival and the cooking was in progress at the time of my arrival.) He cooked the dinner when I arrived. (I arrived and then he cooked the dinner. Two complete events.)Verbs Iwas reading a book about astrology last night. (The reading of the book was in progress last night. The past continuous does not describe the complete event so we assume that the book was not finished last night.) Tread a book about astrology last night. (I read the whole book from beginning to end last night.) It was raining all night. (The rain was in progress throughout the night. The use of the past continuous emphasizes the continuity and duration of the event.) It rained all night. (It rained from the beginning of the night to the end of the night. The rain is viewed as one single, complete event.) While I was making the dinner, the children were watching television. (Two activities in progress at the same time.) While I made the dinner, the children watched television. (Two complete events that happened at the same time.) Twas having a bath at 8 o'clock. (The bath started before 8 o'clock and was still in progress at 8 o’clock.) Thad a bath at 8 o'clock (This describes the complete event. It started at 8 o'clock.) Practice 10a Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or past continuous. Here he (be), Davey Stark, the big rock stat. It?......cccesessseseseees (be) the end of an exhausting two-hour concert. The fs °.......::::ssssseee. (Scream) and *. ssseeneses (Shout). They * (want) Davey, their hero. His £4C€ §..cccssssseeeeeens .-- (pour) with sweat, his hair” (drip) and his heart *.......s.. cesses (thump) violently. But he .-+-+ (love) these moments at the end of a concert. He always ++. (feel) powerful and in control. He ”.. (decide) to do one more song for the crowd: one of his most popular. When he 39Verbs cecstesessesesenes (Start) singing, the crowd "..... (go) wild. By the end of the song, they “.... sve (all/dance) and *... (clap) their hands. When Davey “. .... (leave) the stage, he Vests (be) exhausted but exhilarated. But when he (get back) to the dressing room, he ” (open) the door and *..... sone (See) that two men”... sere (Ick) the door behind Davey. He .-- (shout) for his bodyguard Bernard, but no-one (wait) for him. They .. (come). The two men *. «+ (tie) his hands behind his back, *. (blindfold) and *. -- (gag) (can hear) Bernard in the next room. Bernard him. Davey *. (talk) to someone and he (say) terrible things about Davey. He * . (say) that Davey * (deserve) it. ».. (he/mean)? What *. someone tell) him what ”. ... (happen)? ++ (Deserve) what? What *. (go on)? Why ®......0 sas (NOt 10b Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or past continuous. 1 It .har ied. (happen) in June 1985. It *.... {all/lie out) in the garden. My mother + (be) summer and (read) and my uncle’... .. Gust/doze) in the sun. We children °.... hegeeeren (look for) worms and insects. And then (arrive). He * sess: (be) a tall, handsome man with piercing blue eyes and he’. .. (look) straight at my mother, Her face °. (go) pale and her eyes " . . (open) wide with shock. ‘Arthur, I +» (think) you”. 5 (say) in a kind of whisper. ... (be) dead, she ZAIN (phone) you at about 9 o'clock this morning but you ree (not answer). What ” . (you/do)? Bz Well, 1! ...cccssessessseeeeees (hear) the phone but I".. (have) a shower and I * (can not) get out in time to answer it. Anyway, what *.... (you/want)?Verbs A: Well, last night 1 ®. (clear out) that old desk you eee (give) me when I -./. (Come across) a pile of old letters with a red ribbon round them. B: My letters? A: Yes, they *. . (be addressed) to you. And they ® casesteuteneeseeees (all/smell) of perfume, a man’s perfume. Last night Jake ....... (wake up) at about 3 a.m. As soon as he (wake up), he * (listen out) for strange noises but he ™...... . (not hear) any. His father *..., (snore) in the next room, some central heating pipes (make) a bit of a noise (drip) in the bathroom. It was all as usual. Jake and a tap“... Mase (open) the window (look) outside. . (be) full .» (shine) brightly. Jake ™..... (think) he ”... (see) an owl in one of the trees. He ®....... .. (can certainly hear) one. But then he “. (see) something different. A man ~ NO, it *....sssseeeeseseeeeeeiee (be) a woman. She coseeeeee (hide) behind a a see . (wear) white and she “...... tree. Suddenly she “. (run) towards the house. aKey Sa 5b 6b Ta 186 1 lower 2 more 3 oldest 4 cheaper 5 most important 6 more efficient 7 more flexible 8 more worrying 9 more and more critical 10 biggest 11 highest 12 best 13 more spacious 14 best 15 better 16 less polluted 17 less stressful 18 quieter 19 more interesting 20 less varied 21 busier 22 less crowded 23 more excited 24 best 25 more settled 26 most beautiful 1 ’'ve been working hard in my office all morning. 2 He never speaks to me nicely in the mornings. 3 We were listening carefully all evening. 4 She’s been sleeping soundly in that chair all afternoon. 5 He is usually at the college at this time of day. 6 The postman comes very early in the morning. 7 I thought you spoke very well in that meeting yesterday. 8 We generally go swimming at the local pool on Saturdays 9 I bought these jeans very cheaply in the sales last week. 10 He’s never been to a dentist in his life. 1 impatiently 2 already 3 for three hours 4 soon 5 for months 6 so much 7 hardly 8 deeply 9 absolutely 10 only 11 a few times 12 lovingly 13 ina friendly way 14 Suddenly 15 straightaway 16 just 17 anxiously 1 more heavily 2 happier 3 harder 4 healthier 5 more suddenly 6 more expensive 7 more hungtily 8 hotter 9 more frequently 10 more seriously 11 more furious 12 more considerately 13 more assertively 14 colder 15 nicer 16 more tactfully 17 more cheaply 18 easier 19 more calmly 1 as young as 2 more and more tired 3 as quickly as 4 less often 5 more enthusiastically 6 earlier 7 faster 8 more energetically 9 (more) optimistically 10 better 1’s worrying 2 don’t see 3 ’s been going on 4 went out 5 think 6 assumed 7 was interested 8Have you told 9 doesn’t seem 10 was working 11 came up 12 put 13 don’t like, 14 suppose 15 doesn’t believe 16 ’s getting 17'm getting 18 ’m 7b 9a 9b 10a thinking 19 do you really want 20 don’t want 21 ’s attending 22 expect 23 ’s talking 24 trying 25 dislike 1 do you weigh 2 ‘re having 3 ’s looking 4 admire 5 is appearing 6 are 7 represents 8 ‘re thinking 9 Do you see 10 looks 11 ’m seeing 12 don’t have 13 do you think 14 ’s expecting 15 ’m just admiring 6 ‘re weighing 17 appears 18 's being 19 expect 20 is representing 1 has suffered 2 have worked 3 will have heard 4 had been 5 had had 6 will have been married 7 had already died 8 had certainly been 9 has happened 10 will have been 11 has fallen off 12 had all lost 13 will have finished 14 had decided 15 Have you found 1 works ... organises ... is working ... is going 2 are staying ... belongs ... is cycling . use ... enjoy 3 is doing ... are taking ... need ... are learning ... are ... are getting ... provides ... organises 4 is still increasing ... are already starving .-. are suffering ... is growing ... need die 1 don’t think 2 are you getting on 3’s going 4 Are you still going out 5 ’m going out 6's talking 7 see 8 Is he wearing 9 looks 10 comes 11 ’s life treating 12 'm still working 13 keep 14 feel 15 get in 16 don’t have 17 suppose 18 hope 19 ’s coming over 20 Do you want 1 was 2 was 3 were screaming 4 shouting 5 wanted 6 was pouring 7 was dripping 8 was thumping 9 loved 10 felt 1 decided 12 started 13 went 14 were all dancing 15 clapping 16 left 17 was 18 got back 19 opened. 20 saw 21 were waiting 22 locked 23 shouted 24 came 25 tied 26 blindfolded 27 gagged 28 could hear 29 was talking 30 was saying 31 was saying 32 deserved 33 Deserved 34 did he mean 35 was going on 36 didn’t someone tell 37 was happening10b 1 happened 2 was 3 were all lying out 4 was reading 5 was just dozing 6 were looking for 7 arrived 8 was 9 looked 10 went 11 opened 12 thought 13 were 14 said 15 phoned 16 didn’t answer 17 were you doing 18 heard 19 was having’ 20 couldn’t 21 did you want 22 was clearing out 23 gave 24 came across ‘25 were addressed 26 all smelt 27 woke up 28 woke up 29 listened out 30 didn’t hear 31 was snoring 32 were making 33 was dripping 34 opened 35 looked 36 was 37 was shining 38 thought 39 saw 40 could certainly hear 41 saw 42 was 43 was wearing 44 was hiding 45 ran 1has been 2 have filled 3 have always listened 4 have acted 5 have been interviewing 6 have you interviewed 7 have interviewed 8 have been talking 9 have been discussing 10 have had 11 have also been working 12 have been 13 have been circulating 14 have been seeing 15 have been learning 16 haven't learnt Ma 1b 1 have you been doing 2 "ve been running 3 have you run 4 ‘ve been thinking 5 ’s been acting 6's been crying 7 “been making 8 Have you talked 9 ’s said 10 have you been 11 ‘ve been talking 12's been trying 13 ‘ve been 14 haven’t heard 15’s had 16’s been 17 Has she broken 18 ’s been hurt 12a 1 haven’t seen 2 met 3 have you been doing 4 ’ve been doing 5’s been 6 've started 7 ’ve been teaching 8 have finished 9 worked 10 enjoyed 11 wanted 12 ’ve always enjoyed 13 thought 14 have you bee 15.ve done 16 ‘ve been working 17 "ve had 18 ‘ve given 19's made 20 've done 21 "ve never had 22 worked 23 started 24 moved 25 was 26 did 27 was told 28 did you get 29 passed 30 've been doing 31 decided 32 couldn’t get 12b 1 has just come in 2 has been 3 were 4 have been found 5 went 6 plunged 7 have now been informed 8 have set off 9 have not been given 10 were 11 has had 12 has somehow managed 13 have 13a 13b 14 Key been 14 promised 15 was elected 16 has maintained 17 has claimed 18 has been 19 has ever had 20 came 1 missed 2 did that happen 3 got 4 arrived 5 had just left 6 Did you have 7 was 8 arrived 9 knew 10 had forgotten Il did she do 12 pretend 13 hadn't forgotten 14 said 15 wasn’t 16 had got 17 was 18 had rained 19 was 20 smelt 21 were 22 had all gone 23 had afrived 24 had sat up 25 was 26 had only béen 1 sat 2 felt 3 didn’t know 4 had gone in Shad been 6 had,looked 7 went in 8 felt 9 had already got 10 was 11 wanted 12 meant 13 had thought 14 had imagingd 15 was 16 couldn't remember 17 had planned 18 almost decided 19 hgd to do 20 had spent 21 couldn't give up 22 were 23 felt 24 opened 25 had goite in 26 came out 27 smiled 28 hated 29 appeared 30 suddenly wished 31 had gone 32 got up 33 wondered 34 looked 35 felt It was 10 o’clock at night. The offices of “The Daily News’ were buzzing with excitement. The deadline for the paper was in half an hour and they were frantically trying to finish the front page. Everyone had been working all evening without a break. Some of the journalists had been at the office since early in the morning. They had all been trying to get an exclusive story, to find out something that no other journalist had discovered. The main story was a big one. The Prime Minister had resigned. Everyone knew that his government had had lots of problems in the last year but his resignation was nonetheless a big surprise. Rumours had been going round all day about the real reasons for the announcement. Some said that he had been involved in some financial scandal. Others said that he had been seeing another woman. All the papers had been working all day to get the best story. And they had been doing their best to find out what the other papers had said. The whole day had been very tense. Suddenly the editor asked everyone to be quiet. There was a telephone call from the Prime Minister's office. 187