Sunday, September 24, 2006
Read the paragraph about my day and then check the notes about the verb tenses below. (THINK: What are the green, purple and red words?)
(1) Today was the first working day in Ramadan. (2) In Ramadan, opening hours for shops and offices change, and schools and colleges have a different timetable. For example, (3) I usually stay at college for about 9 hours, but now I am staying at college for 6 hours. I usually start classes at 8am, but at the moment I am starting lessons at 9am.
(1) This morning I got up later than usual and left my house at 8am. The roads were very busy. (4) As I was driving to work, I saw 2 accidents. (5) One of my students had an accident, so he couldn't come to class. Luckily he wasn't hurt. (1) The time flew by at work and the lessons seemed to finish very quickly. (6) One class looked at some funny pictures which the guys in another class had found on the internet last week. (1) I finished work at about 3pm. (7) When I was driving home, the traffic was moving very slowly so it (5) took me 30 minutes to get home. (3) It usually takes me less than 15 minutes!
NOTES
1. It is 7:30 in the evening. Today, this morning, my work time (at work), and 3pm are finished, so we use the past tense.
2. In Ramadan means every Ramadan and usually in Ramadan so we use the simple present tense (change, have).
3. We use the simple present tense (stay, start) when we talk about what usually happens. We use the present continuous (am staying, am starting) to show that something different is happening in the current time period, i.e., Ramadan (now/at the moment).
4. We use the past continuous when something was happening for a long time in the past - and we use the past tense when (suddenly) a short, quick action happened (in the middle of the long action).
5. Something happened or was happening in the past (cause) - had an accident, traffic was moving slowly - which had a result (effect) in the past - couldn't come to class, it took me 30 minutes.
6. Here two things happened in the past, but one action happened today (looked at some pictures) and the other action happened last week. So, we must use the past perfect (had found) for the earlier action and the past tense for the second (later) action (looked).
7. Two long actions were happening at the same time in the past (was driving and the traffic was moving slowly), so we use the past continuous for both actions.
Next time you write in English, please look at all your verbs carefully and think about which tense you must use.
(1) Today was the first working day in Ramadan. (2) In Ramadan, opening hours for shops and offices change, and schools and colleges have a different timetable. For example, (3) I usually stay at college for about 9 hours, but now I am staying at college for 6 hours. I usually start classes at 8am, but at the moment I am starting lessons at 9am.
(1) This morning I got up later than usual and left my house at 8am. The roads were very busy. (4) As I was driving to work, I saw 2 accidents. (5) One of my students had an accident, so he couldn't come to class. Luckily he wasn't hurt. (1) The time flew by at work and the lessons seemed to finish very quickly. (6) One class looked at some funny pictures which the guys in another class had found on the internet last week. (1) I finished work at about 3pm. (7) When I was driving home, the traffic was moving very slowly so it (5) took me 30 minutes to get home. (3) It usually takes me less than 15 minutes!
NOTES
1. It is 7:30 in the evening. Today, this morning, my work time (at work), and 3pm are finished, so we use the past tense.
2. In Ramadan means every Ramadan and usually in Ramadan so we use the simple present tense (change, have).
3. We use the simple present tense (stay, start) when we talk about what usually happens. We use the present continuous (am staying, am starting) to show that something different is happening in the current time period, i.e., Ramadan (now/at the moment).
4. We use the past continuous when something was happening for a long time in the past - and we use the past tense when (suddenly) a short, quick action happened (in the middle of the long action).
5. Something happened or was happening in the past (cause) - had an accident, traffic was moving slowly - which had a result (effect) in the past - couldn't come to class, it took me 30 minutes.
6. Here two things happened in the past, but one action happened today (looked at some pictures) and the other action happened last week. So, we must use the past perfect (had found) for the earlier action and the past tense for the second (later) action (looked).
7. Two long actions were happening at the same time in the past (was driving and the traffic was moving slowly), so we use the past continuous for both actions.
Next time you write in English, please look at all your verbs carefully and think about which tense you must use.
# posted by Heather Maria @ 5:42 pm 
