While Paco was flying from the United Kingdom to the USA other people were doing other things. Listen to the following video to see what all those people were doing at that moment. Pay special attention to pronunciation and vocabulary.
Try to guess at least 10 out of the 55 actions in the video.
1. He was protesting.
2. He was counting.
3. She was complaining.
4. She was holding some books.
5. She was modelling.
6. She was cutting a ribbon.
7. She was campaigning.
8. He was gloating.
9. She was reading a book.
10. She was teaching.
11. She was bleeding.
12. He was ordering a pizza.
13. He was delivering a pizza.
14. They were talking photos.
15. She was ordering a glass of wine.
16. He was crying.
17. They were stripping.
18. She was giving her son a Christmas present.
19. He was writing on the wall.
20. He was making toast.
21. They were weightlifting.
22. They were throwing up.
23. They were watching TV.
24. They were eating pasta.
25. He was screaming.
26. He was digging.
27. They were riding bikes.
28. He was riding a bike.
29. She was telling someone off.
30. He was explaining something.
31. She was tramping.
32. She was falling.
33. He was singing and playing the guitar.
34. He was celebrating.
35. He was delivering some documents.
36. She was picking mushrooms.
37. He was filling up his tank.
38. He was riding in a hot air balloon.
39. He was shooting.
40. She was pushing her baby.
41. He was threatening someone.
42. She was giving him a cup of tea.
43. She was giving him some money.
44. He was refusing to get up.
45. She was kicking something.
46. He was running.
47. She was giving him a hat.
48. She was reading the paper.
49. They were dancing.
50. She was giving them some cocoa.
51. They were swimming.
52. She was drawing.
53. She was apologising.
54. She was throwing something in the bin.
55. She was flying.
Important
Remember that the main difference between the Past Simple and the Past Continuous tenses, apart from that of how they are formed, is that the past simple refers to actions that started and finished in the past. The past continuous, however, is used to refer to actions that were in progress in the past. Those actions are frequently interrupted by other actions in the past simple tense or by a specific time. Have a look at the examples below to understand it.
Past Simple
Past Continuous
When she phoned,
I was having dinner.
At 19.00 p.m. yesterday, Paco was flying to Johannesburg.
Paco flew from the UK to the US last fortnight.
Solved exercise
In the text in Section 1 there is just one verb in the past continuous tense. Find it out. What is the relationship between this verb and the other verb in the subordinate clause (when...)?
The sentence in the past continuous tense is The man was reading a book.
The action of reading the book had began before Paco sat down, and when Paco did it, the action was still in progress.
Further knowledge
Although we will study it in depth later in the unit, click here if you want to remember the form and main uses of the past continuous tense. You can also improve your knowledge on the use of the past simple and the past continuous tenses by doing this exercise. Come on! Don't hesitate, both websites are very useful to improve your English!
In English it is common to mix up verb tenses when talking about the past, mainly in narration. That is one of the reasons why you must master the use and forms of past tenses. As you have seen, Paco has maintained an interesting conversation with a foreign man on the plane. Let's see if you have improved your English as much as Paco has.
Guess which of the following sentences answers the explanation provided.
1. When Paco arrived at the airport, Sonia was making dinner.
a. The action of making dinner was in progress when Paco arrived.
b. First Paco arrived, then Sonia made dinner.
Correct! The past continuous shows that Sonia had started making dinner before Paco arrived and she was still making it when Paco arrived at the airport.
Incorrect! The past continuous shows that Sonia had started making dinner before
Paco arrived and she was still making it when Paco arrived at the
airport.
2. When Paco arrived at the airport, Sonia made dinner.
a. First Sonia made dinner, then Paco arrived at the airport.
b. First Paco arrived, then Sonia made dinner.
Incorrect! Both actions are in the past simple tense; the use of the conjunction when here indicates that Sonia didn't start making dinner until Paco arrived.
Correct! Both actions are in the past simple tense; the use of the conjunction
when here indicates that Sonia didn't start making dinner until Paco
arrived.
3. Paco was flying to Johannesburg while Sonia was making dinner.
a. Both actions were taking place at the same time for a period of time.
b. When the first action finished happening, the second one started.
Correct! The use of the conjunction while indicates that both actions were in progress at the same time in the past.
Incorrect! The use of the conjunction while indicates that both actions were in progress at the same time in the past.
As we know past tenses are very frequently used whenever we have to
narrate events. This is due to the fact that narration centers mainly
on past events. Now it's time for you to write a short narration.
Write
a paragraph of no less than 80 words beginning by:
She told me she had never felt like that while we were driving to...
When you finish, check your essay.
That's all folks! Can you remember who said those words? (Click here to find out). And what do they mean? That's all about this section of the topic. In the last section we will work a bit on adjectives and comparisons. Don't be afraid of adjectives, they are very easy!!! Come on! Let's go on to the last section!
Important
Solved exercise
Further knowledge
