Telling a story
Telling a story
Read the story about a young Leicester City fan. After you have read the story, read the questions and try to work out the answers.
The day I met my best friend
Fred was my best friend at school. When I first met him, he was waiting outside the Head Teacher’s office. I’m not sure what he had done, but I was sure he was in trouble.
He was a bit taller than me and lived on the other side of town, but when we met, he was wearing Leicester City football socks. He supported the Foxes and I was a big fan. We had something to talk about and we quickly became friends.
- Which verbs describe simple events?
- Which verbs describe a permanent situations? (situations that weren’t going to change soon)
- Which verb describes a temporary situation? (a situation that was going to change)
- Which verb describes an event that happened before the time in the story?
The timelines below represent the different times that the tenses in the story represent. Look at the timelines and then look at the questions.
- Which statements are past simple?
- Which statement is past continuous?
- Which statement is past perfect?
In this activity, you have to match the two halves of the sentences.
Match the sentence halves.
Now complete the quiz.
Attention! Some of these questions are quite difficult. English is a tricky languge and the grammar is more complex than we can present here. Please select the answers that fit the lesson.
Quiz
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Comments
09/06/2020
points
It was well prepared with all the tricky points in the past tense
09/06/2020 19:45
Manchester United
6510
It was well prepared with all the tricky points in the past tense
29/10/2019
points
The quizz was not so difficult
29/10/2019 14:26
Manchester City
3988
The quizz was not so difficult
18/11/2016
points
Very interesting.
18/11/2016 11:09
Arsenal
2337
Very interesting.
16/08/2016
points
I hope 100 points
16/08/2016 16:18
Liverpool
962
I hope 100 points
26/07/2016
points
It can be tricky. Good one.
26/07/2016 21:16
Arsenal
3557
It can be tricky. Good one.
15/07/2016
points
Good
15/07/2016 20:21
Arsenal
225
Good
08/07/2016
points
great
08/07/2016 21:09
Arsenal
225
great
21/06/2016
points
it's good
21/06/2016 11:16
Manchester City
1734
it's good
15/06/2016
points
so I had to repeat the quiz three times.
to repeat, not to repeated! I need to focus.
15/06/2016 12:28
Newcastle United
3189
so I had to repeat the quiz three times.
to repeat, not to repeated! I need to focus.
15/06/2016
points
ok, thank you a lot Rich. I get the rule, so for 'when', we can put the two verbs in simple present or simple past. I thought that I need to put one in simple and the other in progressive. It's a classic rule that I knew since my ever first English courses.
15/06/2016 13:31
Newcastle United
3189
ok, thank you a lot Rich. I get the rule, so for 'when', we can put the two verbs in simple present or simple past. I thought that I need to put one in simple and the other in progressive. It's a classic rule that I knew since my ever first English courses.
15/06/2016
points
We often use the continuous form with 'when' or 'while', but this is to show that one action happened while another action was taking place. A classic example is; 'While I was taking a bath, the telephone rang' or 'the telephone rang when I was taking a bath'.
It would be possible to say; 'I made some mistakes when I was repeating the exercise.' This would make it clear that the mistakes happened when you were repeating the exercise.
Hope that helps!
RIch
15/06/2016 13:47
Liverpool
594
We often use the continuous form with 'when' or 'while', but this is to show that one action happened while another action was taking place. A classic example is; 'While I was taking a bath, the telephone rang' or 'the telephone rang when I was taking a bath'.
It would be possible to say; 'I made some mistakes when I was repeating the exercise.' This would make it clear that the mistakes happened when you were repeating the exercise.
Hope that helps!
RIch
15/06/2016
points
Thank you Rich, yes I see now the differences. Yes, it’s: [I made some mistakes when I was repeating the exercise.]
Yes, its' continuous not progressive, It was just an error of writing, not understanding.
15/06/2016 13:57
Newcastle United
3189
Thank you Rich, yes I see now the differences. Yes, it’s: [I made some mistakes when I was repeating the exercise.]
Yes, its' continuous not progressive, It was just an error of writing, not understanding.
15/06/2016
points
15/06/2016 12:36
Liverpool
594
15/06/2016
points
When I repeated the exercise, I was making some mistakes.
I was confused because I hadn’t know where the mistake was,
so I had to repeated the quiz three times.
Are my sentences correct according to this lesson?
15/06/2016 12:25
Newcastle United
3189
When I repeated the exercise, I was making some mistakes.
I was confused because I hadn’t know where the mistake was,
so I had to repeated the quiz three times.
Are my sentences correct according to this lesson?
15/06/2016
points
Hi Haydi
Looking at these sentences you need to use the past simple more.
When I repeated the exercise, I
was makingmade some mistakes. (past simple 'made' because the two actions 'repeating the exercise' and 'making mistakes' happened at the same time.)I was confused because I
hadn’tdidn't know where the mistake was, (again the past simple is needed because you were confused and looking for the mistake at the same time.)so I had to repeat
edthe quiz three times.Are my sentences correct according to this lesson?
So you should have:
15/06/2016 12:35
Liverpool
594
Hi Haydi
Looking at these sentences you need to use the past simple more.
When I repeated the exercise, I
was makingmade some mistakes. (past simple 'made' because the two actions 'repeating the exercise' and 'making mistakes' happened at the same time.)I was confused because I
hadn’tdidn't know where the mistake was, (again the past simple is needed because you were confused and looking for the mistake at the same time.)so I had to repeat
edthe quiz three times.Are my sentences correct according to this lesson?
So you should have:
31/05/2016
points
Thank you for this lesson, it helps a lot to improve our writing skills.
31/05/2016 14:47
Newcastle United
3189
Thank you for this lesson, it helps a lot to improve our writing skills.
31/05/2016
points
yesssss, I have just got a full mark! It reminds me the English exam at high school! They were my best days.
31/05/2016 14:42
Newcastle United
3189
yesssss, I have just got a full mark! It reminds me the English exam at high school! They were my best days.
20/05/2016
points
Very demanding and requires close attention
20/05/2016 12:27
Manchester United
4768
Very demanding and requires close attention
14/05/2016
points
Good.
14/05/2016 15:42
Liverpool
3705
Good.