2015-04-09 Structure: past simple/progressive

Greg Malivuk
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http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
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Starting tomorrow: no book = no class
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Homework: exercise 1 on p. 18 (also read the grammar notes on p. 17-18)
2 T
3 F
4 F - he started his job before he met her, because he was working when he met her
5 F - he moved in before he met her, because he was living there when he met her
6 T
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Simple past: the action happened and then it was finished.
Past progressive: the action continued for some time, maybe something else happened in the middle and interrupted it
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p. 19 exercise 2 (in pairs)
A 1 saw (non-action)
  2 were
  3 doing (= what were they doing when you saw them)
  4 were dancing (answers use the same tense as questions)
  5 Did
  6 get (asking about a completed action)
  7 gave (completed action)
  8 Did
  9 bring (asking about a completed action)
  10 fell
  11 bumped (First someone bumped me, then the pen fell from my pocket.)
  12 found
B 1 were
  2 doing
  3 sprained
  4 playing
  5 were pretending
  6 hurt
  7 was hitting
C 1 Were
  2 crying (= Were you crying a few seconds ago? Your eyes are red.)
  3 did
  4 know (non-action)
  5 wasn’t crying
  6 came
  7 Did you ever see (better: Have you ever seen)
  8 was watching
  9 was thinking
  10 recovered
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Long actions: we expect them to take a long time, so there isn’t usually much difference between simple and progressive
I live in Boston and I work at BAE. = I’m living in Boston and I’m working at BAE.
She did the laundry while I was sleeping. = She did the laundry while I slept.

Medium actions: we can think of these as short or long, so simple and progressive have different meanings (progressive tells us that the action continued longer than another thing, or was continuing at a specific time)
I speak Spanish. NOT= I am speaking Spanish.
I read many books. NOT= I am reading many books.
She made dinner when I got home. NOT= She was making dinner when I got home.
(I got home then she made dinner.)    (She started, then I got home, then she finished.)
- p. 18 grammar note 5 explains this difference

Short actions: these take time, but only a very small amount of time, so it is uncommon to use the progressive
I fell off my bike at 8:45 this morning. (normal)
* I was falling off my bike at 8:45 this morning. (strange - how long does it take to fall off a bike?)

Non-actions: these don’t take any time, so we never use them in progressive
I love Chinese food. I want a bicycle. I have 9 cousins.
* I am loving Chinese food. I am wanting a bicycle. I am having 9 cousins.
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p. 20 exercise 3 (in different pairs)
A 1 were you looking
  2 were smiling
  3 was watching
  4 looked (non-action)
  5 did she and Matt meet
  6 didn’t come
  7 was covering
  8 changed
B 1 found
  2 was surfing
  3 did you become
  4 was reading
  5 decided (reading continued longer than deciding)
  6 wanted
  7 was studying
  8 started (studying continued longer than starting)
C 1 Did Jason surprise
  2 came (first he came over, then did he surprise you?)
  3 was watching
  4 knocked
  5 ended
  6 had (first the game ended, then we had dinner)
  7 were eating
  8 asked (eating continued longer than asking)
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She cooked dinner when I got home.
= When I got home, she cooked dinner.
(= First I got home, then she cooked dinner.)

She was cooking dinner when I got home.
= When I got home, she was cooking dinner.
= I got home while she was cooking dinner.
= While she was cooking dinner, I got home.
(= She started cooking before I got home, she finished cooking after I got home.)

She was cooking dinner while I was studying.
= While I was studying, she was cooking dinner.
= I was studying while she was cooking dinner.
= While she was cooking dinner, I was studying.
(= Studying and cooking both continued together at the same time.)
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Homework: p. 20-21, exercises 4 and 5 (test on Monday about units 1 and 2)