redkiddy  +  169211 Mon, 12 Dec 05 07:48 PM Hi from Istanbul, Look at this question: "I ..............there a long time watching the ship going further and further. a) stand          b) am standing         c) have been standing           d) stood               e)  was standing I gave the answer "e" firstly,,,but The answer is "d"   ,,,,and I thought it is ok, too. But how can I eliminate "e".what is the grammar explanation to eliminate "e". redkiddy Joined on Mon, May 17 2004 TURKLAND Full Member 199 the biggest football team of all times "FENERBAHCE" Grammar, Tenses, Past Tenses

	Pemmican  +  169234 Mon, 12 Dec 05 08:58 PM I'd say "was" is as correct as "stood".   It has to be a past tense form (both "was" and "stood" are past tense forms) - and both of them fit in this context: The only difference is a semantic one: "stand" (past tense: "stood") means that you were there "standing", i.e. neither sitting nor lying etc. while "be" (past tense "was") only considers the fact that you were attendant.   All  the best -Pemmican Pemmican Joined on Thu, Aug 21 2003 Regular Member 569 Wâ mag ich mich nu vinden? wâ mac ich mich nu suochen, wâ? nu bin ich hie und bin ouch dâ und enbin doch weder dâ noch hie. wer wart ouch sus verirret ie? wer wart ie sus... Tenses, Past Tenses

	CalifJim  +  169274 Mon, 12 Dec 05 11:49 PM The adverbial phrase "(for) a long time" just doesn't seem to go with the past continuous/progressive tense. I can't imagine why I think that. In fact, I think any adverbial phrase that specifies a period of time seems odd (just a little) with the past progressive. The second of each of the following pairs seems better to me: The children were sleeping for four hours.  The children slept for four hours. It was raining for three hours.  It rained for three hours. I was sitting in the study all day.  I sat in the study all day. I believe the adverbial puts the verb into a sort of 'event' mode.  It makes us want to envision what happened in the specified period as an event (simple past), not as an activity (past progressive). If we want the 'activity' interpretation, we can get that by interrupting with a "when" clause. I was sitting in the study when suddenly a meteorite crashed through the ceiling. But without this sort of contrast, the progressive just doesn't work as well. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,434 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Verbs, Tenses, Clauses, Simple Past, Past Tenses

	davkett  +  169291 Tue, 13 Dec 05 12:41 AM  CalifJim wrote: I was sitting in the study when suddenly a meteorite crashed through the ceiling. It's true!   davkett Joined on Tue, Jun 7 2005 Pennsylvania, USA Senior Member 2,788 "The rose stays fresh in its name..." -Bernard of Morlay Tenses, Past Tenses

	CalifJim  +  169388 Tue, 13 Dec 05 07:31 AM Do I really come across in the Forum as being THAT old? And having so FEW grammar books?   CalifJim Grammar, Tenses, Past Tenses

	pieanne  +  169400 Tue, 13 Dec 05 08:38 AM Great! (Though I must say I didn't quite see you like that, Calif...     )   pieanne Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 South of France ...But I'm Belgian! Veteran Member 7,517 I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos... Tenses, Past Tenses

	redkiddy  +  169572 Tue, 13 Dec 05 09:15 PM Thank you CalifJim........................ redkiddy Tenses, Past Tenses