Search results for 'tag:Football tag:Past simple' matching tags 'Football' and 'Past simple'

Re: past simple/continuous

CalifJim — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:49:09 GMT

Did it snow this time last year? seems a little too specific. I would take it almost as Did it snow on this date last year? Hardly anyone would remember such a thing. I think, therefore, that unless I were consulting a meteorologist regarding real weather data, I would use Was it snowing this time last year? because it suggests an entire, but approximate, time period during which some snowing activity may have happened.

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G was playing football at 6 suggests that G was playing football between, maybe, 5 and 7. The football playing activity was in progress when the clock struck 6.

G played football at 6 suggest that G had, maybe, an appointment to play football at 6. The game started at 6.

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We were living there at the time sounds like a set-up for something more. It's descriptive. It's setting the scene for something that happened, most likely during that year, 1998. That was lucky, because the big cities had food shortages that year.

We lived there at the time sounds like a final statement. There's nothing more to be said. We lived there. Period. We've finished talking about 1998. Let's move on now to what we did the next year. In 1999, we moved to a big city.

In the specific cases you have here, I think the place "we were living" is emphasized more, and the year "we lived there" is emphasized more.

That said, with a stative verb like live, the difference between simple and progressive tenses is minimal.

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Ten minutes later I was still waiting for the tram is the only one of the two that is possible. That's because of still, which seems to beg for the progressive tense. We were still [living, waiting, staying, working, resting] there. still implies a continuity of activity which is contradicted by the use of the simple tense.

Ten minutes later I was waiting for the tram suggests that finally, after ten minutes of various other events or activities, I arrived where I began the waiting process, which lasted for some unspecified amount of time.

Ten minutes later I waited for the tram is a little anomalous because waiting is by nature continuous and couldn't have happened all at once at the point in time indicated by ten minutes later.

I waited for the tram for ten minutes is normal. It conceptualizes the full ten minutes as "closed" and entirely "filled" with the ten-minute waiting event.

I was waiting for the tram for ten minutes is a little anomalous. The period of ten minutes is "closed" or "bounded", so it doesn't mix well with an "open", "unbounded" tense.

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Unfortunately, what you learn about the subtleties of one verb does not necessarily apply to the use of any other verb. Each verb has its own grammar, and sometimes a verb does not act the same as any other verb when it comes to the nuances of the tenses it appears in.

Re: past simple/continuous

Newguest — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:46:51 GMT

Newguest

Was it snowing this time last year. -- What if I said: Did it snow..

George was playing football with his workmates at 6 pm. ---- How about: George played..............

It was 1998. We were living in a small village at the time. ---- How about: We lived in a small..............

Ten minutes later I was still waiting for the tram. ---- Ten minutes later I still waited .......

Thanks for the detailed answer CJ!

But do you think that all of the above sentences, the ones on the left and the ones on the right are correct?

would you ever say: Did it snow this time last year? OR maybe the past cont. sounds better: Was it snowing this time last year?

Re: past simple/continuous

Newguest — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:18:32 GMT

Sometimes it seems to me that I can use either of them interchangeably without changing the meaning.

Eg. Was it snowing this time last year. -- What if I said: Did it snow..

George was playing football with his workmates at 6 pm. ---- How about: George played..............

It was 1998. We were living in a small village at the time. ---- How about: We lived in a small..............

Ten minutes later I was still waiting for the tram. ---- Ten minutes later I still waited .......

Re: Present Participle and Past Participle Tenses....

User_gary — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 04:37:38 GMT

Tanglish wrote:

Hi all,

I can easily indentified the present, past , future tenses, but I don't know anything about Present Participle and Past Participle Tenses. Could anyone explain me with example and when I have to use that tenses????

Thanks!!!!

[I don't understand exactly what you mean]

Here is some basics that might help you.

Verb has four forms :

prsent simple : Break, hold, make, drink, write

Past simple: Broke, held, made, drank, wrote

Past participle: broken, held, made, drunk, written

Present participle: breaking, holding, making, drinking, writing.

Note : sometimes `simple past' and `past participle' has same forms. e.g. held-held, made-made.

As I told you above, Present participle is `ing' form of verbs.

Present participle is used to write `present progressive', `present perfect progressive', `past progressive', `past perfect progressive, `future progressive', `future perfect progressive'.

E.g. I am reading books. [Here `reading' is present participle] [It is present progressive sentence]

I have been playing football for five hours. [Here `playing is present participle, `been' is past participle] [It is present perfect progressive sentence]

Past participle is used to write `perfect tenses' e.g. (Present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, past perfect progressive, future perfect, future perfect progressive)

e.g. I have made this book. [here `made' is past participle] [It is present perfect sentence]

I have been asking questions for 7 hours. [here `been' is past participle, `asking' is present participle] [It is present perfect progressive sentence]

Past simple VS present perfect

kingfisher — Thu, 05 May 2005 12:42:02 GMT

Hi all,

In most cases it's clear which tense I should use but in some cases it's really puzzling.

For example :-

1- If I want to tell my friend that I played/ have played football without specifying when or for how long, should I say I played football or I have played football. Please elaborate so that I can understand.

2- I monitored/ have monitored the stock market from 1 p.m to 2 p.m. It's now 5 p.m and I want to tell my friend that: should I say I monitored it or I have monitoed it.

3- It's now 5 p.m, which one is correct: -I monitored it for two hours or I have monitored it for two hours.

I hope that my questions are understandable and clear.

thanks in advance

Re: Grammar

learner — Fri, 07 May 2004 15:40:21 GMT

It seemes to me that "Last summer I played football every day" is better.

Past Simple / Present Simple are used to show routines, habits, which is the case.

We use the Past Continuous mostly to show that an action in the past was interrupted:

"Last summer I was playing football when I broke my leg"

"I was watching TV when she called."

you can also use a specific time as an interruption:

"Last night at 6 p.m., I was watching TV."

Grammar

Pawel — Fri, 07 May 2004 14:07:50 GMT

Hi everybody! If I want to describe habit taking place in temporary time frame, should I use Past Simple or Past Continuous? e.g. "Last summer I was palying football every day" or "Last summer I played football every day." Thanks in advance for your help.