http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aNumbers+tag%3aPast+tenses+tag%3aParagraphsSearch results for 'tag:Numbers tag:Past tenses tag:Paragraphs' matching tags 'Numbers', 'Past tenses', and 'Paragraphs'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/AlwaysToastAlwaysToast/hrmbk/post.htm#588142Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:11:51 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:588142cliveHi There is a passage in my English textbook In this passage there are two sentences with the simple present tense in which I think the simple past tense should be used and they are the following 1 there is always a toast 2 Many parties social and political discussions and family gatherings take place here In order to show the context of the two sentences the whole passage has been copied below with the two sentences in question italicized the two sentences are also in bold type together with the title of the passage A Russian Experience It was almost midnight yet the streets were bathed in a soft shimmering light The sun had just gone down and twilight would soon give way to night We were strolling along the Nevsky Prospekt a wide avenue stretching four kilometres and filled with people music and street entertainers This was St Petersburg in August and it seemed the city was out to celebrate the long summer nights We had just left the home of newly found Russian friends and after a wonderful traditional dinner decided to have some exercise before going to bed It has always been my dream to visit St Petersburg Absorbed by Russian history since childhood I wanted to see it all for myself Now thanks to Perestroika tourists are welcomed into Russia and St Petersburg with its rich cultural history is a popular choice We flew in from Stockholm and from the air immediately noticed a well planned city with apartment blocks built in semi circles with central courtyards and gardens Not only did this seem practical but the idea behind the design was to shelter residents from the fierce winter winds The city was built by European architects in the 18th and 19th centuries and remains one of Europe s most beautiful cities Straddling the wide River Neva the city is made up of almost 50 islands connected by some 310 bridges No wonder the sight of elegant buildings along the canals reminded me of Paris Amsterdam and Venice I hadn t met many Russian people but I had an intense love for their country and traditions and was passionate about art and literature Russian writers such as Pushkin Tolstoy and Dostoevsky reach the very soul of ordinary Russians and this I find intriguing It was no different when I finally found myself in Russia People were openly friendly and eager to discuss any aspect of their lives in their beloved Motherland No matter how bad the economy somehow these people have the ability to see the positive aspects of their lives whatever their circumstances We met an attractive woman from Moscow and we fast became friends and it was she who invited us into the home of some dear friends of hers The apartment block was in an elegant area of St Petersburg and was probably a palace in the past but now converted into apartments of four floors The entrance through a narrow hallway was dark and dull and there was an old fashioned lift on the ground floor with steel folding gates that clanged shut after which the lift moved very slowly upwards It was quicker to walk up the staircase Our host Yuri Petrochenkov himself an artist warmly greeted us at the door He was tall with gray hair pulled into a tail His open friendly manner and twinkling eyes showed a sense of humor and his English with a thick accent made him an entertaining host Nelly his wife spoke little English but understood a great deal more We were ushered into their main room which served as a living room dining room and TV area There was an air of intimacy in the room as though it was the core part of this family Many parties social and political discussions and family gatherings take place here They did and they still do The present tense suggests that this visit was not long ago and that the same custom of toasts exists today ie at the time of writing We were honored to be there and I felt ashamed that I had absolutely no Russian language to attempt to communicate in Why is it that people of the English speaking world take for granted that the rest of the world should speak English I had always meant to learn Russian and had enrolled for courses in the past but they never started because of lack of numbers Our meal was a feast in itself We weren t offered wine just vodka in little shot glasses and before drinking there is always a toast Here it seems to be a similar idea to the above but I d prefer the simple past here myself Another interpretation is that the writer is trying to make the reader feel that he is present at the meal but in that case I d use present tense for the whole sentence and maybe even the whole paragraph or the whole narrative Some nine vodkas later Yuri was in fine form and had found a drinking partner in my husband Wandering along the river we agreed that not only had we found new friends but we had just spent probably the most enjoyable experience of our trip to Russia This is what travel is all about to get to the heart and soul of the people and to try to understand and experience a little of what makes others tickBest wishes Clivehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/GrammarCheck/hrdhg/post.htm#585639Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:03:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:585639alpheccastars Ellisa This is a very long passage and your other post seems to be even longer The editor at this web site makes it difficult to make corrections to long passages Also many teachers do not want to devote a long time working on a single post If you post only one paragraph at a time then different teachers can work on them and you will get your corrections faster quote user Ellisa Hello teachers I m summarising a book which is about teaching methods I guess there are millions of errors Please check those to right one suggest corrections to my sentences Thanks in advance 13 Teaching grammar There are two main ways to teaching grammar or you can say ways of teaching grammar The word teaching is a gerund and must be used as a noun In this example it is object of the preposition of One way is both planning grammar teaching in advance and relying on the coursebooks which can help us teach grammar The other way is teaching grammar as a result of other work In other words it is has done as a peripheral activity In this chapter we will look at the various different ways to teach grammar We will look at the range of activities which satisfy not merely efficiency but also appropriacy not a word you can use the adjective forms a range of activities which are efficient as well as appropriate Lastly we will discuss grammar books and their usages You need to be consistent in using imperative versus declarative sentences A Introducing grammar The following 1 to 4 examples numbered 1 to 4 are activities which represent a range of possibilities for introducing new grammar Ex1 It s making sentences using the present simple in the third singular First the teacher holds up a number of flashcards which are about a specific job Then subject the students make sentences in contained present simple tense for the each pictures It consists or The exercise consists of of three affirmative and three negative sentences Then subject the teacher makes the students guess what kind of job it is Once students are confident in with these sentences the teacher asks them to think of one profession and make 6 sentences Now they can do activities guessing what profession is being described Ex2 It s using texts which contained present tense what the students are being taught past simple irregular verbs While the students read the text they come across blanks that they must fill in with the past tense form of certain verbs Then subject the teacher makes them write these past tense verb forms down in the blanks and also write them phonetically using which are shown their phonemic symbols Ex3 This is aimed to show the differences between reporting direct speech and reporting things that were said in the past The teacher draws Draw two people on the board One whose name is Jack is holding a phone and smiling whose name is Jack The other is just standing The teacher gives the Give students the information that Jack is talking to a girl who he met in the school canteen Then the teacher asks the students what Jack tells his friend while taking on the phone The answers might be in the present form such as She says I m really nice In this process the teacher makes sure that the students understand how you changes to I The teacher now tells the students that Jack is back home and he was spurned by the girl He is telling to his mother that She said I was really nice which is past form The teacher can write both past and present forms on the board to help students Ex4 Here the language which the students are were going to study is was embedded in the texts which they read The teacher makes the students read the story first After confirming that they are fully understanood the story by asking comprehension questions the teacher asks them to make bad or insensible statements using the story Then the get students to come up to the board and write the sentences so that The sentences have to use the modal auxillary should such as ncluding Should have p p or Shouldn t have p p especially here quote http://www.englishforums.com/English/SuggestionsImprovingGrammarSite/zlcxg/post.htmMon, 04 Feb 2008 14:47:48 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:472470grammarfixerupperHello I am new to the site was led here by a search engine and am surprised to see a number of grammatical errors in and around the site in general I haven t looked everywhere but below you will find a list of the ones that I noticed right off the bat The site mistakenly uses in many places including the welcome e mail login and logout as verbs however the verb is two words log in or log out The noun adjective can be one word but never can the verb In other words it would be correct to say that I log in at the login page Many sites are guilty of this offense including those of major corporations The real test is to put the verb in the past tense You wouldn t say that She loginned yesterday one word Rather you would say that She logged in yesterday two words Other common misuses though not necessarily seen on this site include pickup checkout and rollover The paragraph on the main page needs some commas which I ve added between asterisks According to Alexa we re now the world s busiest EFL forum with up to 30 000 visits each day Kudos to our amazing team Due to massive demand LIVE chat is here Please read the guidelines terms and conditions before posting PLEASE DO NOT POST PERSONAL CONTACT ADDRESSES Register here we will never send you spam Finally there is a little phrase at the top right hand corner when one is logged in It says Welcome back XYZ where XYZ is the username Because someone is being addressed in this phrase there should be a comma after back Thank you for your attention and keep up the great work Warm regards Andyhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/StoryDiverseTenses/bbwdp/post.htmSun, 17 Apr 2005 09:50:55 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:90812jack112 Playing to Win by Margaret A Whitney 1 My daughter is an athlete Nowadays this statement won t strike many parents as unusual but it does me Until her freshman year in high school Ann was only marginally interested in sport of any kind When she played she didn t swing hard often dropped the ball and had an annoying habit of tittering on field or court 2 Indifference combined with another factor that did not bode well for a sports career Ann was growing up to be beautiful By eighth grade nature and orthodontics had produced a 5 foot 8 inch 125 pound brown eyed beauty with a wonderful smile People told her too And as many young women know it is considered a satisfactory accomplishment to be pretty and stay pretty Then you can simply sit still and enjoy the unconditional positive regard Ann loved the attention too and didn t consider it demeaning when she was awarded Best Hair female category in the eighthgrade yearbook 3 So it came as a surprise when she became a jock The first indication that athletic indifference had ended came when she joined the high school cross country team She signed up in early September and ran third for the team within three days Not only that After one of those 3 1 mile races up hill and down dale on a rainy November afternoon Ann came home muddy and bedraggled Her hair was plastered to her head and the mascara she had applied so carefully that morning ran in dark circles under her eyes This is it I thought Wait until Lady Astor1 sees herself But the kid with the best eighth grade hair went on to finish the season and subsequently letter2 in cross country soccer basketball and softball 4 I love sports she tells anyone who will listen So do I though my midlife quest for a doctorate leaves me little time for either playing or watching My love of sports is bound up with the goals in my life and my hopes for my three daughters I have begun to hear the message of sports It is very different from many messages that women receive about living and I think it is good 5 My husband for example talked to Ann differently when he realized she was a serious competitor and not just someone who wanted to get in shape so she d look good in a prom dress Be aggressive he d advise Go for the ball Be intense 6 Be intense She came in for some of the most scathing criticism from her dad when during basketball season her intensity waned You re pretending to play hard he said You like it on the bench Do you like to watch while your teammates play 7 I would think how is this kid reacting to such advice For years she d been told at home at school by countless advertisements Be quiet Be good Be still When teachers reported that Ann was too talkative not obedient enough too flighty When I dressed her up in frilly dresses and told her not to get dirty When ideals of femininity are still quiet cool females in ads whose vacantness passes for sophistication How can any adolescent girl know what she s up against Have you ever really noticed intensity It is neither quiet nor good And it s definitely not pretty _________________ 1 Lady Astor wealthy socialite admired for her beauty 2 letter athletic achievement award 8 In the end her intensity revived At half time she d look for her father and he would come out of the bleachers to discuss tough defense finding the open player squaring up on her jump shot I d watch them at the edge of the court a tall man and a tall girl talking about how to play 9 Of course I m particularly sensitive at this point in my life to messages about trying hard being active getting better through individual and team effort Ann you could barely handle a basketball two years ago Now you re bringing up the ball against the press Two defenders are after you You must dribble stop pass We re depending on you We need you to help us I wonder if my own paroxysms of uncertainty would be eased had more people urged me be active go for it 10 Not that dangers don t lurk for the females of her generation I occasionally run this horror show in my own mental movie theatre an unctuous3 but handsome lawyer like drone of a young man spies my Ann Hmmm he says unconsciously to himself good gene pool and wouldn t she go well with my BMW and condo Then I see Ann with a great new hairdo kissing the drone goodbye honey and setting off to the nearest mall with splendid looking children to spend money 11 But the other night she came home from softball tryouts at six in the evening The dark circles under her eyes were from exhaustion not makeup I tried too hard today she says I feel like I m going to puke 12 After she has revived she explains She wants to play a particular position There is competition for it I can t let anybody else get my spot she says I ve got to prove that I can do it Later we find out that she has not gotten the much wanted third base position but she will start with the varsity team My husband talks about the machinations of coaches and tells her to keep trying You re doing fine he says She gets that I am going to keep trying look on her face The horror show vision of Annas Stepford Wife4 fades 13 Of course Ann doesn t realize the changes she has wrought the power of her self definition I m an athlete Ma she tells me when I suggest participation in the school play or the yearbook But she has really caused us all to rethink our views of existence her younger sisters who consider sports a natural activity for females her father whose advocacy of women has increased and me Because when I doubt my own abilities I say to myself Get intense Margaret Do you like to sit on the bench 14 And my intensity revives 15 I am not suggesting that participation in sports is the answer for all young women It is not easy the losing the jealousy raw competition and intense personal criticism of performance 16 And I don t wish to imply that the sports scene is a morality play either Girls sports can be funny You can t forget that out on that field are a bunch of people who know the meaning of the word cute During one game I noticed that Ann had a blue ribbon tied on her ponytail and it dawned on me that every girl had an identical bow Somehow I can t picture the Celtics gathered in the locker room of the Boston Garden agreeing to wear the same colour sweatbands _________________ 3 unctuous very smooth fervent or earnest especially in a false or affected way when trying to please or persuade 4 Ann as Stepford Wife reference to a story by Ira Levin where women are replaced with more passive and beautiful replicas 17 No what has struck me amazed me and made me hold my breath in wonder and in hope is both the ideal of sport and the reality of a young girl not afraid to do her best 18 I watch her bringing the ball up the court We yell encouragement from the stands though I know she doesn t hear us Her face is red with exertion and her body is concentrated on the task She dribbles draws the defense to her passes runs A teammate passes the ball to her They ve beaten the press She heads toward the hoop Her father watches her her sisters watch her I watch her And I think drive Ann drive Copyright 2001 by the New York Times Co Reprinted by permission July 3 1988 There is a number next to each paragraph Could you guys explain to me what s going on I m confused with the tenses Sometimes she uses past tense to talk about her past happenings and then she switches over to present She uese past tense present tense present perfect etc I don t get it I m lost I don t follow the story It s so frustrating to read What is the point of doing that The bold parts are used to show that I m confused with the tenses change of tenses I also noticed that the writer didn t use quotation marks for her reported speeches I have italized them to make them stand out Are they correct like that I m very sorry if I have consumed of lot of your valuable time Thank you very much in advance for taking your time to read this