Vocabulary

box-office-casă de bilete to spend-a petrece

enormously-enorm to sum up- a rezuma
to hurry-a se grăbi tense-timp verbal
law-lege way-drum, cale
progress-progres whether-dacă
sequence-corespondență

Expresii:
On my way to-în drumul (meu) spre

THE SEQUENCE OF TENSES

Victor: I think we may try a little more difficult exercise today.
Diana: You always like difficult things in life, Victor.
Dan: That is the law of progress.
Eva: Well, then, let’s see what new progress we are going to make today. Begin then, Victor,
please.
Victor: What are you doing now, Liza?
Liza: I am reading a newspaper.
Victor: Did you hear, everybody? She said she was reading a newspaper. Now, what are we all
doing here, Dan?
Dan: We are speaking English.
Victor: Dan said we were speaking English. Do you speak English, George? What did I ask
you?
George: You asked me whether I spoke English.
Victor: That is very good. Another question. Have you seen the new film at the Modern,
Alexandra? What did I ask you?
Alexandra: You asked me whether I had seen the new film at the Modern.
Victor: Very good again. Now, how long have we been learning English together, Diana?
Diana: We have been learning English together for seven months.
Victor: What did she say, Maria?
Diana: She said we had been learning English for seven months.
Victor: Very good indeed. Now, what will you do next Sunday, Adrian?
Adrian: I’ll go to Brașov for the week-end.
Victor: Well, what did Adrian say?
Eva: He said he would go to Brasov for the week-end.
Victor: Thank you. And what are you going to do next Sunday, Paul?
Paul: I am going to spend my week-end at Snagov.
Victor: Thank you. What did Paul say, George?
George: He said he was going to spend his week-end at Snagov.
Victor: That is very good. And now to sum up, I’ll tell you this little story: On my way here I
met my cousin Tony. He told me he had heard they had started selling tickets for the Enescu
Festival and he was hurrying to be at the box-office in time. He knew his wife would be very
happy to go to some of the concerts and would also like to take their parents with them so he was
going to spend a lot of money because of the Festival, but he didn’t mind it. He said he liked
music enormously.

CORESPONDENȚA TIMPURILOR
Prin corespondența timpurilor se înțelege concordanța dintre timpurile folosite în
propoziția principală și cele folosite în propoziția subordonată (de cele mai multe ori o
completivă directă). Dacă în propoziția principală verbul este la un timp prezent, în propoziția
subordonată verbul este la timpul cerut de sens, ca și în limba română. Dacă însă în propoziția
principală verbul este la un timp trecut (Simple Past, Simple Past Continuous sau Past Perfect)
verbul din propoziția subordonată va fi tot la un timp trecut, și anume:
a. Dacă acțiunea din propoziția subordonată este simultană cu cea din propoziția
principală, în propoziția subordonată verbul se pune la Simple Past sau Present Tense
Continuous.
You asked me whether I spoke English. M-ați întrebat dacă vorbesc englezește.
She said she was reading a newspaper. Ea a spus că citește un ziar.
b. Dacă acțiunea din propoziția subordonată este anterioară acțiunii din propoziția
principală, verbul din propoziția subordonată se folosește la Past Perfect.
 You asked me whether I had seen the new film.
M-ați întrebat dacă am văzut filmul cel nou.
She said we had been learning English for seven months.
Ea a spus că învață engleza de șapte luni.
c. Dacă acțiunea din propoziția subordonată este posterioară celei din propoziția
principală, predicatul propoziției subordonate trebuie să fie la timpul Future-in-the-Past care este
identic ca formă cu condiționalul prezent.
He said he would go to Brașov for the week-end.
A spus că se va duce la Brașov pentru a-și petrece sfârșitul de săptămână acolo.
He knew his wife would be very happy to go to some of the concerts.
Știa că soția sa va fi foarte fericită să poată să meargă la câteva din concerte.
a.
Brenda says she is learning Russian
said was

b.
Margaret thinks she knows Italian, but she doesn’t
thought knew didn’t

c.
Mary says she has been to Bucharest twice, so she knows the city
said had knew

d.

Pamela says she has been learning English for three

said had years

e.

Patricia hopes her son will become a doctor if he works hard.

hoped would worked
 EXERCISES

I. Treceți verbele din propozițiile principale la Simple Past Simple și faceți toate
celelalte modificări necesare:
1. He knows she likes music very much.
2. He knows he is going to spend a lot of money to buy tickets for the Enescu Festival.
3. They say they will come in time.
4. He knows that she is buying tickets for the concert.
5. He says he very much likes to learn English.
6. I know that he saw a very good picture.
7. Do you know she will come on Friday?
8. I don’t know if she is in Bucharest.

II. Traduceți în limba engleză scrisoarea Lizei către prietena ei Diana:

București, 15 august, 2021

Dragă Diana,

Îți scriu ca să-ți spun că nu m-am simțit prea bine săptămâna trecută, așa că nu m-am
putut duce la agenția de bilete ca să văd dacă au început să se vândă bilete pentru Festivalul
Enescu. Ieri după-masă mi-a telefonat Eva ca să-mi spună că se va duce ea la agenție.
Tu ce mai faci? N-am mai primit vești de la tine de când ai plecat la Sibiu. Victor și
George mi-au făcut ieri o vizită. Spuneau că nici ei nu au vreo veste de la tine. Mi-au spus că
Paul pleacă și el săptămâna viitoare la Sibiu, așa că este posibil să-l întâlnești în acest vechi și
frumos oraș ardelenesc. Scrie-mi de îndată ce primești scrisoarea mea.
Cu dragoste,

Liza
 Cheia exercițiilor
1. He knew she liked music very much.
2. He knew he was going to spend a lot of money to buy tickets for the Enescu Festival.
3. They said they would come in time.
4. He knew that she was buying six tickets for the concert.
5. He said he very much liked to learn English.
6. I knew that he had seen a very good picture.
7. Did you know she would come on Friday?
8. I didn’t know if she was in Bucharest.

Bucharest, 15th August 2021

Dear Diana,

I am writing to you to tell you that I didn’t feel very well last week, so I couldn’t go to
the box-office to see whether they had started to sell tickets for the Enescu Festival. Yesterday
afternoon, Eva telephoned me to say she would go to the box-office.
How are you? I haven’t received any news from you since you left for Sibiu. Victor and
George paid me a visit yesterday. They said they too had no news from you, either. They told me
Paul would also leave for Sibiu next week, so you may meet him in that old and beautiful
Transylvanian town. Write me as soon as you receive my letter.
With love,
Liza