Unit 9.

Fun activities

Listening & reading Grammar Vocabulary Writing & recording Quiz

Listening: What were you The Past Continuous Fun activities A short story Listening quiz: what
doing yesterday? Past Simple vs. Past Leisure activities where you doing?
Reading Continuous Vocabulary exercise
Listening & reading test Grammar exercises

Listening & reading

Listening: What were you doing yesterday?
Listen to the text twice paying attention to the vocabulary, and try to answer the questions. Then, check the
answers with the text.

Reading

What were you doing yesterday?

− What were you doing yesterday at 6 pm? − Sam
asked his friend Susan.
− At 6 pm? Yes, I remember now, I was cooking
dinner. At 6.30 pm I had dinner with my family.
Then, my cousins came over and we were playing
word games in the living room until 8 pm. After
that we watched a film on TV and then, at about
12 pm, we all went to bed. I then read a book for
about an hour before I fell asleep.
− And you? What were you doing at 1 pm when I
called you? You didn’t pick up the phone.
− Both. We were planning on interviewing a couple
of people and visiting some clients, but also on
taking a break. What were you thinking?
− I thought you were only going on a holiday − said
Susan.
− Well, only going on holiday is difficult, you know,
I’m self-employed.
− Right, just like me, we have to keep on working
− said Susan.

− I was having lunch with Bob in a restaurant. I had Vocabulary

forgotten my phone at home, that’s why I didn’t
answer. We were talking for an hour about his Fall asleep: quedarse dormido
new job. Then I went back to my studio and I took Pay someone a visit: visitar a alguien
photos and was busy talking to some clients until 5
Road trip: viaje por carretera
pm. I left the studio and paid my friend Greg a visit.
We were planning our road trip to the South, so we Take a break: tomar un descanso
were surfing the internet and looking at some travel Self-employed: autónomo
guides. Keep on working: seguir trabajando 119
− Is that a business or pleasure trip?

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 Listening & reading test
1. What was Susan doing at 6 pm? 6. How long was Sam talking to his friend?
A. Cooking. A. 60 minutes.
B. Eating. B. 120 minutes.
C. Playing. C. 30 minutes.

2. Who was Susan eating with? 7. Who did Sam talk to in his studio?
A. Friends. A. Bob.
B. Family. B. Susan.
C. Colleagues. C. Clients.

3. What did Susan do after playing games? 8. Who is Sam going on a trip with?
A. Read a book. A. Susan.
B. Watched TV. B. Bob.
C. Cleaned the kitchen. C. Greg.

4. Where was Sam at 1 pm? 9. What is Sam doing on his trip?

A. In a restaurant. A. Work.
B. At home. B. Having a holiday.
C. Don’t know. C. Work and having a holiday.

5. Where was Sam’s phone? 10. Who does Sam work for?
A. In a restaurant. A. Greg.
B. At home. B. Himself.
C. Don’t know. C. Kodak.

Grammar
The Past Continuous
Study this example:

What was she doing yesterday at 1.30 pm?

She was watching TV

The Past Continuous is used to describe actions that occurred in the past and
continued over time.

Let’s now study how to make sentences with the Past Continuous.

How do we make affirmative sentences?

Structure:

Subject + was/ were (past to be) + main verb –ing + object

Examples:
She was telling jokes Ella estaba/estuvo
subject was/were main verb + ing object contando chistes
120
You were working hard mending the roof Tú estabas/estuviste trabajando duro arreglando el tejado
The artist was writing a song El artista estaba/estuvo componiendo una canción

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How do we ask questions?

Structure:

Was/Were + subject + main verb –ing + object?

Examples:

Were you teaching English?

¿Estuviste enseñando inglés?
was/ were subject main verb + ing object?

Was your daughter practising any sports? ¿Estaba tu hija haciendo deporte?
Were the pensioners playing cards? ¿Estaban los jubilados jugando a las cartas?

How do we answer questions?

Structure:

Affirmative: Yes, + subject + was/ were Negative: No, + subject + wasn’t/ weren’t

Examples:

Were you writing a poem? Were you writing a poem?

Yes, I was Yes, he was No, I wasn't No, he wasn’t
Yes subject was/were Yes, they were No subject was/were + not No, we weren’t

How do we make negative sentences?

Structure:

Subject + was/ were + not + main verb –ing + object

Examples:

I was not drinking alcohol

Yo no estuve bebiendo alcohol
subject was/were not main verb + ing object

People in the queue weren’t moving

The baby wasn’t eating a sandwich

Pay attention to the contractions.

Was not: wasn’t 121
Were not: weren’t
In colloquial English we usually use contractions in spoken language.

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 How do we ask negative questions?

Structure:

Wasn’t/ Weren’t + subject + main verb –ing + object?

Examples:

Weren’t you dancing at the party?

¿No estuviste bailando en la fiesta?
was not/were not subject main verb + ing object

Weren’t your friends singing a song at the disco?

Wasn’t the girl breakdancing?

When we ask negative questions we usually make a contraction:

Weren’t you?
Wasn’t he?

The Past Continuous. Use TIP: Practice asking and

answering questions with “was”
The Past Continuous is used for actions that and “were” until you get them
occurred in the past and continued over time. right.
It is often used in combination with the Past
Most students confuse “was”
Simple tense or time references (8 o’clock, in
and “were” when asking or
the morning, at that moment). Examples:
answering questions.

Q. What were they doing when he called?

Past tense
A. They were having lunch.
The action ocurred in the past
and continued over time

Q. What was she doing at 5 o'clock yesterday?

Time reference

A. She was drinking tea.

122 The action ocurred in the past
and continued over time

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Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

Past Simple Past Continuous

Past actions which happened one after the other: Action in the middle of happening of a stated past
time:
She sealed the letter, put a stamp on it and posted it
He was playing tennis at 4.30 yesterday
Past action in progress interrupted by another past
Past habit or state:
action. The longer action is in the Past Continuous,
He used to go / went to school on foot the shorter action is in the Past Simple:
While I was getting dressed the bell rang
Complete action or event which happened at a stated
past time: Two or more simultaneous past actions:
She called an hour ago. (When? An hour ago) While I was sunbathing, Tim was swimming
Action which happened at a definite past time
although the time is not mentioned. This action is Background description of events in a story:
not connected with the present: She was flying to Paris. The sun was shinning
Shakespeare wrote a lot of plays (Shakespeare is now
dead, he won’t write again – period of time now finished)

Time expressions

Past Simple Past Continuous

yesterday
last week
(how long) ago while
then when
just now as
when …
in 1967
…

More examples:

When I arrived, she was telling jokes and everybody was laughing
Cuando llegué, ella estaba contando chistes y todo el mundo se reía

You were working hard on the roof while I watched the match
Tú estabas/estuviste trabajando duro en el tejado mientras yo veía el partido

When her friends came, the artist was writing a song

Cuando llegaron sus amigos, la artista estaba componiendo una canción

The activity in Past Continuous began before the action expressed by the Past
Simple.

Revise this verbal tense in the Past, its constructions and uses watching this interesting video. Try to
answer this question as well:
123
®® Which one of these two sentences seems more correct: “They were playing chess when I called
them” or “They played chess when I called them”?

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 Grammar exercises
1. Use one of the forms of the verb ‘to be’ for the gaps.

was wasn’t were weren’t

A. At 8 am I eating my breakfast. (Positive)

B. At 10 am we working in the office. (Positive)

C. What you doing between 11 am and 1 pm? (Positive)

D. John helping his mother; he was watching TV. (Negative)

E. They watching the football match (Negative); they cooking dinner. (Positive)

F. Why he shouting? (Positive)

G. you driving the car? (Negative)

H. Last night I doing my homework. (Positive)

I. I making my bed when the phone rang. (Positive)

J. We dancing all night through. (Positive)

2. Look at the images and write sentences in Past Continuous.

A. What were Ann and John doing yesterday at 10 am? (play / guitar)

B. What was she doing yesterday evening? (play / flute)

C. What was she doing yesterday before lunch? (play / tennis)

D. Were they listening to music?

No, .

124 E. ? (Do yesterday at 3 pm)

He was playing a computer game.

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3. Write the Simple Past or the Past Continuous form in the right places. Use the verbs between brackets.

A. John Sally while he in Morocco (meet, travel).

B. While she , somebody her car (do the shopping, steal).

C. The telephone while I lunch (ring, cook).

D. When Mark the door they about him (open, talk).

E. When I the house I took my umbrella because it (leave, rain).

F. Caroline me twice yesterday while I (phone, work).

G. I an interesting documentary on TV while I dinner

(watch, have).

4. Underline the correct verb form.

Example: We met/were meeting when we lived/were living in Italy.

A. Sally worked/was working when suddenly the door opened/was opening and her husband rushed/was
rushing in.

B. Peter stood/was standing up, walked/was walking across the room, and closed/was closing the door.

C. A weird man walked/was walking into the room. He wore/was wearing a green coat and a black tie.

D. Didn't you meet/weren't you meeting your girlfriend while you worked/were working in France?

E. I saw/was seeing you in the woods yesterday. You sat/were sitting on the grass holding hands with John.

F. As soon as Martha walked/was walking into the room, Carl handed/was handing her the box.

G. Her parents were really angry with their daughter because she listened/was listening to the radio while she
did/was doing her homework.

H. Why didn't they visit/weren't they visiting me while they stayed/were staying in Boston?

I. What did you write/were you writing when your laptop crashed/was crashing?

5. Fill in the gaps with Past Simple or Continuous

Last night I 1) (be) alone in my apartment. I 2) (lie) on my bed and I

3) (watch) TV when I 4) (hear) a weird noise. The noise
5) (come) from the kitchen. I 6) (go) downstairs,
7) (pick up) a flower vase from the table and 8) (head for) the kit-
chen. I 9) (open) the door very softly. Then I 10) (see) somebody.
He or she 11) (search) in the fridge. I 12) (be) so scared that I
13) (drop) the vase I 14) (carry) it. It 15) (crash) 125
onto the floor. The man 16) (turn) towards the door and I 17) (see)
his face. It was my father!

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 Vocabulary
Fun activities
Listen to the audio and repeat these words and sentences. Stop it as many times as you need.

English Spanish Example

dancing bailar Why don’t we go dancing? - ¿Por qué no vamos a bailar?

hiking senderismo Would you like to go hiking? - ¿Te gustaría ir a hacer senderismo?

camping acampar She likes camping a lot - A ella le gusta mucho acampar

observación My father enjoyed going bird watching very much

bird watching
de aves Mi padre disfrutaba mucho yendo a observar aves

taking pictures
hacer fotos Can you take a picture of me? - ¿Me puedes hacer una foto?
/ photos

playing a
jugar Children love playing games outside - A los niños les encanta jugar fuera
game

viajar con una I went backpacking in Europe when I was 20

backpacking
mochila Viajé por Europa con una mochila cuando tenía veinte años

canoeing ir en canoa They went canoeing yesterday - Ellos fueron a andar en canoa ayer

montar en We go cycling every weekend

cycling/biking
bicicleta Nosotros montamos en bicicleta todos los fines de semana

climbing escalar John would like to climb that mountain - A John le gustaría escalar esa montaña

surfing hacer surf I went surfing last summer - El pasado verano hice surf

diving bucear They go diving every summer - Van a bucear todos los veranos

fishing pescar Let’s go fishing - Vamos a pescar

126

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Leisure activities
Listen to the audio and repeat these words and sentences. Stop it as many times as you need.

English Spanish Example

go for a walk ir de paseo They want to go for a walk - Quieren ir de paseo

go fishing ir a pescar Would you like to go fishing? - ¿Te gustaría ir a pescar?

do sports hacer deporte She does lots of sports - Ella hace mucho deporte

go shopping ir de compras We both like to go shopping - A las dos nos gusta ir de compras

I was doing a gardening course last month

gardening jardinería
Estuve haciendo un curso de jardinería el mes pasado

handcraft manualidades I love making handcrafts - Me encanta hacer manualidades

knitting hacer punto My grandmother was always knitting - Mi abuela siempre estaba haciendo punto

montar en
go cycling Would you like to go cycling? - ¿Te gustaría montar en bicicleta?
bicicleta

cook cocinar What were you cooking? - ¿Qué estuviste cocinando?

escuchar
listen to music Were you listening to music? - ¿Estuviste escuchando música?
música
play an tocar un
I don’t play any instruments - No toco ningún instrumento
instrument instrumento
playing a jugar un juego What kind of computer game would you like to play?
computer game en el ordenador ¿A qué tipo de juego de ordenador te gustaría jugar?
She was painting a nice picture yesterday
paint pintar
Ella estuvo pintando un cuadro bonito ayer

playing chess jugar al ajedrez Were you playing chess last night? - ¿Estuviste jugando al ajedrez anoche?

Vocabulary exercise
Translate the following sentences. Look up the words you don’t know in a dictionary.

1 Ellas no quieren ir de paseo

2 Él estuvo tocando la guitarra ayer

3 Nosotros estuvimos pintando el domingo

¿Estuviste jugando (a un juego) con el
4
ordenador después de cenar?
5 Ellos fueron a pescar en el río el fin de semana

6 Nosotros fuimos de compras el sábado

7 Él estuvo trabajando en el jardín ayer

127
8 ¿Estuvo ella cocinando el domingo?

9 ¿Estuvieron ellos jugando al tenis a las 5 pm?

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 Writing & recording
A short story
1. Choose one of these images (or just imagine it) and write a short story in the Past Tense and/or Past
Continuous using some of the verbs you have already seen. Write at least 15 different verbs.

2. Now, tell a friend about your story. Record yourself using the expressions and grammar learnt from this and
previous units.

Important:
DON’T just read it, word by word, but try to explain it as if you were telling
somebody about it. Try to sound natural.

Duration: no longer than one minute. Remember: this activity has two parts:
®® The written part: you have to write the story.
®® The spoken part: you have to record yourself explaining what you wrote in your own words.

Quiz
Listening quiz: what were you doing?

Listen to the order of events. Choose the correct answer to the questions.

1. Was Bob awake at 7 am? 6. What were Bob and his friend doing while they were
A. Yes. having a snack?
B. No. A. Planning who would cook what.
C. Maybe. B. Planning what to buy.
C. Planning the table arrangements.
2. What was Bob doing at 8am?
A. Showering. 7. When were they cooking?
B. Eating breakfast. A. All night.
C. Sleeping. B. All afternoon.
C. All morning.
3. What was Bob doing at 9.30 am?
A. Eating breakfast. 8. Is the party at Bob’s house?
B. Shopping. A. Yes.
C. Playing football. B. No.
C. Maybe.
4. What is the name of Bob’s football team?
A. Lincolnshire Lioncubs. 9. What was Bob doing when Alex phoned?
B. Lovely Lioncubs. A. Cleaning the kitchen.
C. Lioncubs. B. Cleaning the vegetables.
C. Cleaning the dining room.
5. At what time was Bob doing the shopping for his dinner
128 party? 10. How many people were going to the party in total?
A. Midnight. A. 13.
B. 1 pm. B. 14.
C. Midday. C. 15.

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