UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR

INSTITUTO ACADEMICO DE IDIOMAS

Name (s):___________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________

TOP NOTCH 2 – 3RD EDITION – UNIT 4 – GRAMMAR WORKSHOP

THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE MEANING AND STRUCTURE

 USE
The Past Continuous is used to describe an action that happened progressively during a period of time in the past, but it is not happening
right now.
Example: She was studying ALL NIGHT yesterday. They were not working last night AT 22H00.

 FORM
POSITIVE
I was running in the park.
You were running in the park.
He / She / It was running in the park.
We were running in the park.
They were running in the park.
NEGATIVE
I was not running in the park.
You weren’t running in the park.
He / She / It wasn’t running in the park.
We weren’t running in the park.
They weren’t running in the park.
YES/NO QUESTION
Were you running in the park?
Was I running in the park?
Was he / she / it running in the park?
Were we running in the park?
Were they running in the park?

With some verbs, you need to be careful with their spelling

Just add -ing to the base verb:
EXCEPTION 1 WORK WORKING
SEE SEEING
If the base verb ends in consonant + stressed vowel + consonant, double the last letter
STOP STOPPING
RUN RUNNING
EXCEPTION 2
BEGIN BEGINNING
Note that this exception does not apply when the last syllable of the base verb is not stressed:
OPEN OPENING
If the base verb ends in ie, change the ie to y:
EXCEPTION 3 LIE LYING
DIE DYING
If the base verb ends in vowel + consonant + e, omit the e:
EXCEPTION 4 COME COMING
MISTAKE MISTAKING
o INFORMATION QUESTIONS

To make an Information Question (Wh question), use the same structure of a YES / NO question and an INFORMATION WORD.

Information Word Auxiliary Subject Verb Complement Answer

What Were You Playing On your computer? I was playing video games

Notice how the information words provide a certain type of information

 Where were you reading your book?
 When was she returning?
 What time were they starting class?
 Why were you studying?
 What was he eating?
 Who were you calling?
 Who was she going to the cinema with?
 How long was she sleeping on Sundays?
I was reading it on the table(location)
She was returning tomorrow(general time)
They were starting class at 7:00 am(specific time)
I was studying because I want to be an Engineer(reason)
He was eating pizza(things)
I was calling my girlfriend(people)
She was going with my brother(company)
She was sleeping for 10hours(duration)

When you make the question to the SUBJECTof the sentence, notice that the action is always conjugated in 3 rd person
 Who was preparing the dinner? They were*
 What was moving in the window? My cat was*
 Who was speaking English? He was*

Notice that the Present Continuous DOESN’T USE FREQUENCY, that’s why a Frequency question is incorrect,
 How often were they visiting you? They were usually visiting me (frequency)

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 NON-ACTION VERBS

There are some verbs in English that can’t use a Continuous form because they express an action that happens or not. They CAN’T
express an action that is happening NOW. These verbs are:

Be – Have – Know – Like – Love – Miss – Need – See – Understand – Want –

Remember – Forget – Smell – Sound – Hate – Seem – Have – Think – Agree
Examples:
 They were in class right now. NOT: They were being in class right now.
 She loved me. NOT: She was loving me
 I understood English. NOT: I was understanding English.

Exercises. Put the verbs into the correct form (past continuous).
1. When I phoned my friends, (they / play) ______________________ monopoly.
2. Yesterday at six (I / prepare / not) ______________________ dinner.
3. (The kids / play) ______________________ in the garden when it suddenly began to rain?
4. What time (you / practice) ______________________ the guitar when he came home.
5. (We / cycle / not) ______________________ all day.
6. (Aaron / work) ______________________ in his room, but (his siblings /play) ______________________ in the garden.
7. I tried to tell them the truth but (they / listen / not) ______________________.
8. What (you / do) ______________________ yesterday at 5:00?
9. Who (you / sit) ______________________ in the park with?
10. Who (run) ______________________ the race last Monday at the competition?

Past Continuous Vs Simple Past (Story Model)

USE 1 Interrupted Action in the Past

Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the
Simple Past. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.
 I was watching TV when she called.  What were you doing when the earthquake started?

USE 2 Specific Time

In the Simple Past, a specific time is used to show when an action began or finished. But in the Past Continuous, a specific time is used
to establish that it was a part of that period of time.

 Last night at 6 PM, I ate dinner.  Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.
I started eating at 6 PM or I finished eating at 6 PM. I started earlier; and at 6 PM, I was in the process of
eating dinner and I finished my dinner early.

USE 3 Parallel Actions

When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the
same time. The actions are parallel.
 I was studying while he was making dinner.  Were you listening while he was talking?

USE 4 Atmosphere (Story)

In English, we often use a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at a particular time in the past.
 When I walked into the office, several people were typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss was yelling directions,
and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands.
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 WHILE VS. WHEN

Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when she called"- Other clauses begin with "while" such as "while she was
sleeping." When you talk about things in the past, "WHEN" is most often followed by the verb tense SIMPLE PAST, whereas
"WHILE" is usually followed by PAST CONTINUOUS. "While" expresses the idea of "during that time." Study the examples below.
They have similar meanings, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.
 I was studying when she called.  While I was studying, she called.

Exercises. Using the words in parentheses, complete the text below with the appropriate tenses (Simple Past or Past
Continuous)

 A: What (you, do) 1……………………… when the accident occurred? B: I (try) 2……………………….. to change a light
bulb.
 After I (find) 3………………… the wallet, I (go) 4……..………… immediately to the police and (turn) 5…………………
it in.
 When I (walk) 6………………………. into the busy office, the secretary (talk) 7…………………….. on the phone with a
customer, several clerks (work) 8…………………………… busily at their desks, and two managers (discuss,)
9…………………………….. quietly.
 I (watch) 10……………………….. a mystery movie on TV when the electricity went out.

Put the verbs into the correct tense (Simple Past or Past Progressive).

11. When I(do) __________________ the washing-up, I(break) __________________ a plate.

12. While Tom(play) __________________ the piano, his mother(do) __________________ the washing-up.
13. He(drink) __________________ some juice and then he(eat) __________________ a few chips.
14. I(have) __________________ dinner when I suddenly(hear) __________________ a loud bang.
15. When my father(work) __________________ in the garden, an old friend(pass) __________________ by to see him.
16. She(go) __________________ to school,(take) _______________ out her textbook and(begin) __________________ to learn.
17. When it(start) __________________ to rain, our dog(want) __________________ to come inside.
18. When Jane(do) __________________ a language course in Ireland, she(visit) __________________ Blarney Castle.
19. When I(be) __________________ on my way home, I(see) __________________ an accident.
20. I(not / understand) __________________ what they(talk) __________________ about.

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 DIRECT OBJECT PLACEMENT WITH PHRASAL VERBS

 Separable Phrasal Verbs

With these verbs, the Direct Object may come after them or it may separate the two parts:
 You have to do this paint job over.
 You have to do over this paint job.

When the Direct Object is an Object Pronoun (ME, YOU, HIM, HER, IT, US, THEM) the two parts of the phrasal verb MUST
be separated:
 You have to do it over.

Example: Read the next list of separable phrasal verbs. Notice the use of the Phrasal verbs and their corresponding meaning.
VERB MEANING EXAMPLE
BLOW UP Explode The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station.
BRING UP mention a topic My mother brought up that little matter of my prison record again.
BRING UP (2) raise children It isn't easy to bring up children nowadays.
CALL OFF Cancel They called off this afternoon's meeting
DO OVER repeat a job She has to do over this homework.
DROP OFF leave or abandon something They dropped off their car after the radiator blew up
FILL OUT complete a form You could fill out this application form and mail it in.
FILL UP fill to capacity She filled up the grocery cart with free food.
FIND OUT Discover My sister found out her husband had an affair.
GIVE AWAY give something free The filling station was giving away free gas.
GIVE BACK return an object My brother is not about to give back the car to me.
HAND IN submit something The students handed in their papers and left the room.
HANG UP put something on a hook She hung up the phone before she hung up her clothes.
HOLD UP Delay I hate to hold up the meeting, but I have to go to the bathroom.
HOLD UP (2) Rob Three masked gunmen held up the Security Bank this afternoon.
LEAVE OUT Omit You left out the part about the police chase down Asylum Avenue.
LOOK OVER examine, check The lawyers looked over the papers carefully
LOOK UP search in a list or dictionary You'd better look up that new word you've misspelled
MAKE UP invent a story or lie She made up a story about going to the movies with her friends.
MAKE OUT hear, understand He was so far away, we really couldn't make out what he was saying.
PICK OUT Choose She is picking out the purse she likes.
PICK UP take something The teacher picked up everyone’s homework.
POINT OUT call attention to something As we drove through Paris, Francoise pointed out the major historical sites.
PUT AWAY save or store We put away money for our retirement.
PUT OFF Postpone We asked the boss to put off the meeting until tomorrow.
PUT ON start wearing clothes I put on a sweater and a jacket and I left.
PUT OUT Extinguish The firefighters put out the house fire before it could spread.
READ OVER Examine I read over the homework, but I couldn't make any sense of it.
SET UP arrange, begin My wife set up the living room exactly the way she wanted it.
TAKE DOWN make a written note She’d better write down the instructions before she forgets.
TAKE OFF remove clothing It was so hot that I had to take off my shirt.
TALK OVER Discuss Let's talk over our problems like adults.
THROW AWAY Discard You mustn’t throw away that much money.
TRY ON test some clothes She tried on fifteen dresses before she found one she liked.
TRY OUT Test something I tried out four cars before I could find one that pleased me.
TURN DOWN lower volume Please turn down the volume of your radio.
TURN DOWN (2) Reject He was turned down both times for the scholarship.
TURN UP raise the volume Grandpa couldn't hear, so he turned up his hearing aid.
TURN OFF stop a machine - a circuit We turned off the lights before anyone could see us.
TURN OFF (2) Repulse That disgusting movie really turned off my sister.
TURN ON start a machine or a circuit Turn on the CD player so we can dance.
USE UP exhaust, use completely I used up all my energy, so I need to go sleep.

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  Inseparable Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)
With the following phrasal verbs, the prepositions can’t be separated by the Direct Object (or Object pronouns):
Example: Who will look after my estate when I'm gone?
Not: Who will look my estate after when I’m gone?
Not: Who will look it after when I’m gone?

VERB MEANING EXAMPLE

CALL ON have someone participate in class The teacher called on students in the back row.
CALL ON (2) Visit The old minister continued to call on his sick parishioners.
GET OVER recover mentally or physically I got over the flu, but will I ever get over my broken heart?
GO OVER Review The students went over the material before the exam.
GO THROUGH use up; consume Did he go through all his money already?
LOOK AFTER take care of My mother promised to look after my dog while I was gone.
LOOK INTO Investigate The police will look into the possibilities of embezzlement.
RUN ACROSS find someone by chance I ran across my old roommate at the college reunion.
RUN INTO meet or crash Carlos ran into his English professor in the hallway.
TAKE AFTER Resemble My second son seems to take after his mother.
WAIT ON Serve It seemed strange to see my old boss wait on tables.

Exercise. Pick out five sentences from the first list of Phrasal Verbs and separate the Phrasal Verb’s parts with the Direct
Object. Then use an Object Pronoun to replace the Direct Object.
Example: She’d better write down the instructions before she forgets.
She’d better write the instructions down. - She’d better write them down.

1. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Read the following stories. Then change the verb in parenthesis for a Phrasal Verb from the list (Decide if it is in Simple Past
or Past Continuous) and use the Direct Object in the correct position. Then, consider if it is necessary to replace the Direct
object with an Object Pronoun.

Story one

Last week at 19h00, I 6._was going over an article__ (review / an article) about the space. While I 7._was looking (it – article)
over__ (examine / the article), I noticed that much of the vocabulary was unknown to me. That’s why I 8._looked (it – vocabulary)
up__ (search in a dictionary / the vocabulary). While I 9.__________________________ (make a written note of / information of
some planets) a good friend of mine called me and 10.__________________________ (mention / his girlfriend’s birthday party). I
had completely forgotten about it, so I 11.__________________________ (postpone / my homework) for the next day; and since I
didn’t have much time, I 12.__________________________ (start wearing / some clothes) and left, but I 13.
__________________________ (not store / my notes). The next day, I wanted to continue doing my homework, but I couldn’t find it,
so I 14. __________________________ (repeat / my homework). 1800668232 1 4

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Story two
Last year, my family and I 15.__________________________ (leave / our car) at the car repair because we wanted to go to the beach.
We 16. __________________________ (take / our car) the next day, 17.__________________________ (fill / the gas tank) and hit
the road. When it was getting dark I 18.__________________________ (start / the lights), but they didn’t do it, so I
19.__________________________ (stop / the lights) and I 20.__________________________ (repeat / the action), but nothing
happened, so I called the car repair but while I 21.__________________________ (discuss / the problem) with the mechanic a car
with no brakes just 22.__________________________ (crash / our car). Fortunately, nobody got hurt. I think that in that moment God
23.__________________________ (take care of / us). For some minutes, the other driver and I 24.__________________________
(investigate / the circumstances) and suddenly my wife 25.__________________________ (call attention to / the responsible). The
name of the car repair was in my invoice and in the other driver’s.

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 UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR
INSTITUTO ACADEMICO DE IDIOMAS

Name (s):___________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________

TOP NOTCH 2 – 3RD EDITION – UNIT 4 – VOCABULARY WORKSHOP

A. Read the next Driving Behavior Expressions and decide if they belong to good drivers (GD) or bad drivers (BD).
1. These people honk their horns. _____ 11. These people pass in a no-passing zone. _____
2. These people maintain a safe following distance. _____ 12. These people stare at other drivers. _____
3. These people gesture at other drivers. _____ 13. These people tailgate. _____
4. These people speed. _____ 14. These people let pedestrians cross the streets. _____
5. These people talk on the phone while driving. _____ 15. These people weave through traffic. _____
6. These people observe the speed limit. _____ 16. These people drive on their right. _____
7. These people pay attention to their surroundings. _____ 17. These people signal while turning. _____
8. These people flash their lights at other drivers. _____ 18. These people take care of their cars. _____
9. These people text while driving. _____ 19. These people cut you off while driving. _____
10. These people stop completely at a stop signal. _____ 20. These people expects the unexpected. _____

B. Read the conversations. Then use an expression for aggressive driving behavior on page 46 and the correct grammar
(Simple Past or Past Progressive) to complete each conversation. You can use each expression ONCE.

1. A: Are you Ok Danny?....You look angry.

B: Of course I am mad. I was driving when suddenly a moron ___________________at stoplights and I almost crash him.
2. A: While I was driving, a guy __________________ at me and __________________ me. He was very close to my bumper.
B: Really?....People are crazy these days.
3. A: Watch out!!!!.....What’s wrong with you?!!!!.... You almost go off the track!!!!
B: Didn’t you see that car?.... It ___________________at me and I got blind for a moment.
4. Last week, a funny thing happened. I was driving when the car in front of me suddenly stopped. I ____________ horns many
times and then I overtook her, but while I was overtaking her, she ____________________ at me with her finger.
5. A: The police officer fined her because she _______________________ on the phone.
B: I’m sure she learned her lesson.
6. A: Richard ______________________ traffic when he crashed that van.
B: He should pay more attention when he drives.
7. A: What happened to your left side view mirror? ... It’s broken.
B: A taxi driver __________________ while turning and I didn’t see it, so he hit me.

C. Read the conversation. Then match the underlined expressions with the statements on your right. (page 39)

A: Richard! …. Long time no see (A) my friend (____) I’ve been fine
B: Hey Paul! … It’s good to see you.
(____) Really? That’s unbelievable
A: Congratulations (B) on your new car Richard…it is really beautiful.
B: Thanks my friend! You can say that again (C). (____) That’s really funny
A: When did you buy it?
(____) It’s great to see you again
B:Actually, I picked it up from the car dealership 6 months ago
A: You’ve got to be kidding (D)! … It looks brand new, like you’ve just gotten (____) I’m so happy for you
it.
B: Well…I can’t complain (E)…it really is a good car. (____) I’m glad nothing terrible happened
A: Thank goodness for that (F)… Was it expensive? (____) I totally agree with you
B: Yeah! …. It totally was

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D. Read the description of each person. Then decide what type car is best for each one. (page 44)

1. I need a car that doesn’t give me problems when parking. ______________________________

2. I’d like a car for my family. We are seven. ______________________________
3. I like driving through the mountains. I need a strong car. ______________________________
4. I want a car in which I can show my new hair style all around. ______________________________
5. I’d rather rent a car that helps me carry a lot of shopping. ______________________________
6. I’d prefer to get a regular car. I don’t like to draw anybody’s attention. ______________________________
7. I wish to obtain a car that lets me be the center of the attention. ______________________________
8. I’m into racing. I like the adrenaline you feel when you hit 160 km/h. ______________________________

E. Look at the pictures. Then use the vocabulary from page 40 to complete the report. You can’t repeat the verb.

DAMAGE REPORT
1. Example: Both headlights are broken. / Both headlights have been destroyed.
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________

DAMAGE REPORT
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________

DAMAGE REPORT
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________

F. Read the next car part descriptions. Then use the vocabulary from page 40 to complete the word.

1. This part cleans your windshield when raining. W_________ W____

2. This part lets you change the gears of the car. C_____
3. This part makes the car go faster. G__ P____
4. This part has instruments that informs you about the car’s status. D________
5. This part moves the car. E_____