Past si mpl e and conti nuous

Read this text about the Enron Corporation.

do yo-u-know b"ut th" Enron corpoiaiionz
:
heFbened to this:company?
_#:'j
at the verbs in italics. Dd the concerns
-rffir-"
begi n before they reported thei r earni ngs i n Jul y?
@
Formi ng the past
si mpl e
i +i
--,
I /Yo u / H e/ S h e/ I UW e/T h ey
: - :
i
worked there.
didn't / did notworkthere.
In mid
JaIy
20-07,.*:
tt:i"
corporatio
n reported
ernings
of
$50.1 billion.
Ho*.u.in.or.,
fi;;;.;""i;;#il#
weregrowing.
:rns
about

Forming the past
contnuous
' :
t i tlue/sne/tt i wasn't / was not
i
yesterday.
i - i ,+--*--_-**"**i i - : - - - - - - - - - - - =
: :YouMe/They
iweren't/werenot
j
r--:---------------
-- ''-
;'--
I-
"-- -----* --""--{
i iwas 1t/hehhe/it I i
i
? Where were
' you/we/they
,working
yesterday?
1''l!y:::''-*-:-1,:-, iv"y:Y:::l--aworruns
vesteraav! j
,--iY:::
--
..v:"ty!:!"yj i
-
Where did
t/vou/he/she/it/
work?
a
'
',,Did
iwe/they ',;;;;ithrr;l-*---l
-
..----
i ---*
^-- "' "-' ^-' ^-"' --' :
(6),
Many common verbs are i rregul ar.The most
frequent past si mpl e verbs i n spoken busi ness
Engl i sh ar e:
came, could, did, got, had, made, put, sad,thought,
was/were, went.
F See Appendi x 5
(l rregul ar
verbs).
@
Using the past
simple
81 You can use the past si mpl e to tal k about states or
compl eted acti ons at a speci fi c ti me n the past. Thi s ti me
i s usual l y stated or i s obvi ous from the context.
founded Microsoft
I
Past 1975 Now
Bill Gotes founded Mcrosoft n 1975.
I didn't need the report for the Board meeting.
82 You use the past si mpl e to tal k about repeated or habi tual
acti ons i n the past. Thi s has a si mi l ar meani ng to used to.
stayed at Hilton stayed at Hilton stayed at Hilton
past
Now
Whenever lwent to London on business, lstayed at the Hilton.
83 You use two or more past si mpl e verbs i n the same
sentence to talk about past events that follow one after
another.
1 stood up 2 grabbed hi s bag 3 l eft the meeti ng
I I I
,
Past
Now
He stood up angrily, grabbed his bag and left the meeting.
What did you do when the market crqshed?
T
I t
A
Do not use state verbs in the continuous form.
@
Using the past contnuous
Dl You use the past conti nuous to tal k about a l onger acti on
i n progress at a speci fi c ti me i n the past.
wai ti ng for bus
-
Past 8am Now
D2
At 8 o'clock this morning, I was waiting for the bus to work.
You use the past conti nuous to tal k about a temporary
acti on or si tuati on i n progress i n the past.
lwas working overtme a lot before the end-of-year audit.
You use the past continuous to talk about a background
event or longer action that is interrupted by a shorter
event or action in the past simple. You often use when,
whle or as.
not si tti ng at her desk
phone rang
T
Now
S h e wasn't sitfing
lbac
kg rou nd eve nt] at h er d es k w h e n th e
phone rang.
While the speaker wos presenting his report, l noticed several
mistakes on his slides.
D3
re
<4, B
<c, D
S
A company director is talking about setting up his leather goods business. Complete these sentences
usi ng the verbs i n the box i n the past si mpl e.
,_bu
o:_gf
_;!L,!r"
""tn"J-
s
haveto lntrou."
"np.rrRlun
?pry ,.uy n*un.
1 We....Q.P94*....the fi rst branch of our busi ness i n 1 999.
2 we. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t o expand t oo qui ckl y and we. . . . . . . . . . at t hat br anch f or t wo year s.
3 We. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t o r emai n smal l and excl usi ve, but when we. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a new l i ne i n l eat her
accessor i es, sal es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ver y r api dl y.
4 So, what . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . we do7 We . . open anot her f act or y.
5 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a good f act or y f or eman f or mont hs.
6 Then Ni ck cl ee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t o our adver t i sement and he. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . per f ect f or t he
j ob.
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( you) one of our br i ef cases when you f i r st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wor ki ng?
p
Complete this conversation between Rebecca and her manager Martin using the verbs in brackets in the
(You
/ not
past conti nuous.
MARTIN: Rebecca, | 1 .....h14.t..tr.U{49....(try) to cal l you for ages thi s morni ng. Why 2
answer) your phone?
'
REBECCA: l ' m sorry, Marti n, but | 3 ............ (have)
a breakfast meeti ng wi th some cl i ents and di dn' t want
to i nterrupt them.
MARTIN: Oh, yes. Of course. I forgot. But why were you l ate for our ten otl ock pl anni ng meeti ng?
REBECCA: Agai n, l ' m sorry, but as | 4.............. (dri ve)
from the breakfast meeti ng to the offi ce, I got stuck i n
trafc. I di d try to cal l i n several ti mes but the offi ce number was al ways engaged and nobody
5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( a
nswer ) at r ecept i on.
MARTIN: Hmm. And where were you yesterday afternoon? | 6............. ... .......(l ook) for you everywhere.
REBECCA: Laur a and l 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t pr epar e) our pr esent at i on
f or t hi s eveni ng.
peopl e
9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( use)
all the meeting rooms in the office, so we decided to go to the venue and work there. We
9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( pr act i se) f or ages. I meant t o cal l you, but | 10. . . . . . . . . . ( not f eel )
ver y wel l by
the end and I completely forgot.
< A-D
$
Write sentences using one verb in the past simple and one verb in the past
continuous.
t He / write / his report / when / he / spll /coffee on his computer.
fi-. lqr.. [r*.ig.. h.e.. !:gpct..L',bst..bp..ap.&. 9
2 The audi tors / arri ve / when / he /have / hi s l unch.
3 Share pri ces
/ i ncrease / dai l y unti l / the market / crash.
4 My taxi / arrive / as / | / leave /the office.
, ; ; ; ; ", "; ; ; ; ; "; ; "; , ; , ", ; ; ; ; "; ; , ; ; ; , ; "; , ": ; , "; . ;
6 TheBoar d/ announce/ t henameof t henewCEO/ whi l e/ t hest af f / cel ebr at e/ t heopeni ngof t henew
office.
7 He /thi nk/ of reti ri ng /when /they / offer/ hi m a promoti on.
il
.,.Y'
'"'ii l
.;..j
<A- D
< A-D
@
trtei t Baker won a tel evi si on contest to work for the successful Bri ti sh entrepreneur,
Peter Sal t. Compl ete thi s i ntervi ew wi th Nei l usi ng the verbs i n brackets i n the correct form.
INTERVIEWER: So, Nei l , when you 1 ....W.gI?..?.1+UW9....(study)
at un ver si t y, 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( you/ ever / t hi nk)
you
woul d work for the famous
peter
Sal t?
NEI L: To be honest , | 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( enj oy)
my t me as
a student too much to thi nk about my future!
I NTERVI EWER: What 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( you/ do) when you
5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( appl y)
t o t ake par t i n t he show?
NEI L: For my f i r st j ob
I 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( r zor k)
as an
i nvest ment banker , but | 7. . . . . . . . . . . ( wqnt ) mor e
var i et y i n my wor k, so | 8. . . . . . . . . .
. ( l eave) ayear
or so before the programme
to set up my own busi ness
provi di ng
l T support to smal l busi nesses. Unfortunatel v i t
9. (n
ot/be) very successful.
TNTERVTEWER:You now work for
peter
Sal t.Tel l us about your j ob.
NEIL: I work i n the property
secti on of hi s busi ness and i t,s
very i nteresti ng and chal l engi ng. In my fi rst year,
| 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( l ear n)
a l ot f r om wat chi ng
pet er
at wor k. When Pet er and | 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( wor k)
together on our l atest proj ect,
a pl an to bui l d a heal th spa
i n t he USA, we 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . .(negotiate) areally
good pri ce for a great si te.
I
Compl ete these sentences so that they are true for you.
1 Last year' my company . .ry*t.. (be)
. (more/l ess)
profi tabl e
than the year
before.
2 Whenl wasachi l d, l . . . . . . . . ( want ) t obe. . . . . . . . . .
.
31. . . . . . . . . . . . . ( sr or r ) myf i r st j obl n.
(like/hate/enjoy)
it.
4 Af t er school , l . . . . . . . . . . . . ( l i ve) i n.
5 Whi l e 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( st udy) ,
t . . . . . . . . . . .
l yead. I r eal l y . .
(wri te)..
. ...
l number] emai l s before l unch.
......(try) to deci de where to work, my fri ends (hel p
me a l ot /
(meet)
6
7
Yest er day, l . . . . .
When I
not help me much).
When I was a teenager, L
.
(decide
to/thot)
, ,
,..
:i ' :.:ti :' *i 3:1i 1*
Write five sentences about your
first
job
or your time at university.
where was i t? what di d you
do? what di d you l i ke or di sl i ke about i t? why? who di d you
meet?
Write three sentences about when your company started.
Who started i t and why? What was happeni ng i n the markets at that ti me? What happened i n i ts fi rst few years?
W
Past simple and continuous
;
Busi ness
".
t al k: Usi ng
You can use the past si mpl e or conti nuous wi th a present meani ng when you
want to be l ess di rect or more pol i te. Thi s i s common i n shops and restaurants.
Did you hove a loyalty cardT
(Do you have . , . ?)
What was the name, pl ease? (What
i s your name?)
It i s useful when you want to make requests or ask favours.
I wanted to ask your advice about investments.
lwas thinking, maybe we could discuss the offer further.
Verbs that are often used i n thi s way i ncl ude hope, thi nk and wonder (i f).
They are often followed by modal verbs would, could and might.
We thought you might like to vst the new plant this afternaon.(Would you like ...?)
I was wondering if lcould talkto you about the minutes of the next meeting. (can
I talk ...?)
@
nnake ttrese requests less direct using the verbs in brackets n a past tense. Make any other necessary changes.
I Let' s arrange an earl i er date for the AGM.
(want)
1..
w
q{&4..fu
.. w.r
qr|e..0..r.. gq{.V*t..dtt*
lo.r..
tb.e. AGM,... .. .
2 Tel l me about pl aces to stay i n Ki ev.
(wonder)
3 Fi ni sh the report by l unchti me. (hope)
4 | need to tal k to you about the standard of your work i n your fi rst three months .
(want)
5 Can you tal k me through the fi gures i n the report? (thi nk)
I
nnate thi s tel ephone conversati on between a PA and an ai rl i ne booki ng agent more pol i te by changi ng
the verbs i n i tal i cs i nto a sui tabl e past form.
pA:
| 1 w7nt... w.alk& to book a return flight from London to
paris
for two people.
AGENT: When woul d you l i ke to travel ?
PR: We 2 are hopi ng ..... ........... to go on Tuesday 21st, but we
3 are wonderi ng .. .. .. .. .. . . . . .. .. i f we 4 can . book di fferent days comi ng back -
the 23rd for one and the 28th for the other.
AGENr: No probl em. What ti me 5 do you want ......
pA:
we need to be there for a ten otlock meetng on Tuesday and we 6 ore thinking
7 may . . . . . . . . . . . l eave t he r et ur ns open. l s t hat possi bl e?
AGENT: Of course. There' s a fl i ght out whi ch woul d get you there for 9 am.
PA: We 8 wqnt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t o go busi ness cl ass. How much woul d t hat be?
AGENr : f 332per per soneachway. How9doyouwant . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. t opay?
to travel?
PA: By credi t card. Al so, | 10 wonder ... i f you I 1 can ...........
mi l es onto my frequent fl yer card?
AGENr : Cer t ai nl y. l ' l l book t he f l i ght s f or you now. What 12 or e . . . . . . . . . . . .
t r avel l i ng?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . add t hese ai r
the names of the peopl e
ffi
t.t Li sten and check your
answers.
Thi nk of fi ve occasi ons when you wi l l tal k to your boss or a customer i n the next week. Wri te fi ve pol i te
requests you coul d use i n these si tuati ons and then try to use them.