Past simple vs past continuous

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Past simple vs past continuous..jpg

Fill in the gaps with the past simple or past continuous form of the verbs in brackets

  1. I ______________ (walk) home when I ______________ (meet) Maria.

  2. John __________________ (wait) for me when I ________________ (arrive).

  3. I haven’t seen Andrew for ages. When I last _________________ (see) him, he ___________________ (try) to find a job in Dublin.

  4. He _________________ (read) the newspaper when the phone _______________ (ring).

  5. I _________________ (make) a sandwich when Mike _______________ (arrive).

  6. We ________________ (not go) out because it ________________ (rain).

  7. When I was young, I _____________ (want) to be a doctor.

  8. He usually wears sandals but when I last ______________ (see) him he _________________ (wear) boots.

  9. My brother ______________ (see) you in the park two days ago. You__________________ (play) football with Stuart.

  10. While I _________________ (work) in the garden, I _________________ (hurt) my back.

 

Correct answers:

1) was walking; met.
2) was waiting; arrived.
3) saw; was trying.
4) was reading; rang.
5) was making; arrived.
6) didn’t go; was raining.
7) wanted.
8) saw; was wearing.
9) saw; were playing.
10) was working; hurt.

Downloadable PDF – past simple or past continuous – quiz with answers

 

 

“Smart” – What does it mean?

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smart meaning - English Vocabulary.jpg

Visual thesaurus of this term (source):

smart - visual thesaurus

More example sentences from the web:

  • John is smart enough to get A’s in this class.

  • You’ re very smart but you don’t get certain things.

  • We know you can be useful to us, a smart kid like you.

*Notice that SMART means STYLISH, FASHIONABLE.

Ex. Now we will dress smart and we will eat together on the terrace of the hotel.

 

“Love is blind” – English proverb

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St. Valentine’s Day is approaching, for this reason, I decided to tell you about this proverb:

love is blind

 

I think this saying is common all around the world, but what is less known is that a research study was conducted to find out if the blindness of love was just a figurative matter. In 2004, a group of researchers of  UCL (University College London) found that feelings of love suppressed the activity of the areas of the brain that control critical thought. So guys … be careful with love be careful with love !

What’s the origin of this proverb?

This saying was first found approximatively in 1405, in Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale:

For loue is blynd alday and may nat see.

At that time, it didn’t become a popular expression. Only later on, Shakespeare decided to use it in several of his plays making it famous and popular all around the world.

Two Gentlemen of Verona:

SPEED: Because Love is blind. O, that you had mine eyes;
or your own eyes had the lights they were wont to
have when you chid at Sir Proteus for going ungartered!
(2.1.67-69).