Question

6.Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous tense form.

1. Sally (eat) dinner yesterday at 5 p. m. when somebody (knock) at the door

2.I began to study at 4 p. m. yesterday.Fred (come) at four thirty. I (study) when Fred (come)

3. When I (come) in they (sit) around the table Mr. Scott (do) a crossword puzzle, Mr. Scott (read) a newspaper

4. When the baby (wake up) his mother (sit) in the arm-chair.

5. Yesterday afternoon I (go) to visit the Johnson (be) in the yard. She (plant) flowers in their garden. MrJohnson (fix) their car. The children (play) with a ball in the yard.

Answer 1

The student's question involves converting verbs into the correct Past Simple or Past Continuous tense forms. the verbs in each sentences are: 1) was eating and knocked. 2) came, was studying and came. 3) came, were sitting, was doing, and was reading. 4) woke up and was sitting. 5) went, was being, was planting, was fixing and were playing.

Step-by-step explanation:

To properly form sentences in the past tense, one must understand the difference between the Past Simple and the Past Continuous tenses. The Past Simple is used for actions completed in the past, whereas the Past Continuous is used for actions that were ongoing at a specific time in the past. Here are the correct forms for the provided sentences:

1. Sally was eating dinner yesterday at 5 p.m. when somebody knocked at the door.
2. I began to study at 4 p.m. yesterday. Fred came at four thirty. I was studying when Fred came.
3. When I came in, they were sitting around the table. Mr. Scott was doing a crossword puzzle, Mrs. Scott was reading a newspaper.
4. When the baby woke up, his mother was sitting in the arm-chair.
5. Yesterday afternoon I went to visit the Johnsons. Mrs. Johnson was being in the yard. She was planting flowers in their garden. Mr. Johnson was fixing their car. The children were playing with a ball in the yard.

It is essential to maintain tense consistency to clearly indicate the timing of actions. Understanding the specific use cases of these tenses can help ensure proper communication in written English.