Martin, 
 
Here is my two cents worth.  
 
Mikal Steinbacher
Instructor, ABE/ESL/English
Lake Washington Technical College

________________________________

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Martin Senger
Sent: Wed 2/25/2009 11:41 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3945] Re: past progressive



Pax et bonum! (peace & goodness)

 

I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner to this thread, but I was camping in the great (and snowy) Allegany Mts. Of western NY.

 

I have found five (5) distinct reasons for using the past progressive, and I would like the list to "tear them apart" as it were:

 

1)      PAST ACT HAPPENING AT SPECIFIC TIME: I was reading a book at 8:00 last night. (I started reading sometime before 8:00 and finished sometime after 8:00).

 

2)      1ST PAST ACT ALREADY HAPPENING WHEN 2ND PAST ACT BEGINS: I was reading when the lights went out.  I teach this one as when  another act HAPPENED.

3)      2 SIMULTANEOUS PAST ACTS: I was reading  while my wife was watching TV.

 

4)      INTERRUPTED PAST ACT: Last weekend I was cleaning the garage. (I didn't finish because I ran out of time) Here I add some of the clause you have in ( ) when I teach this one, or this would confuse sstudents. (and then it is a lot like # 1.)  If you don't add the simple past phrase, then most native English speakers would say "Last weekend, I cleaned the garage."

 

5)      PAST HABITUAL COMPLAINT: He was always coming late to class. And this one needs more information to make sense (at least to me!)  This might be used to explain why he got a bad grade, but then, I'd probably suggest the simple past. He failed the class because he always came late to class.

 

Any suggestions, critiques and criticisms would be greatly welcomed. At least about my grammar.

 

Ciao!

 

Martin E. Senger

Adult ESL / Civics Teacher,

G.E.C.A.C. / The R. Benjamin Wiley Learning Center

Erie, Pa.

Co-Director,

ESL Special Interest Group

Pa. Assoc. for Adult Continuing Education (PAACE)

 

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bonnie Odiorne
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 10:06 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3901] Re: past progressive

 

I go with present participle, acting as adjective.

Bonnie Odiorne, Writing Center Post University


 

 

________________________________

From: "Wrigley, Heide" <heide at literacywork.com>
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 8:13:38 PM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3898] Re: past progressive

Hi Stephen

 

You could consider your example an elliptical phrase where something like  "engaged in the process of"  is left out, leaving you just with "daydreaming and ignoring" ;  so  it could be a gerund. 

 

So the full sentence could be "Nelly and Francois chatted as I gazed lazily out the window, engaged in the process of daydreaming and ignoring their conversation."

 

Best 

 

Heide Spruck Wrigley

Mesilla, NM 

 

 

 

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of stephen churchville
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 6:10 AM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3896] Re: past progressive

 

A week or so there was thread on the past progressive tense, but I didn't see any discussion of this usage and am very curious:
"Nelly and Francois chatted as I gazed lazily out the window, daydreaming and ignoring their conversation."
(If there was a good explanation in the thread or Azar, I apologize for missing it and repeating what was asked).
 
What is the role of "daydreaming and ignoring" in this example? Can it be past progressive without starting a new clause, with a subject and auxilliary "be"? Certainly not gerunds. 
 
thanks


Stephen J Churchville
www.LessonWriter.com <http://www.lessonwriter.com/> 

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