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 PRACTICE ON POINTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

• Past Summary
• Past Diagnostic
• Past Complete
• Past Progressive
• Past Habits
• Reporting Source
• Past Series
• Past Perfect
• Past Perfect Edit
• Past / Participles1
• Past / Participles2

Past Series

Reporting a past series of events

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Series of Events – Jack's Day Dream  

Jack dozed off. (fell asleep)	Babes waved.	One winked.	He raced.	He heard a siren.	An officer followed.	He woke up.

babes – very informal word for young women

 

 

 

Past vs. Past Perfect

PAST – SERIEIS OF EVENTS	PAST PERFECT – CONTRAST OF PAST EVENTS
The past tense is used to report a series of events. We use it to tell what happened without focusing so much on the time.	The past perfect tense is used to contrast the timing of two events in the past:  earlier past from later past. It is used to clarify which activity occured before the other.
Jack dozed off.  (fell asleep)
Two "babes" (young women) in a Corvette waved at Jack.
They pulled up next to his car and one winked, which he understood as an offer to a race.	Jack had noticed the women in their Corvette, before they pulled along side of his car and challenged him to race.
He raced them down the highway.
He heard a police siren.
A highway patrol officer chased after him.	Jack had passed them at 120 mph, when he noticed the highway patrol behind him.
He woke up from his nap (daydream).	Jack awoke to find he had been dreaming.

 

 

 

 

Practice

Jack's Day Dream

 

 

1. Select the verb that best completes the sentence.
2.   An asterisk (*) indicates an incorrect choice.

#	ANSWER	YOUR RESPONSE
1.	I an average guy,	am     was
2.	so you can imagine my delight when two gorgeous babes at me.	smiled had smiled
3.	Was I going to ignore them? Not me, especially since my new, red Porsche (be) the the "hottest set of wheels" on the road.	was had been
4.	The brunette (wink) at me.	winked had winked
5.	and I (blow) a kiss back	blew had blown
6.	and (step) on the gas pedal.	stepped had stepped
7.	My Porsche (take off) in an awesome display of power.	took off had taken off
8.	I (fly) across a desert road at the speed of light, like a meteor in the sky.	flew had flown
9.	Suddenly, the sound of a siren (catch) my attention.	caught had caught
10.	I (look) behind me and saw a highway patrol car instead of the Corvette.	looked has looked
11.	I (try) to get away,	tried had tried
12.	but the highway patrol (keep) close behind.	kept had kept
13.	I (be)  in big trouble.	was had been
14.	What (will) he do with me - jail?	would would have
15.	"Nooo!" I (scream) .	screamed had screamed
16.	as I nearly (fall) out of my desk chair ."	fell had fallen
17.	Whew!  I woke up and realized I (dream) everything. (whew = a sound of relief, astonishment, dismay)	dreamed had dreamed had been dreaming
18.	Which tense was used to tell the sequence of events in the narration above?	past past perfect
19.	Why was the past perfect used in the last sentence, #17?	to report the last event in the series. to contrast the difference in time of the events to emphasize how the earlier event affected the later event.