Notes
IIT Madras
English II 📖
Activity Questions 2.2

Activity Questions 2.2

  1. ‘I was taking a walk when the phone call arrived.’ This sentence is in the:

First person present indefinite

First person present continuous

First person past continuous

First person past perfect continuous

Solution

Based on the information in the sources and our conversation history, let’s break down the sentence “I was taking a walk when the phone call arrived.” to identify its tense and aspect.

  1. Person: The subject of the first part of the sentence is “I”. This is the first person pronoun.

  2. Verb Structure: The main verb phrase in the first part of the sentence is “was taking”.

    • It is formed using “was”, which is the past tense form of the verb ‘be’ for the subject “I”.
    • It is followed by “taking”, which is the -ing form (present participle) of the verb ’take’.

  3. Tense and Aspect: The combination of was/were + -ing is explicitly defined in the sources as the structure for the past continuous tense. Source states: “was/were + -ing is the past continuous”.

  4. Usage: The sources illustrate the use of the past continuous to describe an action that was ongoing at a specific time in the past. Sentences structured with the past continuous and a ‘when’ clause followed by the past simple are used to show an action that was in progress (past continuous) when another action happened (past simple). For instance, the sources use “What was Jack doing when his phone rang?” and explain “He was reading a book. (past continuous)” vs. “His phone rang, (past simple)”. Your sentence follows this pattern: “I was taking a walk” (ongoing action in past) “when the phone call arrived” (action that happened at that time).

Considering the subject “I” (first person) and the verb structure “was taking” (past continuous), the tense of the sentence “I was taking a walk…” is the First person past continuous.

Looking at the options provided:

  • First person present indefinite
  • First person present continuous
  • First person past continuous
  • First person past perfect continuous

The correct option is First person past continuous.

  1. The verbs ‘read’, ‘bet’, ‘hurt’, and ‘shut’ all take irregular past forms.

True

False

Solution

Based on the information in the sources, the statement “The verbs ‘read’, ‘bet’, ‘hurt’, and ‘shut’ all take irregular past forms” is False.

The sources provide lists and descriptions of irregular verbs.

  • The verb ‘read’ is listed as an irregular verb, with the past simple and past participle forms being ‘read’ (pronounced differently, ‘red’). Irregular verbs do not end in -ed in their past simple form.
  • The verb ‘hurt’ is listed in the group of irregular verbs where the past simple and past participle are the same as the infinitive: hurt —> hurt hurt. This fits the description of irregular verbs as their past form does not end in -ed.
  • The verb ‘shut’ is also listed in the group of irregular verbs where the past simple and past participle are the same as the infinitive: shut —> shut shut. Like ‘hurt’, its past form does not end in -ed.

However, the verb ‘bet’ is not mentioned or listed anywhere in the provided sources as either a regular or an irregular verb.

Since the sources confirm that ‘read’, ‘hurt’, and ‘shut’ are irregular, but provide no information about the verb ‘bet’, the statement that all four verbs take irregular past forms cannot be supported by the provided material.

  1. ‘In another week, I will have been at home continuously for six months.’ This sentence is in the:

Future Indefinite

Future Continuous

Future Perfect

Future Perfect Continuous

Solution

Based on the sources and our conversation history, the sentence “In another week, I will have been at home continuously for six months” is in the Future Perfect Continuous tense.

Here’s the breakdown based on the sources:

  • The verb phrase is “will have been at home continuously”.
  • The presence of “will” marks the sentence as being in the future tense.
  • The structure “have been” combined with the concept of ongoing duration (“continuously for six months”) points to a perfect continuous aspect.
  • The sources specifically define the perfect continuous aspect as describing “completion in continuity” or “perfection and continuity”.
  • The combination of the future marker “will” with the “have been + -ing” structure (where “-ing” is implied by “continuously” describing the state/action) corresponds directly to the Future Perfect Continuous tense as described in the sources. Examples provided for this tense/aspect include “will have been playing nicely” and “shall have been typing a mail”.
  • The phrase “for six months” indicates a duration leading up to a specific point in the future (“In another week”), which is a characteristic use of the perfect continuous aspect.

Therefore, the sentence structure and meaning align with the definition and examples of the Future Perfect Continuous tense provided in the sources.

  1. The verbs ‘take’, ‘sleep’, ‘bring’,and ‘work’ all take irregular past forms.

True

False

Solution

Based on the information in the sources, the statement “The verbs ‘take’, ‘sleep’, ‘bring’, and ‘work’ all take irregular past forms” is False.

Here’s why, drawing on the provided sources:

  • The sources list ’take’, ‘sleep’, and ‘bring’ as irregular verbs and show their past simple and past participle forms do not follow the regular ‘-ed’ pattern (take -> took/taken, sleep -> slept/slept, bring -> brought/brought).
  • The sources discuss regular verbs as those where the past simple and past participle are formed by adding ‘-ed’. Examples of regular verbs given include ‘clean’, ’live’, ‘paint’, and ‘study’. They contrast this with irregular patterns where ‘-ed’ does not work.
  • The verb ‘work’ is not listed among the irregular verbs in the sources. Instead, an exercise in the sources asks for the past simple/past participle of ‘work’, and the answer key confirms it is ‘worked’ for both past simple and past participle. This form (‘worked’) follows the regular ‘-ed’ pattern.

Therefore, while ’take’, ‘sleep’, and ‘bring’ are presented as irregular verbs in the sources, ‘work’ is presented as a regular verb.

  1. I am going to the shops in a little while.’ The tense marker here is:

I

Am

Going (-ing)

A little while

Solution

Drawing on the sources provided, the tense marker in the sentence ‘I am going to the shops in a little while.’ is Am.

Here’s the breakdown based on the information in the sources:

  • Sources state that auxiliaries are markers of tense.
  • Specifically, forms of the verb ‘be’, such as ‘am’, ‘is’, ‘are’, ‘was’, and ‘were’, are described as auxiliary verbs and tense markers.
  • In the sentence ‘I am going…’, ‘am’ is the auxiliary verb, a form of ‘be’, and it marks the present tense.
  • The ’-ing’ part of ‘going’ is identified as the continuous marker, distinct from the tense marker. Tense is on the auxiliary (‘am’), and the aspect (continuous) is on the main verb (‘going’) through the ‘-ing’ suffix.
  • ‘I’ is the subject pronoun, not a tense marker.
  • ‘A little while’ is a phrase indicating the time of the action, relating to the future in this context, but it is not the part of the verb structure that marks the tense itself.

Therefore, the auxiliary verb ‘am’ is the component that signals the tense in this sentence.

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