Time expressions

Assignment 6. Choose the correct form of the verb, paying attention to time expressions.

1. I saw/have seen him a few days ago – he looked/has looked so happy! 2. Mary worked/has worked here since last autumn. 3. Before the yesterday’s meeting Peter looked/has looked for his papers everywhere but couldn’t find them. Has anybody seen/did anybody see them? 4. When we spoke/have spoken to her last time she proposed/has proposed a very unusual solution to our problem. Have you examined/ did you examine it yet? 5. Today was/has been a really busy day – and it’s only lunchtime! 6. When did they disclose/have they disclosed this information? It was/ has been a top secret for years! 7. I called/have called on you last Friday but you weren’t/ haven’t been at home. Where did you go/ have you gone? 8. In his previous report our sales manager drew/has drawn our attention to our competitors’ strange behaviour. Now the things cleared/have cleared up – they decided/have decided to leave this market. 9. She sent/has sent them our offer two weeks ago and didn’t get/ hasn’t got any reply yet. 10. We’re enjoying our stay here. So far we made/have made a lot of useful contacts.

Assignment 7. Use the words in brackets in either the past simple or past continuous.

1. Jack (explain) a new technique when Peter (interrupt) him. 2. To reach the result quicker we (decide) to divide our task: I (collect) information while Gill (analyze) it. 3. Everybody (wait) in the lecture room when the professor (enter) and (apologize) for being late. 4. While she (introduce) a new employee she (draw) our attention to his excellent qualification. 5. We (discuss) the structure of the company when he (offer) a radical reorganization. 6. While he (look for) a new job he (apply) to several job agencies. 7. She (arrange) the seats for the meeting of the shareholders while her colleague (check) the list of the participants.

For and since are used to talk about something continuing up to a particular moment of time. We use for to talk about the period of time and since to say when it started.

e.g. I had been working in personnel department for 3 years since January

1998 and then moved to sales department.

Ago means ‘before present’ and is used with past simple.

Before(that) / previously refers to a time before another time.

e.g. I started my career 5 years ago. Before that/ Previously I studied

management at the University.

After is usually followed by an object.

e.g. He asked me to stay after the meeting to exchange our opinions.

During is a preposition and is used before a noun phrase.

While is a linking word and is used before a clause.

e.g. I got interested in this problem during my stay at the University.

I got interested in this problem while I was staying at the University.

By means ‘on or before’ a certain period of time and accompanies Perfect tenses.

Until means ‘up to’ a certain period of time and is usually used with Simple or Continuous tenses.

e.g. I had finished my report by ten yesterday.

I was writing my report until ten yesterday.

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