General and Special Questions

 

4.6.1. Analyse the questions.

 

General Questions	Special Questions
Do you know him? Did you go there? Will she come back late? Do you see the picture?	What do you know? Where did you go? When will she come back? What picture do you see?
Did he translate the book? Will they live in Minsk?	Who translated the book? Who will live in Minsk?
Is this your book? Are there ten letters in this word?	Whose book is this? How many letters are there in this word?

 

 

4.6.2. Answer to yourself each of the following questions.

(1) What is your name?

(2) How old are you?

(3) Have you any sisters or brothers?

(4) Are you a student at the Institute now?

(5) Were you a student last year?

(6) Do you know the Russian language?

(7) Did you learn any foreign language at school?

(8) What foreign language did you learn at school?

 

 

Continuous Tenses

 

4.7.1. Study the examples.

Tenses	Examples
Present Continuous	I am reading a book now. He is writing a letter to his friend now. She is going home now. It is raining now. We are studying Present Continuous now. You are working at the factory. They are having a rest now.
Past Continuous	I was reading a book when my friend came. He was writing a letter at 5 o’clock yesterday. She was going home at that time. It was raining the whole day yesterday. We were studying Past Continuous when P. came. You were working at the factory then. They were having a holiday in July.
Future Continuous	I shall be reading the book at 5 o’clock tomorrow. He will be writing a test at this time tomorrow. She will be going home at 6.30. It will be raining soon. We shall be studying Future Continuous at the next lesson. You will be working at the factory the whole month. They will be having a holiday in August.

 

4.7.2. Try to see the difference.

 

Indefinite Tenses

Continuous Tenses

(1) I go to the Institute in the morning. (2) It often rains in autumn. (3) We speak Russian at home. (4) She lives in town. (5) He had breakfast at 7 o’clock. (6) The teacher explained everything. (7) Last year we read few English texts. (8) We shall go to Moscow. (9) They will translate the text next week. (10) After classes they will go home.

(1) I am going to the Institute now. (2) Don’t go out. It is raining. (3) We are speaking English now. (4) She is living in the country now. (5) He was having breakfast when Smirnov rang him up. (6) The teacher was explaining Past Continuous at that time. (7) Now we are reading a lot of English texts. (8) We shall be going to Moscow at this time tomorrow. (9) They will be translating the text at the English lesson tomorrow. (10) They will be going home at this time.

 

 

4.7.3. Study some more examples to see how questions are formed in the Present, Past and Future Continuous.

 

Present Continuous:

       Am I reading this sentence correctly?

       Is he (she) going home now?

       Are you (we, they) studying Present Continuous now?

 

Past Continuous:

       Was he (I, she) reading that sentence correctly?

       Were you (we, they) studying Past Continuous at that time?

 

Future Continuous:

       Shall I (we) be going there at once?

       Will you (he, she, they) be studying Future Continuous at the next  

      lesson?

 

4.7.4. Now read some negative sentences and analyse their structure.

 

Present Continuous:

       I am not taking a Russian lesson now.

       He (she) is not (isn’t) studying German.

       We (you, they) are not (aren’t) going home now.

 

Past Continuous:

       I (he, she) was not (wasn’t) doing my (his, her) home work then.

       We (you, they) were not (weren’t) living there in May.

 

Future Continuous:

       I (we) shall not (shan’t) be going there at once.

       He (she, you, they) will not (won’t) be watching TV at that time.

 

 

4.7.5. Answer to yourself each of the questions.

 

(1) What are you doing now?

(2) Are you answering the questions?

(3) Were you staying at home yesterday evening?

(4) What were you doing then?

(5) Were you watching TV at that time?

(6) What was your mother doing when you came home?

(7) Will you be having your supper at 8 o’clock?

(8) What will you be doing at 8 o’clock?

 

4.8. What did they do? What were they doing?

 

       Yesterday Peter and Nick worked until 4 o’clock. They left the office a quarter of an hour later and walked to the canteen. They got there at 4.30. they finished dinner at 5.15. then they went to see the Petrovs and listened to some of their new records. At 8 o’clock they said good night to the Petrovs and took the tram home. Peter got back to his apartment at 9 and listened to the news on the radio for a quarter of an hour. Nick went to the cinema and didn’t get home till 12 o’clock.

(1) What were Peter and Nick doing at 3.30?

(2) Until what time did they work?

(3) Were they working at 4 o’clock?

(4) What did they do at a quarter past four?

(5) What were they doing at 4.20?

(6) What were they doing at 5?

(7) When did they finish dinner?

(8) Where did they go after leaving the canteen?

(9) What did they do then?

(10)What were they doing at the Petrov’s house?

(11)At what time did they say good night to the Petrovs?

(12)What were they doing at 8.15?

(13)At what time did Peter get home?

(14)What did Peter do when he got home?

(15)What was Peter doing at 9.10?

(16)And what about Nick, where did he go?

(17)Where was Nick at 10 o’clock?

(18)When did Nick come home?

 

4.9. Read the sentences below and translate them into Russian. Check your work by referring to the Key.

       (1) She goes to the Institute every day. (2) Pete usually writes letters to his parents on Sundays. (3) Yesterday I came home late at night. (4) Ann will go to Moscow during the holidays. (5) I shall invite him to our evening party. (6) They discussed the question during the interval. (7) They were discussing the question during the interval. (8) It happened long ago. (9) We have our English classes twice a week. (10) There were a lot of people at the theatre. (11) I’ll give you half an hour to finish this work. (12) Don’t go out. It is raining. (13) He will be working in the library at this time tomorrow. (14) Does your friend live in the hostel or with his parents at home? (15) How long does your working day last? (16) Who(m) were you traveling with in the Caucasus? (17) Who took part in the discussion of the question? (18) We shall not take part in this work.

The Key

(1) Она ходит в институт каждый день. (2) Петр обычно пишет письма

своим родителям по воскресеньям. (3) Вчера я пришел домой поздно вечером. (4) Во время каникул Анна поедет в Москву. (5) Я приглашу его на наш вечер. (6) Они обсудили этот вопрос во время перерыва. (7) Они обсуждали этот вопрос во время перерыва. (8) Это случилось очень давно. (9) Мы занимаемся английским языком два раза в неделю. (10) В театре было много народу. (11) Я дам вам полчаса, чтобы закончить эту работу. (12) Не выходи. Идет дождь. (13) Он будет заниматься в библиотеке завтра в это время. (14) Твой друг живет в общежитии или дома у родителей? (15) Сколько длится твой рабочий день? (16) С кем вы путешествовали по Кавказу? (17) Кто принял участие в обсуждении этого вопроса? (18) Мы не будем участвовать в этой работе.

 

           

4.10. Read the following story out loud. Drop the voice at the end of each sentence and make a short pause before beginning the next one.

A Week-Day of Mr.Brown’s

 

       Yesterday Mr.Brown woke at seven o’clock in the morning. He got up quickly and opened the window. He did his exercises. Then he went to the bathroom. He washed his hands and face. He brushed his teeth too. He did not take a cold shower. At half past seven he sat down to breakfast.

       After breakfast his day’s work began. He walked round to his office. It is not a long way off. It takes him little time to get there. He is never late.

       Mr.Brown was busy at his office till one o’clock in the afternoon. Then he went to the canteen to have dinner. At two o’clock he was again at his office. His working day was over at five.

 

      

4.11. Answer to yourself each of the following questions about the story.

       (1) When did Mr.Brown wake yesterday? (2) What did he do then? (3) Why did he open the window? (4) Where did he wash his hands and face? (5) Did he brush his teeth and take a cold shower? (6) When did he sit down to breakfast? (7) When did his day’s work begin? (8) How does he get to his office? (9) When did he go to the canteen to have dinner? (10) When was he again at his office? (11) When was his working day over?

 

U N I T V

 

Topics for discussion