business grammar/ narrative tenses
Tell your partner about one year in your life, one sentence at a time. After each sentence they can make one guess about what year it was, e.g. “I think I could be 1987” or “It sounds like 1977 to me”. Continue with one hint per guess until they get exactly the right year. Then take turns doing the same.
Continue the game, this time making sure you use sentences only in the Past Continuous and Past Perfect like those under the fold below.
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Suggested Past Continuous and Past Perfect sentences
- I was thinking about quitting my job
- I had quit my previous job
- I had got a promotion
- I was expecting a promotion
- I was working about 80 hours a week
- I was expecting a big pay rise
- I was worrying about my future
- I was just learning the basics of the job
- I was working for an incompetent boss
- I was feeling dissatisfied with my company
- I was studying at night school
- We had improved the results of my department/ branch/ section by 50%
- I had already been to more than 10 countries on business trips
- The police/ the tax authorities/ the financial authorities were investigating my company
- I was paying more than 50% of my income in tax
- My savings were dropping rapidly
- My previous company had gone bankrupt.
- I had been forced to move to another branch/ department/ company.
When your teacher stops you, ask about any sentences above which you are not sure how to use.
What are the similarities and differences between the sentences on the same line below?
I had already been to more than 10 countries on business trips/ I have already been to more than 10 countries on business trips
I had quit my previous job/ I have quit a job
Change partner. Choose one year in the past when you were both working and compare your experiences at and before that time.
Change partner. Ask and answer past personal questions about the experiences mentioned in the examples above like promotions and business trips.
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