Your two against the log
Read out your two errors. Your teacher will say whether each is in the log, and how many times something like it happened.
One question before we open the log.
1. You said I am knowing in Lesson 5, and in Lesson 2 you got that rule right. What happened?
The log
From Lesson 5 — verbatim
1. I am not understanding the new system.
2. At the moment I am covering for two people.
3. I am working in a bank. I have been there nine years.
4. She want to leave early.
5. We are making progress, slowly.
6. I am wanting more time on this.
7. My colleague train the new people every year.
8. Normally I am working from home on Tuesdays.
Read all eight aloud before you answer.
1. How many are completely correct?
2. Sentences 1 and 6 fail the same way. How?
3. Sentences 3 and 8 fail a different way. How?
4. Sentences 4 and 7 are not about the continuous at all. What is wrong?
Three families, three fixes
What went wrong, and the one-line rule that fixes it
| Family | What it sounds like | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| State verb in the continuous | Could you be interrupted halfway through? If not, it is a state — use the simple. | |
| Continuous for permanent | Permanent and habitual take the simple. The continuous means temporary. | |
| Missing third-person -s | He, she, it → the verb takes -s. Marked once per clause. |
Families 1 and 2 pull in opposite directions. One is too much continuous on the wrong verb; the other is too much continuous on the wrong timescale. Both come from the same source — Portuguese uses estou fazendo where English uses the simple.
Family 3 is the opposite problem: when you correctly choose the simple, the -s becomes necessary again — and it is the thing you drop when you are busy choosing the tense.
Match each log sentence to its family. Two belong to the same one, and one is not an error at all.
Repair, then produce
The log errors plus four more of the same families. Rewrite each one in full.
1. I am not understanding the new system.
2. I am wanting more time on this.
3. I am working in a bank. I have been there nine years.
4. Normally I am working from home on Tuesdays.
5. She want to leave early.
6. My colleague train the new people every year.
7. I am liking this project a lot.
8. He is having two brothers.
No visible errors this time. Write the verb in brackets in the right tense and form.
My brother (work) for a bank — he (be) there eleven years. At the moment he (do) a course two evenings a week, which he (not / enjoy). He (say) it is useful, but he (want) his evenings back. Normally he (get) home at six. This month he (get) home at ten.
The same three minutes, clean
Task card · Speaking
The same four sections about your week. Three minutes.
Fewer than three errors from the three families. Your teacher logs again, so the two logs compare directly.
- Do not slow down. Accuracy at normal speed is the target.
- Keep the signposts — they are what stop you settling into one tense.
- Ask for the number before you hear the sentences.
Stop at ninety seconds.
1. Which family is still slipping?
2. Compared with Lesson 5?
Three counts, twice
Compare the six numbers your teacher just read.
1. Did the state-verb errors go down?
2. And the third-person -s?
3. Why would the -s go up while the tense errors go down?
One test to keep
Rebuild the test in the right order.
Before Lesson 7. Next lesson you write 150 words: "What I Do", including what you are working on at the moment.
Tonight, decide your four sections and write nothing else. Four headings, four words each at most.