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. What do the -ed/-ing rule and the past-continuous rule have in common?
The log
From Lesson 5 — verbatim
1. I was very bored with the first hour.
2. The film was very boring at the start.
3. It rained and she washed the plate.
4. She was doing the washing-up when her sister started talking.
5. I found the ending very surprised.
6. Suddenly she was standing up and was leaving.
7. While the phone rang, nobody moved.
8. It was late and it was raining.
Read all eight aloud before you answer.
1. How many are completely correct?
2. Sentence 1 says bored and sentence 2 says boring. Are both right?
3. Sentence 5 says I found the ending very surprised. What is wrong?
4. Sentences 3 and 6 fail in opposite directions. How?
Three families, three fixes
What went wrong, and the one-line rule that fixes it
| Family | What it sounds like | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective direction | -ing for the cause, -ed for the person who feels it. | |
| Background as simple | Already going on → past continuous. | |
| Event as continuous | One moment → past simple. Suddenly never takes the continuous. | |
| While / when | while takes the long thing, when takes the short one. |
Families 2 and 3 are the same mistake, in opposite directions. Before this unit you used the past simple for everything; now the continuous is available and it over-applies. That is the same pattern as goed in Unit 3 and I am knowing in Unit 6 — a new rule spreading before it settles.
Match each log sentence to its family. Two are not errors at all.
Repair, then produce
The log errors plus four more of the same families. Rewrite each one in full.
1. I found the ending very surprised.
2. It rained and she washed the plate.
3. Suddenly she was standing up and was leaving.
4. While the phone rang, nobody moved.
5. The book was very confused.
6. I am not interesting in horror films.
7. She sat at the table when I came in.
8. I was watching the whole film in one sitting.
No visible errors this time. Write the verb or adjective in brackets in the right form.
It (be) about ten and I (watch) the last twenty minutes when the power went off. I was so (annoy) — it was just getting to the (interest) part. While I (look) for a torch, my flatmate (come) in and told me the ending. I (not / speak) to him for the rest of the evening.
The same three minutes, clean
Task card · Speaking
The same film, the same three sections. Three minutes.
Fewer than three errors from the four families. Your teacher logs again, so the two logs compare directly.
- Same summary, same scene, same meaning. This is a repair, not a rewrite.
- Do not slow down. Accuracy at normal speed is the target.
- Ask for the number before you hear the sentences.
Stop at ninety seconds.
1. Which family is still slipping?
2. Compared with Lesson 5?
Two logs
Compare the counts your teacher just read.
1. Did the adjective errors go down?
2. And the tense errors?
3. Which will you watch for when you write next lesson?
One sentence to keep
Rebuild the sentence that holds both rules at once.
Before Lesson 7. Next lesson you write a 150-word review of something you have watched recently. Choose what, and nothing else.
Do not draft it at home. A review written on the sofa and copied out in class measures your evening.