Question

Past indefinite or past continuous? 1. I (have dinner when he (come). 2.They (play) tennis when we (see) them.3.I (see) this beautiful picture at the shop window when I (go) to school yesterday.4.We (call) spirits at night when the door (open)Помогите пжжжжжжжж, срочно надоооо

Answer 1

1. I was having when he came. 2. They were playing tennis when we saw them. 3. I saw this beautiful picture at the shop window when I was going to school yesterday. 4. We were calling spirits at night when the door opened.

Answer 2

To choose between the past indefinite (simple past) and past continuous tense, you need to consider the context and the sequence of events. Here are the correct verb forms for the given sentences:

1. I had dinner when he came. (Past Indefinite)
2. They were playing tennis when we saw them. (Past Continuous)
3. I saw this beautiful picture at the shop window when I was going to school yesterday. (Past Indefinite/Past Continuous)

The third sentence can be written using either the past indefinite or past continuous tense, depending on the emphasis you want to give:

• Past Indefinite: I saw this beautiful picture at the shop window when I went to school yesterday. (emphasizing the completion of the action)
• Past Continuous: I saw this beautiful picture at the shop window when I was going to school yesterday. (emphasizing the ongoing nature of the action)

4. We were calling spirits at night when the door opened. (Past Continuous)

Again, the past continuous tense is used in this sentence to show that the action of calling spirits was ongoing when another action (the door opening) happened.

Please note that for sentence 1, the context suggests that the dinner happened after he came, so the past indefinite tense "had dinner" is more appropriate.

For sentence 3, both past indefinite and past continuous tenses are grammatically correct, but the emphasis on ongoing action makes the past continuous tense "was going" more suitable. However, in spoken English, either tense would be acceptable depending on the intended meaning.