VIP Class Notes (Joe)

We practiced the past continuous tense (was/were + verb 4)  by talking about alarm clocks.

Vocabulary

wake / woke / woken
I usually wake up at six
My alarm woke me up this morning
My alarm has never woken my husband up

go off / went off / gone off
My alarm clock usually goes off at half past six
My husband was sleeping when my alarm clock went off
My alarm clock has gone off. It’s time to wake up

set / set / set
I set my alarm for the next morning before I go to bed
I set my alarm clock to remind me of this meeting
I have set my alarm clock. It will go off at 6:30

set off (verb phrase) – to start a journey / trip
We set off for the restaurant at 7

Pronunciation

alarm əˈlɑːm

loud laʊd

aloud əˈlaʊd

Grammar

was + verb 4 – We learned how to use ‘was + verb 4’ in 2 different ways

1) Use ‘was + verb 4’for something that continued to happen during a time
Example: I was reading a book this afternoon
The amount of time used to read a book was a lot compared to the amount of time in the afternoon.
Example: I read a book last year
The amount of time used to read a book was NOT a lot compared to the maount of time in a year.

2) Use ‘was + verb 4’ and ‘verb 2’ to show something interrupted something else
Example: I was reading a book when my alarm went off.
The alarm going off interrupted reading the book