8

Thinking about Language

 

Describing a Repeated Action in the Past

To talk about something that happened regularly in th e past, but does not happen any longer, we use would or used to. Both would and used to can describe repeated actions in the past.

(a)    Mij would follow me withou t a lead and come to me when I called his name.

(b)   He would play for hours with a selection of toys.

(c)    On his way home ... Mij would tug me to this wall.

(d)   When I was five years old, I used to follow my brother all over the place.

(e)    He used to tease me when Mother was not around.

To describe repeated states or situations in the past, h owever, we use only used to. (We cannot use would for states or situations in the past.) So we do not use would with verbs like be, have, believe, etc. Look at the following sentences.

(a)    When we were young, we used to believe there were ghosts in school.

(Note: believe shows a state of mind.)

(b)   Thirty years ago, more women used to be h ousewives than now.

(Note: be here describes a situation.)

From the table below, make as many correct sentences as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate. (Hint: First decide whether the words in italics show an action, or a state or situation, in the past.) Then add two or three sentences of your own to it.

Emperor Akbar	Would Used to	Befond  of musical evenings.
Every evening we		Take long walks on the beach.
Fifty years ago, very few people		Own cars.
Till the 1980's, Shanghai		Have very dirty streets.
My uncle		Spen d his holidays by the sea.

Answer I:

1.

)-     Emperor Akbar used to hold his courts once in a week.

)-     Emperor Akbar would befond  of musical evenings.

)-     Every evening we used to run a race.

)-     Every evening we would take long walks on the beach.

3.

)-     Fifty years ago, very few people used to own cars.

)-     Fifty years ago very few people would by cars.

4.

)-     Till the 1980s Shanghai used to have very dirty streets.

)-     Till the 1980s Shanghai would havegood roads.

5.

)-     My uncle used to spend his holidays by the sea.

)-     My uncle would never drive a bicycle.

Question II:

Noun Modifiers

To describe or give more information about a noun (or to modify a noun), we use adject ives or adjectival phrases. Look at these examples from the text:

(a)    An eminently suitable spot             (c)Symmetrical pointed scales

(b)   His wide,flat belly                  (d)A ricocheting bullet

Nouns can also be used as modifiers:

(a)    The dinner party

(b)   A desig ner dress

(c)    Th e car keys

We can use more than one noun as modifier. Proper nouns can also be used:

(a)    The Christmas dinner party

(b)   A silk desig ner dress

(c)    Th e Maruti car keys

In the examples below, there is an adjectiva l phrase in front of a noun modifier:

(a)    The lovely Christmas party

(b)   A trendy silk designer dress

(c)    Thefrig htfully expens ivegolden Maruti car keys

1.     Look at these examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics) are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.

(i)    An otter fixation             (iv) The London streets

(ii)   The iron railings             (v) soft velvet fur

(iii)  The Tigris marshes (vi) Afour -footed soccer player

2.     Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropria te phrases as you can. (Hint: The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)

temple person gifts time crossing physique

girls thoughts scream subject flight coffee

triangle boys farewell landscape chatterbox view

dresses roar expression handkerchief profession celebration

college love bare plump incorrigible

Rough uncomfortable Railroad invigorating Ridiculous

hundred white tremendous panoramic loud

stone slang family heartbreaking first

ordinary slack            marriage birthday      three

Answer II:

1. (i) An otter fixation - Noun

(ii)   The iron railings - Noun

(iii)  The Tigris marshes - Proper noun

(iv)  The London streets - Proper noun

(v)   soft velvet fur - Adjective plus noun

(vi)  Afour-footed soccer player - Adjective plus noun

2.

Temple girls triangle dresses person thoughts  boys roar gifts scream farewell expression time subject landscape handkerchief crossing flight chatterbox         profession physique coffee view celebration

>      a stone temple >      three ordinary girls >      a slack triangle >      hundred  dresses >      an uncomfortable person >       bare thoughts >      rough boys >      a loud roar >      birthday gifts >      a loud scream >      a family farewell >      a love expression >      college time >      an ordinary subject >      a pan oramic landscape >      a white handkerchief >      a railroad crossing >      a ridiculous flight >      an incorrigible chatterbox >      a slang profession >      plump physiq ue >      invigorating coffee >      a heart-breaking view >      a marriage celebration

Question III:

Read this sentence:

He shook himself, and I half expected a cloud of dust.

The author uses a cloud of dust to give a pictu re of a large quantity of dust. Phrases like this indicate a particular quantity of something that is not usually countable. For example: a bit of land, a drop of blood, a pinch of salt, a piece of paper.

1.     Match the words on the left with a word on the right. Some words on the left can go with more than one word on the right.

(i)    a portion of     - blood

(ii)   a pool of          - cotton

(iii)  flakes of          - stones

(iv)  a huge heap of - gold

(v)   a gust of  - fried fish

(vi)  little drops of   - snow

(vii) a piece of - water

(viii)        a pot of    - wind

2.     Use a bit of/a piece of/ a bunch of/a cloud of/a lump of with the italicised nouns in the following sentences. The first has been done for you as an example.

(i)    My teach er gave me some advice. My teacher gave me a bit of advice.

(ii)   Can you give me some clay, please.

(iii)  The information you gave was very usefu l.

(iv)  Because of these factories, smoke hangs over the city.-------------­

(v)   Two stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire. -------------­

(vi)  He gave me some flowers on my birthday.

Answer III:

1.

(i)    a portion of (ii)   a pool of (iii)  flakes of (iv)  a huge heap of (v)   a gust of (vi)  little drops of (vii) a piece of (viii)        a pot of

-       cotton -       water -       snow -       stones -       wind -       blood -       fried fish -       gold

2.

(i)    My teacher gave me a bit of advice.

(ii)   Can you give me a lump of clay? Please.

(iii)  The piece of information you gave was very useful.

(iv)  Because of these factories a cloud of smoke hangs over the city.

(v)   Two lumps of stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.

(vi)  He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.