ENGLISH VERB GROUPINGS
USING "ALL", "SOME", "BOTH", "NONE", "EVERYONE" AND "NO ONE"
PAST CONTINUOUS
We WERE all WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of us WERE PAYING attention to what he WAS SAYING.
Both of us WERE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of us WERE TAKING notes.
You WERE all WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of you WERE PAYING attention to what he WAS SAYING.
Both of you WERE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of you WERE TAKING notes.
They WERE all WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of them WERE PAYING attention to what he WAS SAYING.
Both of them WERE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of them WERE TAKING notes.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
We ARE all WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of us ARE PAYING attention to what he IS SAYING.
Both of us ARE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of us ARE TAKING notes.
You ARE all WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of you ARE PAYING attention to what he IS SAYING.
Both of you ARE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of you ARE TAKING notes.
They ARE all WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of them ARE PAYING attention to what he IS SAYING.
Both of them ARE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of them WERE TAKING notes.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS
We WILL all BE WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of us WILL BE PAYING attention to what he WILL BE SAYING.*
Both of them WILL BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of them WILL BE TAKING notes.
You WILL all BE WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of you WILL BE PAYING attention to what he WILL BE SAYING.*
Both of you WILL BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of you WILL BE TAKING notes.
They WILL all BE WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of them WILL BE PAYING attention to what he WILL BE SAYING.*
Both of them WILL BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of them WILL BE TAKING notes.
Or
We ARE all GOING TO BE WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of us ARE GOING TO BE PAYING attention to what he WILL BE SAYING. [Not “...to what he IS GOING TO BE SAYING” – the English don’t like long sentences or repeating themselves]*
Both of them ARE GOING TO BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of them ARE GOING TO BE TAKING notes.
You ARE all GOING TO BE WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of you ARE GOING TO BE PAYING attention to what he WILL BE SAYING. [“]*
Both of you ARE GOING TO BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of you ARE GOING TO BE TAKING notes.
They ARE all GOING TO BE WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
Some of them ARE GOING TO BE PAYING attention to what he WILL BE SAYING. [“]*
Both of them ARE GOING TO BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
None of them ARE GOING TO BE TAKING notes.
“EVERYONE”, although meaning a plural number of people, is treated as a singular “It”, as follows:
PAST CONTINUOUS
Everyone WAS WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
Everyone IS PAYING attention to what he IS SAYING.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS
Everyone WILL BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
Or
Everyone IS GOING TO BE TAKING notes.
“NO ONE”, also behaves like “It”:
PAST CONTINUOUS
No one WAS WAITING for the speaker to begin his lecture.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
No one IS PAYING attention to what he IS SAYING.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS
No one WILL BE HAVING trouble understanding his argument.
Or
No one IS GOING TO BE TAKING notes.
*To make this sentence even simpler you could say
“Some of us ARE GOING TO BE PAYING ATTENTION to what he says.”
Although this is a common use, it is not good English. However, the more often it is used, the more likely it will become acceptable and you will hear this in speech.
©SCG Language Tutorials 2014 www.scglanguagetutorials.com
ENGLISH VERBS
USING "AS", "DURING", "WHEN" AND "WHILE"
The use of the Continuous Tense to describe two activities that happen at the same time sometimes requires the addition the prepositions “As”, “During”, “When” or “While”. [You may also hear some people say “Whilst” instead of “While” – this is the older form, considered by some to be more correct. But “While” is now much more common, so that is what we will use.]
As I WAS WALKING down the High Street a man WAS TRYING to get support for his charity.
When the siren WAS GOING off, the guards WERE TRYING to get everyone out of the building.
While the phones WERE RINGING, the secretary WAS FILING her nails.
To describe an action that occurs as a long-term action or activity, “During” may be appropriate:
During the flight to Los Angeles, everyone WAS WATCHING the in-flight movie.
During the safety announcement, no one WAS LISTENING to the cabin crew.
[But you would say: “No one WAS LISTENING as the cabin crew WERE MAKING the safety announcement.”]
If the action being described is cut off by another action then only “When” can be used.
Tracey WAS LIGHTING a candle when she dropped the match.
©SCG Language Tutorials 2014 www.scglanguagetutorials.com
SCG LANGUAGE TUTORIALS for English grammar and vocabulary tutorials and analysis of UCAS applications and other documents, for students of English as a second language [ESL] and other British qualifications.
