questions

Question

HiI have a few questions.1. We were having a chat while we were waiting. IT IS BETTER TO WRITE  "We had a chat while we were waiting" Are both sentences OK, or not?2. Is it possible to say: The instructions to this exercise are saying that you have to... or The instructions to this exercise say that you have to... I THINK THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.3. You better find out what do you have to do or You better find out what you have to do.  IN MY OPINION THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.4. What does this sentence mean: They stack the odds 'til we take to the street ....Thank You

Goodman · Accepted Answer

NewguestHi

I have a few questions.

1. We were having a chat while we were waiting. IT IS BETTER TO WRITE "We had a chat while we were waiting" Are both sentences OK, or not?

2. Is it possible to say: The instructions to this exercise are saying that you have to... or The instructions to this exercise specifies that you have to... I THINK THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

3. You better find out what do you have to do or You better find out what you have to do. IN MY OPINION THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

4. What does this sentence mean: They stack the odds 'til we take to the street .... make the odds to your favor / take advantage of the situation

Thank You

Newguest · Answer

Goodman
Newguest
Hi

I have a few questions.

1. We were having a chat while we were waiting. IT IS BETTER TO WRITE "We had a chat while we were waiting" Are both sentences OK, or not?

2. Is it possible to say: The instructions to this exercise are saying that you have to... or The instructions to this exercise specifies that you have to... I THINK THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

3. You better find out what do you have to do or You better find out what you have to do. IN MY OPINION THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

4. What does this sentence mean: They stack the odds 'til we take to the street .... make the odds to your favor / take advantage of the situation

Thank You

Hi

As for the first one; why is it bad to say "we were having a chat"?

As for the second question, I was just interested if it's better to use present continuous or present simple tense in such cases. So, according to you I shouldn't write "The instructions say ...," but rather "specify"?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Use the present progressive if you want to talk about something that happened while you were chatting.

We were having a chat as we waited/while we were waiting, and it occurred to us that...

or We were having a chat, and we realized that...

Goodman · Answer

Newguest
Goodman
Newguest
Hi

I have a few questions.

1. We were having a chat while we were waiting. IT IS BETTER TO WRITE "We had a chat while we were waiting" Are both sentences OK, or not?

2. Is it possible to say: The instructions to this exercise are saying that you have to... or The instructions to this exercise specifies that you have to... I THINK THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

3. You better find out what do you have to do or You better find out what you have to do. IN MY OPINION THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

4. What does this sentence mean: They stack the odds 'til we take to the street .... make the odds to your favor / take advantage of the situation

Thank You

Hi

As for the first one; why is it bad to say "we were having a chat"?

As for the second question, I was just interested if it's better to use present continuous or present simple tense in such cases. So, according to you I shouldn't write "The instructions say ...," but rather "specify"?

I didn't say it's bad or wrong. Many times we will encounter this type of questions. In my opinion, “we were having a chat while waiting” = you were waiting for something, and then you met someone while standing in line, and you started a conversation with him/ her. So the conversation is something that happened while you were standing in line. Logically, I prefer to use simple past to describe the “chat” and past progressive for “waiting” which was a longer event.

That’s my take.

Newguest · Answer

Grammar GeekUse the present progressive if you want to talk about something that happened while you were chatting.

We were having a chat as we waited/while we were waiting, and it occurred to us that...

or We were having a chat, and we realized that...

Hi

So, I understand that "We were having a chat while we were waiting, and it occured to us...." is fine? If so, it means that it's possible to use two continuous tenses next to each other in the same sentence and that will be fine, however, I conclude that it's usually better to use past simple and past continuous tense next to each other, or the other way round?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Use the continuous whenver you want to emphasize the duration of an activity or to show that somthing happened while the first one was taking place.

We chatted while we waited is fine.

We chatted as we were waiting is okay.

We were just chatting as we waited when suddenly... is also fine

We were just chatting as we were wiating when suddenly... is also fine - it implies you waited for more than a few moments.

Newguest · Answer

Thanks. I think I understand.

Yoong Liat · Answer

NewguestHi

I have a few questions.

1. We were having a chat while we were waiting. IT IS BETTER TO WRITE "We had a chat while we were waiting" Are both sentences OK, or not?

2. Is it possible to say: The instructions to this exercise are saying that you have to... or The instructions to this exercise say that you have to... I THINK THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

3. You better find out what do you have to do or You better find out what you have to do. IN MY OPINION THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

4. What does this sentence mean: They stack the odds 'til we take to the street ....

Thank You

You had better... You'd better

Newguest · Answer

Yoong Liat
Newguest
Hi

I have a few questions.

1. We were having a chat while we were waiting. IT IS BETTER TO WRITE "We had a chat while we were waiting" Are both sentences OK, or not?

2. Is it possible to say: The instructions to this exercise are saying that you have to... or The instructions to this exercise say that you have to... I THINK THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

3. You better find out what do you have to do or You better find out what you have to do. IN MY OPINION THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS CORRECT.

4. What does this sentence mean: They stack the odds 'til we take to the street ....

Thank You

You had better... You'd better

Right!

Yoong Liat · Answer

Hi Newguest

4. What does this sentence mean: They stack the odds 'til we take to the street ....

Thank You

Please note that it should be Thank you. ( 'you' need not be capitalized )

questions

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions