Near San Martin Texmelucan there is an ancient state called “La hacienda de Chautla”. People say that some strange things happen at night around the Hacienda and that some have seen a dead woman, big strange animals, and heard weird noises.
To begin with, there is a small stream that allows the water of the lake to flow and to maintain the lake clean and at its proper level. In one of the entrances of the Hacienda, you can see this stream and a small tunnel where it flows.
People say that, at night, in that tunnel, a woman with a white dress appears and she cries and sits on some rocks.
People say it is just a myth so, one day some of them decided to prove that that was fake.
They arrived at the Hacienda late at night and they were exploring that tunnel for some minutes. They were not making so much noise because they were trying to hear strange noises. Then, they decided to start a fire and to sit for a while.
In addition, they brought some drinks. They started to drink and to talk about the story and they all said that it was fake because they were there and nothing had happened. They were still not making so much noise and they were not speaking loud because they were waiting for a signal.
When they extinguished the fire and decided to go, one of them was picking up the bottles of beer and alcohol and a woman was standing beside him, he did not pay much attention to it because it was dark. However, one of his friends saw the woman and started to point in her direction and he was trying to warn the others, but he could not say a word. When the woman started crying the others noticed her presence and they were running and screaming. They said she was something hideous and they were lucky to escape from there.
To sum up, these people got sick for a week and they did not know what kind of sickness they had because they only felt chill and had nightmares at night. In the end, they said that the story was real and that they warned people not to get close to that place at night.
Before we continue, answer the following question: What kind of tense is used in the bold words? Do you know if it is the Past Simple or the Past Continuous? If you answer “the Past Continuous” you have great knowledge about it, but if you don’t, do not worry, we are going to spot the difference?
As you can see, in the previous paragraph the Past Simple Tense and the Past Continuous tense are used to talk about past events, but what is the difference between them?
Past Continuous Tense
We use the past continuous to describe actions that were in progress in the past for some time or for just a moment.
Examples
- They were exploring that tunnel for some minutes.
- They were not making so much noise because they were trying to hear strange noises.
- They were waiting for a signal.
Simple Past Tense
We use the past simple tense to describe actions that happened at a specific moment in the past and are finished.
Examples
- One day some of them decided to prove that that was false.
- They arrived at the Hacienda late at night.
- They decided to start a fire and to sit for a while.
When we want to express actions that were in progress in the past, we use the Past Continuous Tense. We can make affirmative, negative, and interrogative statements. Let’s take a look at how we can form them.
Affirmative Statements
| Subject | Verb to be in past (was/were) | verb + -ing | Complement |
|---|
He was trying to warn the others.
They were running and screaming,
Negative Statements
| Subject | Verb to be in past (was/were) + NOT | verb + -ing | Complement |
|---|
They were not making so much noise.
They were not speaking aloud.
Interrogative Statements
| Verb to be in past (was/were) + NOT | Subject | verb + -ing | Complement |
|---|
Were they hearing strange noises? No, they weren’t.
Was the woman crying aloud? Yes, she was.
We can also use connectors when we want to describe the order in which things and events happened. In this case, we want to present three important ones:
-
To begin with: this connector helps us to set the story at the beginning, which means, it expresses what happened first.
Ex: To begin with, there is a small stream that allows the water of the lake to flow and to maintain...
-
In addition: this connector helps us to add additional information, some synonyms are besides, as well as, also.
Ex: In addition, they brought some drinks.
-
To sum up: this connector helps us to conclude or recapitulate what we were saying. It is mainly used at the end.
Ex: To sum up, these people got sick for a week and they did not know what kind of....
It is also important to mention that there are some TIME EXPRESSIONS used with this tense, for example:
- At that time
- In those days
- All day
- All evening
- For hours
- Yesterday at 9 pm
- Last week on Sunday
- Three years ago in May
Do not forget to use either connectors or time expressions to describe past events. This will make your story more accurate and easy to follow.
Read the following text and complete the spaces with the correct form of the verb in parenthesis and the correct connector.
