Past Perfect Continuous

USE 1 Duration Before Something in the Past

We use the Past Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. "For five minutes" and "for two weeks" are both durations which can be used with the Past Perfect Continuous. Notice that this is related to the Present Perfect Continuous; however, the duration does not continue until now, it stops before something else in the past.

Examples:

• They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived.
• She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business.
• How long had you been waiting to get on the bus?
• Mike wanted to sit down because he had been standing all day at work.
• James had been teaching at the university for more than a year before he left for Asia.
• A: How long had you been studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara?
  B: I had not been studying Turkish very long.

  Past Continuous vs. Past Perfect Continuous

  If you do not include a duration such as "for five minutes," "for two weeks" or "since Friday," many English speakers choose to use the Past Continuous rather than the Past Perfect Continuous. Be careful because this can change the meaning of the sentence. Past Continuous emphasizes interrupted actions, whereas Past Perfect Continuous emphasizes a duration of time before something in the past. Study the examples below to understand the difference.
  Examples:
  

  • He was tired because he was exercising so hard.
    This sentence emphasizes that he was tired because he was exercising at that exact moment.
  • He was tired because he had been exercising so hard.
    This sentence emphasizes that he was tired because he had been exercising over a period of time. It is possible that he was still exercising at that moment OR that he had just finished.

  REMEMBER Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs

  It is important to remember that Non-Continuous Verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Also, certain non-continuous meanings for Mixed Verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses. Instead of using Past Perfect Continuous with these verbs, you must use Past Perfect.
  Examples:
  

  • The motorcycle had been belonging to George for years before Tina bought it. Not Correct
  • The motorcycle had belonged to George for years before Tina bought it. Correct

  
  

Adjectives as nouns

ADJECTIVES AS NOUNS

1. NATIONALITIES

2. SPECIFIC GROUPS OF PEOPLE

3. ONE, ONES

1. To talk about nationalities we have different possibilities:

A. You can use THE + ADJ: The English are reserved.

B. Or ADJ + PEOPLE: English people are reserved.

C. Special noun: Spaniards love bullfights.

A. THE + ADJ:

• You can use THE + ADJ with nationality adjectives that end in –sh,

-ch, -ss, or –es:

 The French are romantic.

 The English love tea.

 The Swiss are very punctual.

 The Chinese work a lot.

Nationality words which end in –an and some others , add –s to the

adjective (they’re also nouns):

 The Argentinians talk a lot.

 The Italians are good fun.

 The Greeks love their history.

 The Thais are shy.

B. ADJ + PEOPLE:

 With any nationality you can use the ADJECTIVE + PEOPLE, without

the article:

 English people are reserved.

 French people are romantic.

 Greek people love their history.

 Argentinian people talk a lot.

C. SPECIAL NOUN :

 Some nationalities have a special noun which is different from the

adjective. In these cases you can either use the options mentioned

before:

 THE + ADJ

 ADJ + PEOPLE

   OR  THE + NOUN

EXAMPLES :

Spain                                 The Spaniards

Sweden                              The Swedes

Scotland                             The Scots

Denmark                            The Danes

Finland                               The Finns

Turkey                                The Turks

Poland                                The Poles

 To talk about ONE person you can use A + NOUN, (if there’s noun), if

not, or if you want specify the gender, you must use the ADJ + WOMAN, BOY, etc.

 A Pole

 An Italian

 A Greek

 A French boy

 A Japanese girl

They’re are usually written as two words but occasionally you can

also find them as one word.

 A Frenchman

 An Englishman

2. You can use THE + ADJ to talk about specific groups of people in society. These expressions are always plural.

 The poor are poorer now than before.

 The rich are fewer and fewer.

 The unemployed have no choices.

 The young don’t like having rules.

3. When you don’t want to repeat a noun after an adjective because it is already clear what we’re talking about, we use ADJ + ONE or ONES (plural). This structure is very common in spoken English.

  Would you like a big ice-cream or a small one?

  A: Do you prefer teaching younger or older children?

     B: The younger ones are easier to teach, I’d say.

Reading Myths 1 C

Myth: Shaved hair grows back faster, coarser and darker

Fact: A 1928 clinical trial compared hair growth in shaved patches to growth in non-shaved patches. The hair which replaced the shaved hair was no darker or thicker, and did not grow in faster. More recent studies have confirmed that one.

Here's the deal: When hair first comes in after being shaved, it grows with a blunt edge on top, Carroll and Vreeman explain. Over time, the blunt edge gets worn so it may seem thicker than it actually is. Hair that's just emerging can be darker too, because it hasn't been bleached by the sun.

Myth: You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day

Fact: "There is no medical evidence to suggest that you need that much water," said Dr. Rachel Vreeman, a pediatrics research fellow at the university and co-author of the journal article.

Vreeman thinks this myth can be traced back to a 1945 recommendation from the Nutrition Council that a person consume the equivalent of eight glasses (64 ounces) of fluid a day. Over the years, "fluid" turned to water. But fruits and vegetables, plus coffee and other liquids, count.

Myth: Fingernails and hair grow after death

Fact: Most physicians queried on this one initially thought it was true. Upon further reflection, they realized it's impossible. Here's what happens:

"As the body’s skin is drying out, soft tissue, especially skin, is retracting," Vreeman said. "The nails appear much more prominent as the skin dries out. The same is true, but less obvious, with hair. As the skin is shrinking back, the hair looks more prominent or sticks up a bit."

Myth: We use only 10 percent of our brains

Fact: Physicians and comedians alike, including Jerry Seinfeld, love to cite this one. It's sometimes erroneously credited to Albert Einstein. But MRI scans, PET scans and other imaging studies show no dormant areas of the brain, and even viewing individual neurons or cells reveals no inactive areas, the new paper points out. Metabolic studies of how brain cells process chemicals show no nonfunctioning areas.

The myth probably originated with self-improvement hucksters in the early 1900s who wanted to convince people that they had yet not reached their full potential, Carroll figures. It also doesn't jibe with the fact that our other organs run at full tilt.

Myth: Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight

Fact: The researchers found no evidence that reading in dim light causes permanent eye damage. It can cause eye strain and temporarily decreased acuity, which subsides after rest.

Myth: Eating turkey makes you drowsy  (tired and almost asleep)

Fact: Even Carroll and Vreeman believed this one until they researched it. The thing is, a chemical in turkey called tryptophan is known to cause drowsiness. But turkey doesn't contain any more of it than does chicken or beef.

This myth is fueled by the fact that turkey is often eaten with a colossal holiday meal, often accompanied by alcohol — both things that will make you sleepy.

Myth: Cellphones are dangerous in hospitals

Fact: There are no known cases of death related to this one. Cases of less-serious interference with hospital devices seem to be largely anecdotal, the researchers found. In one real study, cellphones were found to interfere with 4 percent of devices, but only when the phone was within 3 feet of the device.

A more recent study, this year, found no interference in 300 tests in 75 treatment rooms. To the contrary, when doctors use cellphones, the improved communication means they make fewer mistakes.

"Whenever we talk about this work, doctors at first express disbelief that these things are not true," said Vreeman said. "But after we carefully lay out medical evidence, they are very willing to accept that these beliefs are actually false."

Can we make our own luck?

Click on GOOD LUCK anr read about it

Alanis Morissette - Ironic (Video)

"Ironic"

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic...don't you think
A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think...

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

From Hell (2001) - Official Trailer (Jack the Ripper)

Cinema Paradiso (1988) - Official Trailer