Certainly! Here’s a detailed explanation of the correct forms of verbs needed to fill in the blanks in the given sentences:
My parents got to know each other when they were studying at university.
- Explanation: The past continuous tense ("were studying") is used to describe an action that was ongoing in the past. Here, it indicates that the action of studying was happening when the parents got to know each other.
Doctor Fisher traveled widely as a young man and always kept a diary.
- Explanation: The simple past tense is used here as we are discussing actions that occurred and were completed in the past. "Traveled" describes the action of traveling, while "always kept" indicates a habitual action in the past.
I saw my brother and his girlfriend when I was waiting for the bus, but they did not see me.
- Explanation: "Saw" is in the simple past tense, indicating a completed action. "Was waiting" is in the past continuous tense, showing an ongoing action that was happening when the speaker saw their brother. "Did not see" is the simple past negative form.
Lily filled in the application form and gave it to the receptionist.
- Explanation: Both verbs "filled" and "gave" are in the simple past tense, indicating completed actions that occurred one after the other.
While I was working in Rome, I met a girl who looked just like your sister.
- Explanation: "Was working" is in the past continuous tense, describing an ongoing action. "Met" is in the simple past tense, indicating a completed action that happened during the time of working. "Looked" is also in the simple past tense, describing a characteristic of the girl.
Simon finished with his girlfriend because she was always canceling dates at the last moment.
- Explanation: "Finished" is in the simple past tense, indicating a completed action. "Was always canceling" uses the past continuous tense with "always" to describe a repeated or habitual action that was a source of annoyance.
Anna's feeling depressed because she hoped for a pay rise last week, but she did not get one.
- Explanation: "Hoped" is in the simple past tense, indicating her expectation last week. "Did not get" is the simple past negative form, showing that she did not receive the pay rise.
These sentences use a mix of past simple and past continuous tenses to convey actions completed in the past and ongoing actions or situations at a specific point in the past.