Who Can Remember " Perfect Continuous " ?

Sorry if I dredge up bad moments from your past.

This will take you back to a time when you were in short-pants. Oh yes, schooldays. Dreaded by many and liked by a select few! To be honest, when I heard this " perfect continuous " yesterday, I broke out into a cold sweat.

For those of you still wracking your brains, I will tell you what it is: A past tense. Oh yes, remember those days of English Grammar...

A high school student asked us whether we could help her with English grammar and of course we said yes. Bob is known in the village as a proper English speaker and I am the next best to it! So, it was intended to be Bob who would give the extra lesson.

Of course, before she even came to our house, Bob had designated me for the task. " You know I hated school and never listened. Your English is better than mine !" Lousy excuse, but he can dig his heels in better than a donkey on a lead not wanting to go home.So it was that she and I sat at the kitchen table with Bob stationed around the corner in the lounge.

History was made yesterday because this was the first time that those dire predictions banded about merrily by most teachers finally came true: " Listen up, you'll need this some day! ".

Perfect Continuous had me stumped from word go. Jeez-a-lou, you even had to change the words!
( Who does that and do we ever use it? ). Reading out loud the various options that I thought were right, rendered a
" Honey, I don't think this is right " response from Bob ( Yeah right, all of a sudden he could hear a pin drop! ).
Admirably I restrained from telling him " you do it then "....

Honesty was the best policy, and I told her I would read up and study the relevant parts. She is coming back on Thursday and I hope I will be able to explain in a way that she will be able to understand it.

After she left, Bob just looked at me and said: " Did we ever have to learn this stuff at school? This is difficult and I have no recollection of it ! ". Well, join the club!

Maybe my parents should ask for a refund from my school?

Biggi