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Chronological order

Posted: 03 Jun 2008, 09:49
by Hardcase
Hi Lucy,

I am currently taking a course in the hope of becoming a teacher - and this is the only question that has stumped me!!!

I have been asked to put the sentences in the following chronological order - and this is how I ordered them:

We lived in Pretoria for a while before we moved to Durban
We lived in Durban for 5 years
**********We were going to move to Port Elizabeth in 1983 but my job there fell through*********
We live in Johannesburg
We're going to live in Capetown
By the time we move to Cape Town, we'll have spent 3 years in Johannesburg
After we've lived in Capetown for a few years, we''ll move back to Johannesburg

The only sentence I struggled with was where to put the asterisked one. I think its in the right place but I don't know why - it just reads well haha.

Could you please let me know if the ordering is correct or incorrect? Please help I'm going crazy:(

Thanks

Re: Chronological order

Posted: 03 Jun 2008, 19:34
by Lucy
Dear Hardcase,

I can see how this would drive somebody crazy!!

Here is your order with my comments:

We lived in Pretoria for a while before we moved to Durban - I agree
We lived in Durban for 5 years - I agree
We were going to move to Port Elizabeth in 1983 but my job there fell through - depends on when the speaker was in Johannesberg, Pretoria and Durban i.e. before, after or around 1983. Are we supposing that they are speaking from a point in 2008?
We live in Johannesburg - I agree
We're going to live in Capetown - this might be interchangeable with the sentence below
By the time we move to Cape Town, we'll have spent 3 years in Johannesburg - this might be interchangeable with the sentence above
After we've lived in Capetown for a few years, we''ll move back to Johannesburg - I agree.

I'd love to hear whether your tutors agree with my interpretation!!

Lucy