Can you please check these sentences, Writeacher?
1) We...... (sit) in the sun for ... when she (tell) us to get inside.
2)We had been sitting in the sun for about half an hour when she told us to get inside.
3) Peter confessed to eating all the cake. (Peter/confess) (shall I include "to" as part of the verb?)
4) We booked a table before going to the restaurant. This is the most interesting museum I have ever visited.
5) How long ago did they leave?
How long is it since they left?
6) I haven't eaten anything since this morning. (since 8 am).
When I arrived at home, my parents had already left.
7) He is likely to be at work. It is probable that he is at work. He is probably at work. = He should/ought to be at work
1) We...... (sit) in the sun for ... when she (tell) us to get inside.
2)We had been sitting in the sun for about half an hour when she told us to get inside.
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1341239942
3) Peter confessed to eating all the cake. (Peter/confess) (shall I include "to" as part of the verb?) yes
4) OK
5) OK
6) OK
7) He is likely to be at work. It is probable that he is at work. He is probably at work. = He could/ought to be at work.
1) In the first sentence, we need to fill in the blanks with the correct verb tenses. The action of sitting in the sun happened before the action of being told to get inside. So, we need to use the past perfect continuous tense for the first verb and the past simple tense for the second verb. The corrected sentence would be:
"We had been sitting in the sun for [time] when she told us to get inside."
2) In the second sentence, you have correctly filled in the blanks. The sentence is in the past perfect continuous tense, indicating that the action of sitting in the sun started and continued for a duration of time before being interrupted by the action of being told to get inside.
3) The sentence "Peter confessed to eating all the cake" is already correct. We use the preposition "to" after the verb "confess" to indicate what activity or action the person is admitting to doing.
4) The fourth sentence seems to have two unrelated statements. If you want to connect them, you can use conjunctions like "and" or "while":
"We booked a table before going to the restaurant, and this is the most interesting museum I have ever visited."
5) Both sentence variations are correct and have the same meaning. They are asking about the duration of time since they left.
6) The sixth sentence is correct as it is. The present perfect tense "haven't eaten" indicates that the action of not eating anything started in the past and continues up until the present moment. The phrase "since this morning" provides a specific time reference for when the action started. The second part of the sentence uses the past perfect tense "had already left" to indicate that the action of leaving occurred before the action of arriving at home.
7) The three variations of expressing likelihood or probability regarding someone being at work are all correct. They all convey the same general meaning that there is a high chance or possibility of the person being at work. The additional interpretation of "should/ought to be at work" implies a moral or expected obligation for the person to be at work.