Animals
Primary 6 · English
Animals
Lesson 3 of 4
25 min
Let's begin
On Monday morning the teacher asks, "Did anyone see an interesting animal at the weekend?" Byiringiro's hand shoots up.
"I saw a chameleon! It was looking at me with one eye while the other eye was watching a fly!" The whole class leans in to listen. A good recount makes the listener feel they were there. Today you will learn the two past tenses that bring a recount to life.
The past simple tells finished actions, one after another: I saw a chameleon. It climbed the hedge. It caught a fly. Regular verbs add -ed. Irregular verbs change: see → saw, catch → caught, run → ran, fly → flew, eat → ate, take → took.
The past continuous tells an action that was in progress, like the background of a picture. It is made with was or were + a verb ending in -ing.
| Who | Past continuous |
|---|---|
| I, he, she, it | was watching |
| you, we, they | were watching |
The two tenses work best together. The long action uses the past continuous, and the short action that interrupts it uses the past simple.
Careful! Say we were, never we was. And the past continuous always needs -ing: I was sweep is wrong.
The Morning I Met a Chameleon
Last Saturday I was sweeping the compound when something green moved on the hedge. At first I thought it was a leaf. Then the "leaf" turned one eye towards me! It was a chameleon.
While I was watching it, its colour slowly changed from bright green to brown. My little sister was playing nearby, so I called her quietly. We did not touch it, because chameleons are gentle and easily frightened. Suddenly, it shot out its long tongue and caught a fly.
Finally, it climbed slowly into the avocado tree and disappeared. I will never forget how it looked at me with one eye while the other eye was watching that fly.
Notice the kind choice in the middle: the children watched the animal without hurting it. A good recount can show respect for animals too.
This is a folktale from the Zulu people of South Africa. The honeyguide is a real bird that leads people to bees' nests. As you read, look for the past continuous: was or were + -ing.
Listen while you read: hear “The Honeyguide’s revenge” read aloud by Darshan Soni (audio from Storybooks Rwanda).
Words to know: revenge (hurting someone back because they hurt you), hive (the home of bees), honeycomb (the wax cells where bees keep honey), perched (sat on something high, like a bird), hobbled (walked with difficulty because of a sore leg).
This is the story of Ngede, the Honeyguide, and a greedy young man named Gingile.
One day while Gingile was out hunting he heard the call of Ngede. Gingile’s mouth began to water at the thought of honey. He stopped and listened carefully, searching until he saw the bird in the branches above his head.
“Chitik-chitik-chitik,” the little bird rattled, as he flew to the next tree, and the next.
“Chitik, chitik, chitik,” he called, stopping from time to time to be sure that Gingile followed.
After half an hour, they reached a huge wild fig tree.
Ngede hopped about madly among the branches. He then settled on one branch and cocked his head at Gingile as if to say, “Here it is! Come now! What is taking you so long?”
Gingile couldn’t see any bees from under the tree, but he trusted Ngede.
So Gingile put down his hunting spear under the tree, gathered some dry twigs and made a small fire.
When the fire was burning well, he put a long dry stick into the heart of the fire. This wood was especially known to make lots of smoke while it burned.
He began climbing, holding the cool end of the smoking stick in his teeth.
Soon he could hear the loud buzzing of the busy bees. They were coming in and out of a hollow in the tree trunk – their hive.
When Gingile reached the hive he pushed the smoking end of the stick into the hollow.
The bees came rushing out, angry and mean. They flew away because they didn’t like the smoke – but not before they had given Gingile some painful stings!
When the bees were out, Gingile pushed his hands into the nest. He took out handfuls of the heavy comb, dripping with rich honey and full of fat, white grubs.
He put the comb carefully in the pouch he carried on his shoulder, and started to climb down the tree.
Ngede eagerly watched everything that Gingile was doing. He was waiting for him to leave a fat piece of honeycomb as a thank-you offering to the Honeyguide.
Ngede flittered from branch to branch, closer and closer to the ground. Finally Gingile reached the bottom of the tree.
Ngede perched on a rock near the boy and waited for his reward.
But, Gingile put out the fire, picked up his spear and started walking home, ignoring the bird.
Ngede called out angrily, “VIC-torr! VIC-torrr!”
Gingile stopped, stared at the little bird and laughed aloud. “You want some honey, do you, my friend? Ha! But I did all the work, and got all the stings. Why should I share any of this lovely honey with you?” Then he walked off.
Ngede was furious! This was no way to treat him! But he would get his revenge.
One day several weeks later Gingile again heard the honey call of Ngede. He remembered the delicious honey, and eagerly followed the bird once again.
After leading Gingile along the edge of the forest, Ngede stopped to rest in a great umbrella thorn. “Ahh,” thought Gingile. “The hive must be in this tree.” He quickly made his small fire and began to climb, the smoking branch in his teeth. Ngede sat and watched.
Gingile climbed, wondering why he didn’t hear the usual buzzing. “Perhaps the hive is deep in the tree,” he thought to himself. He pulled himself up another branch. But instead of the hive, he was staring into the face of a leopard!
Leopard was very angry at having her sleep so rudely interrupted. She narrowed her eyes, opened her mouth to reveal her very large and very sharp teeth.
Before Leopard could take a swipe at Gingile, he rushed down the tree.
In his hurry he missed a branch, and landed with a heavy thud on the ground twisting his ankle. He hobbled off as fast as he could. Luckily for him, Leopard was still too sleepy to chase him. Ngede, the Honeyguide, had his revenge.
And Gingile learned his lesson.
And so, when the children of Gingile hear the story of Ngede they have respect for the little bird. Whenever they harvest honey, they make sure to leave the biggest part of the comb for Honeyguide!
The storyteller uses the past continuous to paint the background while the main events happen in the past simple:
Think about the message. Gingile took everything and gave the bird nothing, so the bird taught him a painful lesson. At the end, his children always leave the biggest part of the honeycomb for the honeyguide. People and animals depend on each other, and they should be treated fairly.
Tip
Background -ing, main event -ed
Picture a film. The background keeps rolling: I was walking, the birds were singing. Then something happens: a snake crossed the path! Roll the background with was/were + -ing, and snap the main event with the past simple.
Answer each one, then check.
Give the past simple of catch.
Answer: caught. It is irregular, so it does not take -ed.
Write was or were: The zebras ___ drinking at the lake.
Answer: were. The zebras means more than one.
Join with when: I was walking to school. I saw a snake.
Answer: I was walking to school when I saw a snake.
In the story, what did Gingile use to chase the bees out of the hive?
Answer: a smoking stick. He put a long dry stick into the fire, and it made lots of smoke.
Why did Ngede lead Gingile to the leopard?
Answer: because Gingile had not shared any honey with him. It was the bird's revenge.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
Quick check
We ___ football when it started to rain.
