B1 — Lesson 5

Home, Hometown & Past Continuous

Types of Homes · Describing Places · Background Actions · Interrupted Events
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Vocabulary: Home & Hometown

B1 Focus: Learn high-frequency words to describe where you live, what your home is like, and the character of your town or city.

Types of Homes

Detached house/dɪˈtætʃt haʊs/Самостоятелна къща
Semi-detached house/ˌsem.i.dɪˈtætʃt/Къща-близнак
Terraced house/ˈter.əst haʊs/Редова къща (в редица)
Block of flats/blɒk əv flæts/Жилищен блок
Cottage/ˈkɒt.ɪdʒ/Малка селска / крайградска къщичка

Describing the Home

Spacious/ˈspeɪ.ʃəs/Просторен, с много място
Cosy/ˈkəʊ.zi/Уютен, топъл и комфортен
Cramped/kræmpt/Тесен, с недостатъчно място
Cluttered/ˈklʌt.əd/Претрупан с вещи, разхвърлян
Bright/braɪt/Светъл (много естествена светлина)
Noisy/ˈnɔɪ.zi/Шумен

Describing the Hometown / Area

Lively/ˈlaɪv.li/Оживен, пълен с живот и енергия
Quiet/ˈkwaɪ.ət/Тих, спокоен
Crowded/ˈkraʊ.dɪd/Претъпкан с хора
Peaceful/ˈpiːs.fəl/Мирен, без шум и суматоха
Industrial/ɪnˈdʌs.tri.əl/Индустриален, с много фабрики
Historic/hɪˈstɒr.ɪk/С богато историческо минало
Run-down/ˌrʌnˈdaʊn/Западнал, занемарен

Phrasal Verbs B2 Level Up

Move in / out/muːv ɪn / aʊt/Нанасям се / Изнасям се
Settle down/ˈset.əl daʊn/Установявам се на едно място
Do up/duː ʌp/Ремонтирам и обновявам (сграда)

🔁 Vocabulary in Context

📝 Select the best word for each sentence.
1. The street market is always ___ on Saturday mornings, full of music and people.
2. My bedroom is so ___. I can barely walk between the bed and the desk.
3. We prefer the village because it is so ___ — you can hear the birds in the morning.
4. The flat is full of old furniture and boxes. It feels really ___.
5. After years of moving around, she finally decided to ___ and buy a flat.

Grammar Lab: Past Continuous

The Past Continuous is a key tense for storytelling. We use it to set the scene, describe background actions happening over a period of time, or talk about an action that was already in progress when something else happened.

1. Form: How to Build the Past Continuous

The Past Continuous has two parts: the past tense of to be (was / were) + the main verb with -ing. The subject determines whether you use was or were.

SubjectAuxiliaryExample
I / He / She / ItwasShe was reading in the cosy living room.
You / We / TheywereThey were moving into the new flat.
Negativewasn't / weren'tHe wasn't working — he was asleep!
QuestionWas / Were + subjectWere you sleeping at 10 PM?

⚠️ Spelling Rules for -ing

  • Ends in silent 'e': drop the 'e' → make → making, live → living
  • Short vowel + single consonant: double the consonant → sit → sitting, run → running
  • Ends in 'ie': change 'ie' to 'y' → lie → lying, die → dying
  • Ends in 'l' (UK English): double the 'l' → travel → travelling
📝 Easy: Select the correct Past Continuous form.
1. At 9 o'clock last night, I ___ in the cosy living room.
2. They ___ because it was raining heavily.
3. ___ she ___ the spare room by herself?
4. The children ___ in the garden all afternoon.
5. He ___ his keys when I called him.
🎯 Challenge: Type the correct Past Continuous form of the verb in brackets. Watch out for spelling!
1. She ___ (make) coffee when the postman knocked.
2. We ___ (not / sit) in the cramped kitchen — we were outside.
3. ___ (they / lie) on the floor watching films all evening?
4. He ___ (travel) to a remote town for work that week.
5. The neighbours ___ (argue) loudly while we were trying to sleep.

2. Usage: Scene-Setting, Interrupted Actions & Parallel Actions

The three key uses of the Past Continuous all involve the idea of an action that was already in progress at a particular moment. Understanding how it combines with the Past Simple is essential at B1.

1. Setting the Scene

  • Used at the start of a story to paint a picture of the background.
  • Multiple continuous actions can happen at the same time.
  • ✅ "The sun was shining, people were sitting outside, and music was playing."

2. Interrupted Actions

  • A longer action (Continuous) is interrupted by a shorter, sudden action (Simple).
  • Use when before the short action or while / as before the long one.
  • ✅ "While I was painting, the phone rang."
  • ✅ "I was painting when the phone rang."

3. Parallel Actions

  • Two long actions happening at the same time — both use Continuous.
  • Use while to connect them.
  • ✅ "While I was cleaning, my flatmate was cooking."
💡 Key tip: When usually introduces the short, sudden Past Simple action. While / as usually introduces the longer Past Continuous background action.
📝 Easy: Select the correct word or tense.
1. ___ we were walking home, it started to snow.
2. I was tidying my cluttered room ___ I found my old diary.
3. While I was fixing the bathroom, she ___ the hallway. (parallel actions)
4. The power went out while they ___ dinner.
5. He burnt his hand ___ he was cooking because he was not concentrating.
🎯 Challenge: Type the correct form of both verbs, separated by a comma (e.g., "was watching, rang").
1. He ___ (break) a window while he ___ (fix) the roof.
2. What ___ (you / do) when the alarm ___ (go off)?
3. While the children ___ (play) outside, we ___ (relax) inside.
4. I ___ (walk) through the historic centre when I ___ (see) an old friend.
5. She ___ (not / listen) when the teacher ___ (explain) the exercise.

3. State Verbs: Why They Don't Use the Continuous

State verbs describe a condition, feeling, or mental state — not a physical action. Because they describe something that simply exists rather than something actively happening, they cannot normally be used in continuous tenses. This is one of the most common B1 mistakes.

State Verbs (Simple Only)

  • Mental states: know, understand, believe, remember, forget, mean
  • Feelings: love, hate, like, prefer, want, need
  • Possession / existence: be, have, belong, own, cost, contain
  • ❌ "I was knowing the answer." → WRONG
  • ✅ "I knew the answer."

HAVE: Two Meanings

  • Possession (state): Simple only.
    ✅ "I had a flat in the centre."
    ❌ "I was having a flat." → WRONG
  • Experience (action): Continuous is fine!
    ✅ "I was having a shower."
    ✅ "We were having lunch."

THINK: Two Meanings

  • Opinion (state): Simple only.
    ✅ "I thought the flat was too noisy."
    ❌ "I was thinking it was noisy." → WRONG
  • Mental process (action): Continuous is fine!
    ✅ "I was thinking about moving out."
📝 Easy: Choose the correct form — action or state?
1. When I lived in the village, I ___ everyone on my street.
2. I couldn't answer the door because I ___ a shower. (action)
3. Before we moved, we ___ a lot of trouble with the neighbours. (possession/state)
4. I ___ the run-down cottage was a terrible idea at first. (opinion)
5. We ___ where to settle down when the job offer arrived. (mental process — active)
🎯 Challenge: Type the correct form — Past Simple (state verb) or Past Continuous (action)?
1. The historic building ___ (belong) to the city council for many years.
2. While I ___ (think) about where to move, my sister sent me a link to a flat.
3. They wanted to buy the detached house, but it ___ (cost) far too much.
4. We ___ (have) breakfast when the estate agent called.
5. She ___ (not / understand) why the landlord ___ (ask) them to leave.

Reading: Stories from Home

Read each text carefully. The comprehension questions require you to read between the lines — the answers are not stated directly. Think about what you can infer from the writer's words.
🔨

Text 1: The Run-down Cottage

A few years ago, my wife and I decided to settle down. We had spent years renting cramped flats in noisy city centres, and we were tired of it. We bought a run-down cottage in a quiet village about an hour from the city. It was cheap, but it needed serious work. We planned to do it up ourselves over the summer. One Saturday afternoon, we were both working in the spacious living room — I was painting the walls while she was measuring the windows for new curtains. The radio was on quietly in the background. It felt like real progress. Then, without any warning, we heard a deep groaning sound from somewhere above us. We looked at each other. Seconds later, a section of the ceiling came down in a cloud of dust and old plaster, right between us. We stood there in silence, completely covered in white dust. Then my wife started laughing. I didn't understand why she was laughing at first — but then I looked at her face, and I started laughing too. We cleaned up as best we could, and then we sat outside with a cup of tea, looking at the cottage. Neither of us suggested selling it.

Questions — Think carefully. The answers are not directly stated in the text.

1. What does the writer's decision to do up the cottage themselves most likely suggest?

2. Why did the writer not immediately understand why his wife was laughing after the ceiling fell?

3. What does "Neither of us suggested selling it" tell us about the couple?

🏙️

Text 2: Going Back

I left my hometown at eighteen to go to university. The town was quiet and peaceful — the kind of place where nothing much happened. I was desperate to leave. I moved to a lively, crowded city and loved the noise, the energy, and the constant movement. I told everyone I was never going back. Last spring, I returned for a weekend. I was walking through the familiar streets, and I noticed that nothing had really changed. The same small shops, the same houses, the same faces. While I was sitting in the old café where I used to do my homework, a woman came in and sat down next to me. She looked at me for a moment, then said: "You must be Maria's son. You have her eyes." I had not thought about that café — or my mother — in years. On the train home, I was looking out of the window, but I wasn't really seeing the fields passing by. I kept thinking about the woman's words. I live in a bright, spacious flat in the city now. I have a good job and a full life. But something about going back made me feel like a part of me had never really left.

Questions — Think carefully. The answers are not directly stated in the text.

1. How had the writer's feelings about his hometown most likely changed between leaving and returning?

2. Why was the stranger's comment — "You must be Maria's son" — significant to the writer?

3. What does "I was looking out of the window, but I wasn't really seeing the fields" suggest about the writer?

Text 1 / 2

Cloze Text: Open Gaps

Type exactly ONE word into each gap. Focus on tense forms: Past Continuous (was/were + -ing) and Past Simple. Think carefully about auxiliaries and spelling.

Last Saturday evening, we decided to stay in. I (1) cooking dinner in the kitchen (2) my flatmate (3) watching something on television in the living room. It (4) raining outside and everything felt very calm.

Then, at about eight o'clock, the lights suddenly (5) out. I (6) still stirring the soup when it (7). I couldn't see anything. I tried to find my phone, but I (8) sure where I had left it.

My flatmate called out from the other room and asked if I (9) all right. I said yes. A few minutes later, he (10) in with a torch. We (11) laughing about the whole situation when the lights suddenly (12) back on. The soup was fine.

Key Word Transformation (KWT)

The beginning of a sentence is given. Complete the sentence using the key word provided. Do not change the key word. Use between two and five words in total for your completion.

Exercises

B1 combined exercises practising Home & Hometown vocabulary and Past Continuous grammar. Each set has 5 questions.

Tense Writing Practice

Write the verb or verbs in brackets in the correct tense. Tenses used: Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Present Perfect.

Set 1: Past Simple & Past Continuous

Decide which tense each verb needs. Past Continuous = background / in progress; Past Simple = short, completed action.

✏️ Type the correct form. Where there are two verbs, separate them with a comma.
1. While she ___ (walk) to work, she ___ (slip) on the wet pavement.
2. At midnight, he ___ (sit) alone in the kitchen, reading old letters.
3. The dog ___ (bark) loudly when the postman ___ (open) the gate.
4. I ___ (not / listen) to music — I ___ (watch) the rain through the window.
5. What ___ (you / do) when I ___ (call) you last night?

Set 2: Present Simple & Present Continuous

Present Simple = habits, facts, routines. Present Continuous = happening now or around now, temporary situations.

✏️ Type the correct form.
1. She usually ___ (take) the bus, but this week she ___ (drive) because her bike is broken.
2. I ___ (not / understand) this sentence. Can you explain it?
3. The café ___ (open) at eight every morning and ___ (close) at six.
4. Look! The children ___ (play) football in the street again.
5. He ___ (stay) with his parents at the moment because his flat ___ (be) redecorated.

Set 3: Present Perfect vs. Past Simple

Decide if the action is completely finished in the past (Past Simple) or if it connects the past to the present, such as a life experience or recent event (Present Perfect).

✏️ Type the correct form: Present Perfect or Past Simple. Where there are two verbs, separate them with a comma.
1. I ___ (live) in this quiet town for fifteen years and I still love it.
2. We ___ (buy) this run-down cottage two years ago.
3. ___ (you / ever / live) in a block of flats? Yes, I ___ (rent) one in 2018.
4. Oh no! I ___ (lose) my keys. I can't get into the house.
5. He ___ (grow up) in a peaceful village, but he ___ (live) in the lively city since 2021.

Set 4: Mixed Past Tenses

These sentences mix Past Simple, Past Continuous, and Present Perfect. Read carefully and choose the correct tense for each.

✏️ Type the correct form.
1. I ___ (visit) that city once, back in 2018. It was beautiful.
2. ___ (you / finish) the report yet? The manager ___ (ask) about it this morning.
3. They ___ (just / paint) the living room when the landlord ___ (arrive) unexpectedly.
4. He ___ (not / eat) anything all day — he ___ (feel) too nervous.
5. While they ___ (argue) in the kitchen, the children ___ (sneak) out of the house.

Set 5: All Tenses — Mixed Practice

A full mixed challenge. Any tense from this lesson may appear. Think about the time reference and nature of each action.

✏️ Type the correct form.
1. She ___ (work) in a lively café near the centre, but she ___ (want) to find something quieter.
2. I ___ (read) in the garden when it ___ (start) to rain heavily.
3. How long ___ (you / know) your neighbours?
4. He ___ (grow up) in a small, peaceful village, but now he ___ (live) in one of the most crowded cities in the country.
5. They ___ (renovate) three houses in this street so far — it ___ (look) much better already.