Have a go, out loud, before anything else — messy is fine.
Think of the last time something small went wrong — a delivery, an appointment, the weather, a journey. In one sentence, what happened? Say it now, however rough it sounds.
Jo: You will not believe my morning.
Sam: What happened?
Jo: I was standing at the bus stop when it started pouring with rain. The bus was supposed to come at quarter past nine — typical, it got cancelled with no warning at all.
Sam: No umbrella, I'm guessing?
Jo: Worse — I'd left it at home. So I got soaked walking to the station instead.
Jo uses four different tools to tell this story well. A scene, a failed plan, a piece of bad luck, and a little twist revealed partway through. Can you spot all four? Say them before you check.
Every good disaster story needs a calm moment right before it all goes wrong.
What's doing which job here? Say it, then check.
1. You're sitting in the waiting room. Then the dentist calls your name. Use the continuous form of sit:
"I in the waiting room when the dentist called my name."
2. Your friends are watching a film at the cinema. The fire alarm suddenly goes off. Use the continuous form of watch:
"They the film when the fire alarm suddenly went off."
3. You're carrying a tray of drinks across the room, and you drop it. Use the continuous form of carry:
"I a tray of drinks when I dropped it on the floor."
Describe three moments from your own life using was/were + -ing... when... — real or invented. Fast, out loud:
The everyday way to share bad luck — nobody cares who's to blame.
What do all three have in common, and why "got" rather than "was"? Say it, then check.
1. A delivery driver leaves your parcel outside in the rain, and the box falls apart. Use get + ruin:
"My parcel in the rain — the box completely fell apart."
2. Roadworks close your usual road, and you're trapped in traffic for a whole hour. Use get + stick:
"We in traffic for a whole hour because of the roadworks."
3. The card machine at the café accidentally charges you more than the menu price for your coffee. Use get + overcharge:
"I for my coffee, so I asked for a refund."
Give me five pieces of bad luck — real or invented — every one starting with the thing, not the person, using got:
The plan that didn't survive contact with reality — and the twist revealed a beat later.
Two jobs are happening here. What are they? Say it, then check.
1. The electrician is expected at midday. He never shows up at all. Use supposed to + turn up:
"The electrician at midday — he never showed up at all."
2. You run to the platform, but the train has already departed. Use had + already go:
"By the time I reached the platform, the train ."
3. You were expected to finish the report by Friday. By Thursday night you hadn't even started. Use meant to + finish:
"I the report by Friday — and by Thursday night I hadn't even started."
Tell me about a plan that failed — real or invented. State the plan with was/were supposed to / meant to, then add a twist with had + past participle:
Everything together, out loud. This is the whole point of the lesson.
A friend asks: "Go on then — what happened? Tell me everything."
Talk for two to three minutes about a day that went wrong — real or invented. Try to include:
Flip it: now interview me about my worst journey ever. Build your questions out loud, using today's grammar:
Retell your Round 1 story from the start — but each time, add one more disaster on top of the last. Keep the scene-setting, the bad luck, and the failed plan all in the mix as the story grows:
Write the 3–5 sentence message you'd send a friend afterwards ("You will not believe my day — ..."). Use all three tools from today; the checker will tell you which ones it finds.
Real stories never tell you which tool to reach for. Here everything's shuffled.
1. "I ___ my umbrella at home, so I got completely soaked."
2. "The train ___ for twenty minutes with no explanation."
3. "We ___ arrive by six, but the traffic was terrible."
Each one has a single grammar slip. Say the correct version out loud first, then type the whole sentence.
4. "While I waited for the bus, it suddenly began to snow."
5. "I supposed to meet him at six, but he never came."
6. "My phone got smash when I sat on it by accident."
7. "When I got to the cinema, the film already started."
Each sentence below is correct but flat. Say a more natural version out loud using today's grammar, then compare:
8. "I was at the bus stop. Then it started raining really hard."
9. "The plan was for the engineer to fix the boiler in the morning. It didn't happen until the evening."
10. "Someone cancelled my dentist appointment without telling me."
1. Tell someone what you and your friends did last Friday. Use the past simple of go:
"We to the cinema last Friday."
2. A storm broke a window in your house last night. Tell someone, starting with "The window":
"The window during the storm last night."
3. You're browsing in a shop when the till suddenly breaks down. Use the continuous form of browse:
"I in the shop when the till suddenly broke down."
4. Bad weather means your flight is put off until further notice, with no new time given. Use get + postpone:
"Our flight with absolutely no warning."
5. The dentist is expected to see you at three. By half past, nobody has called your name. Use supposed to + see:
"The dentist me at three — by half past, nobody had called my name."
Close the loop: which of today's three tools — the scene-setter, the bad-luck passive, or the failed plan — felt most natural, which still needs thinking time, and which one will you actually use the next time something goes wrong?
We said: three tools for a brilliant disaster story. Tick what's true: