Medieval bestiaries review
Review past events and actions in progress, descriptions, clothes, quantities, and routines through the world of medieval bestiaries.
1. Overview
2. Enter the workshop
Bestiaries brought together pictures and descriptions of familiar, unfamiliar and imaginary animals. They weren’t modern science books: animal stories could carry religious meanings.
The workshop, people and events in the activities below are fictional.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| bestiary | a book of animal descriptions and stories |
| manuscript | a book or text written by hand |
| scribe | a person who copies texts by hand |
| parchment | animal skin prepared for writing on |
| ink | coloured liquid used for writing |
| brush | a tool used for painting |
Use these words to practise familiar language. You don’t need to memorise extra historical details.
| Earlier unit | What to check | Workshop example |
|---|---|---|
| Past simple | complete events, regular and irregular forms, negatives and questions | The scribe wrote a page. He didn’t finish the book. |
| There is and there are | singular, plural, present and past descriptions | There’s a brush here. There were three brushes yesterday. |
| Clothes and costumes | clothing words, wear, put on and take off | She put on her cloak. She was wearing boots. |
| Countable and uncountable nouns | articles, plurals and units | a brush, two brushes, some ink, a bottle of ink |
| Quantifiers | some, any, much, many, a few, a little, enough and too much/many | We had a few brushes, but we didn’t have enough ink. |
| Daily routines and habits | activity phrases, times, frequency and sequence | He usually gets up at six. Then he has breakfast. |
| Past continuous | was/were + -ing, background and actions in progress | They were working when the bell rang. |
3. What happened, and what was happening?
Choose the tense from the meaning, not just from a time word.
| Meaning | Example | Why this tense? |
|---|---|---|
| a complete action | Yesterday, Ada painted a dragon. | Past Simple presents the action as complete. |
| a sequence of events | She opened the book, found a page and showed it to Tom. | Past Simple moves the story forward. |
| an action in progress at a past moment | At ten, Ada was painting a dragon. | Past Continuous shows what was happening then. |
| background and a new event | Ada was painting when Tom arrived. | Painting was already in progress; Tom’s arrival is a new event. |
| two actions in progress together | While Ada was painting, Tom was copying a page. | Both actions were happening at the same time. |
An event doesn’t always stop the action in progress: Ada may have continued painting after Tom arrived. The difference isn’t simply a long action versus a short action. A long action can be complete: Tom worked all day yesterday.
When and while help connect events, but they don’t choose the tense for you. Compare When Tom arrived, Ada opened the book (arrival, then opening) with When Tom arrived, Ada was opening the book (opening already in progress).
Keep the forms clear:
- She painted. / She didn’t paint. / Did she paint? Use the base verb after did.
- She was painting. / She wasn’t painting. / Was she painting? Keep was/were + -ing.
- They were tired. / Were they tired? Use be, without did, for this past state.
- Tom knew the answer. Know isn’t normally continuous: don’t say was knowing.
4. Review activities
1. A morning in the workshop
Listen or read the story and answer the questions. Notice which verbs describe the background and which describe new events.
- What were Ada and Tom doing at nine?
- Was there any bread on the table?
- What was Ada wearing?
- What did the visitor do with his cloak?
- What was Ada doing when Tom knocked over the bottle?
- Did the ink damage the book?
- How many pages did Tom complete?
- Find one pair of simultaneous actions and one sequence of complete events.
2. Complete event or action in progress?
Choose the form that matches the meaning in brackets.
- Ada (painted / was painting) a lion yesterday. (The painting is presented as complete.)
- At ten, Ada (painted / was painting) a lion. (The painting was in progress then.)
- Tom (dropped / was dropping) his pen while he was writing. (One complete event.)
- When the visitor arrived, Ada (opened / was opening) the book. (She opened it after he arrived.)
- When the visitor arrived, Ada (opened / was opening) the book. (She was already in the middle of opening it.)
- While Ada was painting, Tom (copied / was copying) a page. (Both activities were in progress together.)
- Tom (worked / was working) for eight hours yesterday. (His whole working day is presented as complete.)
- Ada (knew / was knowing) where the book was.
3. Build the past forms
Complete each sentence with the correct Past Simple or Past Continuous form. Use the meaning clues.
- The scribe ______ (write) two pages yesterday and finished both.
- At midday, the artists ______ (make) paint. The activity was in progress.
- Ada ______ (not / see) the visitor yesterday.
- Tom ______ (not / sleep) when the bell rang. He was working.
- ______ you ______ (buy) the brushes yesterday?
- What ______ Ada ______ (do) at ten? What activity was in progress?
- The visitor ______ (stop) outside, then ______ (carry) his bag into the workshop.
- ______ the artists tired after work? (Use the past form of be.)
4. Describe the workshop, then and now
Choose the correct form. Keep present and past descriptions separate.
- Yesterday, there (was / were) a book on the table.
- Yesterday, there (was / were) four brushes next to it.
- Today, there (is / are) some ink in the bottle.
- Today, there (is / are) two artists in the room.
- Yesterday, there (wasn’t / weren’t) any water.
- (Was / Were) there any spare pens yesterday? Yes, there (was / were).
- There’s a bestiary on the table. (It is / There is) very old.
- The bestiary (has / there has) pictures of animals.
5. Supplies and quantities
Choose the correct expression. The clues show whether the quantity is small, sufficient or excessive.
- We need (a / some) information about the animals.
- There are three (brush / brushes) on the table.
- How (much / many) ink is left?
- How (much / many) bottles do we need?
- There isn’t (some / any) water in the bowl.
- We have (a few / a little) clean brushes: only three.
- There’s (a few / a little) ink left, enough for one line.
- There are (too many / too much) books on this small table. We need to move some.
- There’s (too many / too much) water in the paint. It’s too thin.
- We have (enough / any) paper for all six drawings. We don’t need more.
- The library has (a lot of / much) books. Choose the more natural everyday affirmative expression.
- Ada gave Tom two useful (advices / pieces of advice).
6. Clothes and workshop routines
Choose the correct expression. These sentences describe the fictional artists and a modern museum guide.
- Tom usually (wakes up / gets up) at six, but stays in bed until quarter past six.
- Then he (has / does) breakfast.
- He (gets dressed / wears dressed) before leaving home.
- Tom usually (wears / puts) a tunic and boots while he works.
- The visitor (put on / took off) his wet cloak when he came inside, then hung it by the door.
- The modern guide’s trousers (is / are) black.
- The guide does the washing-up (after / then) dinner.
- She visits the bestiary gallery (twice / two) a week.
7. Correct the workshop report
Each sentence has one error. Keep its meaning and write the complete sentence correctly.
- They was copying a bestiary when I arrived.
- Did Ada painted the lion yesterday?
- Tom didn’t saw the visitor.
- The artist was draw a dragon when the bell rang.
- There were some ink on the table.
- We needed three bottle of water.
- The visitor wore a boots.
- Tom usually makes his homework after school.
8. Read the past endings aloud
Group the verbs by the sound of -ed: /t/, /d/ or /ɪd/. Remember that only /ɪd/ adds an extra syllable.
- looked, washed
- played, cleaned
- wanted, needed
9. Tell the story of another workshop incident
Write eight to ten sentences about a fictional artist making a bestiary. Start with one sentence about a usual routine in the Present Simple. Then tell the story of a particular day in the past.
Include what was in the room, what someone was wearing, two actions in progress, a new event in the Past Simple, and what happened next. Use at least two quantity expressions, one negative sentence, and when or while.
Use these notes if you need ideas: artist / usually get up early; yesterday / two books / some paint; artist / paint a dragon; helper / clean brushes; cat / jump onto table; not enough water; find another bottle; finish picture.
- Write your workshop story. Then write one Past Simple question and one Past Continuous question about it, with short answers.
Check your story:
- Past Simple: complete events; base verbs after did/didn’t.
- Past Continuous: was/were + -ing for actions in progress.
- Descriptions: there was/were agrees with the noun; wear describes clothes someone has on.
- Quantities: countable plurals, uncountable nouns and suitable quantifiers.
- Routines: natural activity phrases, time expressions and frequency words.