English grammar: tenses
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ENGLISH GRAMMAR Present Present Simple Present Continuous Form
*Formed with infinitive form. *Add an S with He/She/It Uses
*For permanent facts
*For actions and situations that are generally true *For habits and routines
Time expressions
Always, usually, often, normally, sometimes, occasionally, rarely , not often, hardly ever, never Every day, always, once a year, most of the time, from time to time, now
When, after, before, unless, in case, as soon as, until, by the time, the next time
Example I work You work He/She works
Form
*With auxiliary verb be + ing
Uses
*To talk about temporary actions and situations that are happening now
*Action or situation that may be in action now *Action that may be happening around now * Current trend
Time Expressions
Now, at the moment nowadays, currently, these days, right now.
Example I am working You are working He/She is working
Past simple Past continuous Form
* infinitive +ED
*Negative form : didn’t *Questions : Did + infinitive Uses
*To describe actions and states in a completed period of time
*Used to describe habitual actions in the past Time expressions
At, in , on
To express an action happened in the past Examples
I worked You worked
Form
*Formed with the past of be and ing form. Was + ing
*Questions : inverting subject and verb BE Ex : Was he ….?
Uses
*Used to describe a situation in progress in the past
*Situations in progress happening at the same time
*Used to give information about the background situation
Time expressions When, while or as
To explain a duration of a action in the past Examples
I was working You were working
Past Perfect Past Perfect Continuous Form
Had + ed
Negatives : Hadn’t + ed Questions : Had + subject Uses
*To express that one past event has happened before another past event
* When u use before or after , it’s not necessary to use the past perfect
*Is used with verbs of thinking , like : know, realize, remember, be sure, think
Time Expressions
After, once, by, already , just, never, meanwhile…
Examples
She had already worked You had already cooked
Form
Had been + ing form
Negatives : had not been + ing Questions : Had + subject Uses
To describe a situation that was in progress up to a certain point in the past EMPHASIS DURATION OF TIME
USED TO + WOULD TO -> describes habit in the past
Present Perfect Present Perfect Continuous Form
Have + past participle
Negatives = have not + past participle Questions = Have + subject?
Uses
To talk about a present situation which is connected to the past
Present situation that started in the past Current importance of the past event Time Expressions
Use ever and never to ask and talk about our general life experience
The present perfect is often used with already and yet
Examples
My computer has crashed I’ve often been to Singapore
Form
Have + be + ing
Uses
Describes an action or situation in progress from the past up to the present
Emphasises the length of time of the action Action may be finished or continuing Can be used for repeated actions Time expressions
All day, for months, for ages, lately, recently, over the past few years, since, for
Examples
I’ve been waiting for longer than an hour now. He has been for ages now a cheater.
Future Will
Will + infinitve to refer to the future
Use will to talk about future events that we see as facts Ex : In June we will bring out two new models
Use will to talk about future beliefs
We can add perhaps/maybe to make the belief less certain Going to
Verb BE + GOING TO + INFINITIVE to make a connection between the present and future Use going to for plans and intentions
Use going to to make predictions when there is some evidence in the present situation. Ex : Be carefull , It’s going to fall. (U can see it)
Will + be + ing-form of verb
Describes an activity in progress in the future
Often used to say that something will definitely happen
Examples
You’ll be working for us next year. We’ll be holding a meeting soon.
Will + have + past participle Use to look back from one point in
the future to an earlier event or period of time
Examples
I’ll have been in teaching sector for about 20 years know.
They will have found the murderer of those kids in two months.
