16 Kind of Tenses
1. Simple Present Tense
- To express habits, general
truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:
I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth) - To give instructions or
directions:
You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left. - To express fixed arrangements,
present or future:
Your exam starts at 09.00 - To express future time, after
some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
Subject +
(is/am/are) + (Verb1+ing) + Object + Modifier
- to describe an action that is
going on at this moment: You are using the
Internet. You are studying English grammar.
- to describe an action that is
going on during this period of time or a trend: Are you still
working for the same company? More and more peopleare
becoming vegetarian.
- to describe an action or event
in the future, which has already been planned or prepared: We're
going on holiday tomorrow. I'm meeting my
boyfriend tonight. Are they visiting you next
winter?
- to describe a temporary event
or situation: He usually plays the drums, but he's playing bass
guitar tonight. The weather forecast was good, butit's
raining at the moment.
- with "always, forever,
constantly", to describe and emphasise a continuing series of
repeated actions: Harry and Sally are always arguing!You're
constantly complaining about your mother-in-law!
Subject +
Verb2 + Object + Modifier
You always
use the simple past when you say when something happened, so
it is associated with certain
past time expressions
- frequency: often,
sometimes, always
I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
I often brought my lunch to school. - a definite point in time: last
week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
We saw a good film last week.
Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
She finished her work atseven o'clock
I went to the theatre last night - an indefinite point in time: the
other day, ages ago, a long time ago People lived in
caves a long time ago.
- She played the
piano when she was a child.
Note: the word ago is
a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is placed after the
period of time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.
Subject + (Was/Were) +
(Verb1+ing) + Object + Modifier
The past continuous describes actions or
events in a time before now, which began in the past and is still
going on at the time of speaking. In other words, it expresses
an unfinished or incomplete action in the past.
It is used:
- Often, to describe the
background in a story written in the past tense, e.g. "The sun was
shining and the birds were singing as the elephant
came out of the jungle. The other animals were relaxing in
the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly. She was
looking for her baby, and she didn't notice the hunter who was
watching her through his binoculars. When the shot rang out,
she was running towards the river..."
- to describe an unfinished
action that was interrupted by another event or action, e.g. "I was
having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang."
- to express a change of mind:
e.g. "I was going to spend the day at the beach but
I've decided to get my homework done instead."
- with 'wonder', to
make a very polite request: e.g. "I was wondering if
you could baby-sit for me tonight."
THE PRESENT PERFECT IS USED TO DESCRIBE
- An
action or situation that started in the past and continues in the present. I have lived in Bristol since 1984 (= and I still do.)
- An
action performed during a period that has not yet finished. She has
been to the cinema twice this week (= and the week isn't over
yet.)
- A
repeated action in an unspecified period between the past and now. We have visited Portugal several
times.
- An
action that was completed in the very recent past, expressed by 'just'. I have just
finished my
work.
- An
action when the time is not important. He has read 'War and Peace'. (= the result of his
reading is important)
The
present perfect continuous is made up of two elements: the present perfect of
the verb 'to be' (have/has been), and the present
participle of the main verb (base+ing)
Affirmative: She has been / She's been running.
Negative: She hasn't been running.
Interrogative : Has she been running?
Interrogative negative: Hasn't she been running?
Negative: She hasn't been running.
Interrogative : Has she been running?
Interrogative negative: Hasn't she been running?
FUNCTIONS OF THE PAST PERFECT
The past perfect
refers to a time earlier
than before now. It is used to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter which
event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened first.
In these examples, Event A is the event that happened first and
Event B is the second or more recent event:
Event A Event B
John had gone out when I arrived in the office.
The past perfect continuous corresponds to the present
perfect continuous, but with reference to a time earlier than 'before now'. As
with the present perfect continuous, we are more interested in the process.
Examples
- Had
you been waiting
long before the taxi arrived?
- We
had been trying
to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.
- It
had been raining
hard for several hours and the streets were very wet.
- Her friends had been
thinking of calling the police when she walked in.
The simple future refers to a time
later than now, and expresses facts or certainty. In this case there is no
'attitude'.
The simple future is used:
- To
predict a future event:
It will rain tomorrow. - With
I or We, to express a spontaneous decision:
I'll pay for the tickets by credit card. - To
express willingness: I'll do the washing-up.
He'll carry your bag for you. - In
the negative form, to express unwillingness:
The baby won't eat his soup.
I won't leave until I've seen the manager! - With
I in the interrogative form using "shall", to make an offer:
Shall I open the window? - With
we in the interrogative form using "shall", to make a
suggestion:
Shall we go to the cinema tonight? - With
I in the interrogative form using "shall", to ask for advice or
instructions:
What shall I tell the boss about this money? - With
you, to give orders:
You will do exactly as I say. - With
you in the interrogative form, to give an invitation:
Will you come to the dance with me?
Will you marry me?
The
future continuous is made up of two elements:
the simple future of the verb 'to be' + the present participle (base+ing)
the simple future of the verb 'to be' + the present participle (base+ing)
Examples
- This time next week I
will be sun-bathing in Bali.
- By Christmas I will
be skiing like a pro.
- Just think, next Monday you
will be working in your new job.
The
future perfect is composed of two elements
the simple future of the verb "to have" (will have) + the past participle of the main verb
the simple future of the verb "to have" (will have) + the past participle of the main verb
Examples
- I
will have been
here for six months on June 23rd.
- By the time you read this I
will have left.
- You
will have finished
your report by this time next week.
- Won't
they have arrived
by 5:00?
- Will
you have eaten
when I pick you up?
The
future perfect continuous is composed of two elements
the future perfect of the verb "to be" (will have been) + the present participle of the main verb (base + ing)
the future perfect of the verb "to be" (will have been) + the present participle of the main verb (base + ing)
Like the future perfect simple, this form is used to project ourselves forward in time and to look back. It refers to events or actions in a time between now and some future time are unfinished. It is most often used with a time expression.
Examples
- I
will have been waiting
here for three hours by six o'clock.
- By 2001 I will have
been living in London for sixteen years.
- When I finish this course, I
will have been learning English for twenty years.
- Next year I will
have been working here for four years.
- When I come at 6:00, will
you have been practicing long?
The forms of the past future
tense are similar in structure and implication to those of the present future
tense, only the auxiliary verb “will” or “shall” appears in its past form
“would” or “should”. They find their basic use in indirect quotations, where
they are really conversions from the corresponding present forms in direct
quotations to suit the sequence of tense.
Example:
1. He said that he would leave in three days.
2. He promised
that he would buy me a pair of gloves.
Function
Express the activities which happening, but it was past
Formula
( + ) S + should/would + be + V-ing
( – ) S + should/would + not + be + V-ing
( ? ) should/would + S + be + V-ing + ?
E.g. (+) I would be playing baseball at 10 yesterday
(-) I wouldn’t
be playing billiard
(?) Would you
be driving for me?
Formula
( + ) S + should/would + have + V3
( – ) S + should/would + not + have + V3
( ? ) should/would + S + have + V3+ ?
E.g. (+) I would have worked
(-) I wouldn’t
have swum
(?) Would you
have bought a travel bag?
Past future
perfect tenses continuous tense is used to express a sentence that would have
been happening in the past. Tenses is similar to the future perfect continuous
tense, there are similarities both have more than one time in one sentence
description
(+) Subjek + would + have been + V-iing
(-) Subjek + would + not + have been + V- ing
(?) Would + subjek + have been + V-ing
Example:
I
would have been working in leading companies for 5 years
I
would not have been working in leading companies for 5 years
Would
you have been working in leading companies for 5 years ?
