ENGLISH - GUIDE TO TENSES MS.

Lorena Garrido

Present tenses: Past tenses:

1. Present simple of verb be 4. Past simple of verb be

2. Present simple 5. Past simple
3. Present continuous 6. Past continuous

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1. Present simple of verb be

a. Verb TO BE means “SER o ESTAR”
i. I am a student = Yo SOY un estudiante (SER)
ii. I am here = Yo ESTOY aquí (ESTAR)
iii. Verb to BE depends on the subject: AM, IS, ARE
1. I= AM
2. You, they, we, you = ARE
3. She, he, it = IS

GRAMMAR:

b. AFFIRMATIVE FORM:
i. We are in classes
(subject) + (verb to BE) + (complement)
1. I am a new student.
2. He is from Mexico.

c. NEGATIVE FORM:
i. We are not in classes.
(subject) + (verb to BE) + (NOT) + (complement)
1. I am not a new student.
2. He is not from Mexico.

d. INTERROGATIVE FORM:
i. Are we in classes?
(verb to BE) + (subject) + (complement) + ?
1. Am I a new student?
2. Is he from Mexico?

e. SHORT ANSWER:
i. Yes, we are. / Yes, he is. / Yes, I am
ii. No, we aren’t / No, he isn’t. / No, I‘m not
YES/NO* +(subject) + (verb BE + NOT*)
ENGLISH - GUIDE TO TENSES MS. Lorena Garrido

2. Present simple
a. Used to talk about routines or actions you do frequently
i. “I have breakfast at 7:30 every day”
ii. Some words like “every day, every morning, every night, all weekends, once a
week, twice a month, three times a year, etc” tells you that the sentence is in
present simple.
b. Used to talk about facts (true statements)
i. “She loves chocolate”
c. The auxiliary DO goes for I, you, they, we
d. The auxiliary DOES and the verb_S goes for 3 rd person singular (she, he, it)

GRAMMAR:

e. AFFIRMATIVE FORM:
i. We walk to the university every morning
(subject) + (verb infinitive) +(complement)
*I, you, they, we: WALK (infinitive verb)
*She, he it: WALKS (verb_S ending)
a. She walks to the university every morning
f. NEGATIVE FORM:
i. We don’t walk to the university every morning
(subject) + (auxiliary DO/DOES+NOT )+(verb infinitive) +(complement)
*I, you, they, we: DON’T WALK (do not + infinitive verb)
*She, he it: DOESN’T WALK (does not + infinitive verb)
a. She doesn’t walk to the university every morning
b. She doesn’t walks to the university every morning

g. INTERROGATIVE FORM:
i. Do We walk to the university every morning?
(Aux. DO/DOES )+ (subject) + (verb infinitive) +(complement) + ?
*I, you, they, we: DO
*She, he it: DOES (no _S in the verb)
a. Does she walk to the university every morning?
b. Does she walks to the university every morning?
h. SHORT ANSWER:
i. Yes, we do. / Yes, she does.
ii. No, we don’t / No, she doesn’t.
YES/NO* +(subject) + (Auxiliary DO/DOES + NOT*)

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ENGLISH - GUIDE TO TENSES MS. Lorena Garrido

3. Present continuous
a. Used to talk about an action in progress
i. She is talking on the phone now.
ii. Some words like ”now, at the moment, in this instant, as we speak, right now,
etc” tells you that the sentence is in present continuous
b. Used to talk about future arrangements (future plans)
i. I’m travelling next year.
c. We use the verb to BE and the verb ends in _ING (gerund)

GRAMMAR:

d. AFFIRMATIVE FORM:
i. They are going to classes.
(subject) + (verb to BE) + (verb_ING)+ (complement)
1. I am watching TV tonight.
2. It is eating fish.

e. NEGATIVE FORM:
i. They are not going to classes.
(subject) + (verb to BE+NOT) + (verb_ING)+ (complement)
1. I am not watching TV tonight.
2. It is not eating fish.

f. INTERROGATIVE FORM:
i. Are they going to classes?
(verb to BE)+ (subject) + (verb_ING) + (complement) + ?
1. Am I watching TV tonight?
2. Is it eating fish?

g. SHORT ANSWER:
i. Yes, they are. / Yes, it is. / Yes, I am
ii. No, they aren’t / No, it isn’t. / No, I‘m not
YES/NO* +(subject) + (verb BE + NOT*)

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4. Past simple of verb be

a. Verb TO BE in past means “ERA O ESTUVE”
i. I was a student = Yo ERA un estudiante
ii. I was here = Yo ESTUVE aquí
iii. Verb to BE in past depends on the subject: WAS, WERE
1. You, they, we, you = WERE
2. I, She, he, it = WAS
ENGLISH - GUIDE TO TENSES MS. Lorena Garrido

GRAMMAR:

b. AFFIRMATIVE FORM:
i. We were in classes
(subject) + (verb to BE in past) + (complement)
1. I was a new student.
2. He was from Mexico.

c. NEGATIVE FORM:
i. We were not in classes.
(subject) + (verb to BE in past) + (NOT) + (complement)
1. I was not a new student.
2. He was not from Mexico.

d. INTERROGATIVE FORM:
i. Were we in classes?
(verb to BE in past) + (subject) + (complement) + ?
1. Was I a new student?
2. Was he from Mexico?

e. SHORT ANSWER:
i. Yes, we were. / Yes, he was. / Yes, I was
ii. No, we weren’t / No, he wasn’t. / No, was not
YES/NO* +(subject) + (verb BE in past + NOT*)

5. Past simple
a. Used to talk about an action that FINISHED in the past
i. “I had a party last weekend”
ii. Some words like “yesterday, last week, last month, two weeks ago, last night,
a year ago, etc” tells you that the sentence is in past.
b. Used to talk about facts that were true in the past.
i. “She loved chocolate” (we don’t know if this is still true)
c. The auxiliary DID goes equal to every pronoun (I, you, they, we, she, he, it)
i. In negative and interrogative (when “did” appears) the verb goes in infinitive.
d. In affirmative, the verbs in past are divided into REGULAR and IRREGULAR verbs
i. Regular verbs end in _ED = Look > LookED
ii. Irregular verbs change completely = eat > ate

GRAMMAR:

e. AFFIRMATIVE FORM:
i. She walked to the university
(subject) + (verb in past) +(complement)
ENGLISH - GUIDE TO TENSES MS. Lorena Garrido

ii. You drank a lot of coffee yesterday.

f. NEGATIVE FORM:
i. She didn’t walk to the university
(subject) + (auxiliary DID +NOT )+(verb infinitive) +(complement)
ii. You did not drink a lot of coffee yesterday.

g. INTERROGATIVE FORM:
i. Did she walk to the university?
(Aux. DID )+ (subject) + (verb infinitive) +(complement) ?
ii. Did you drink a lot of coffee yesterday?

h. SHORT ANSWER:
i. Yes, she did. / Yes, you did.
ii. No, she didn’t / No, you didn’t.
YES/NO* +(subject) + (Auxiliary DID + NOT*)

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6. Past continuous
a. Used to talk about an action in progress that HAPPENED in the past.
i. She was talking on the phone now.
ii. Used to talk about an interrupted action in the past
1. She was talking on the phone when the baby cried
2. While she was talking on the phone the baby started to cry
b. We use the verb to BE in past (ESTABA(N))and the verb ends in _ING (gerund)

GRAMMAR:

c. AFFIRMATIVE FORM:
i. They were going to classes.
(subject) + (verb to BE in past) + (verb_ING)+ (complement)
1. I was watching TV last night.
2. It was eating fish.

d. NEGATIVE FORM:
i. They were not going to classes.
(subject) + (verb to BE in past +NOT) + (verb_ING)+ (complement)
1. I was not watching TV last night.
2. It was not eating fish.

e. INTERROGATIVE FORM:
i. Were they going to classes?
ENGLISH - GUIDE TO TENSES MS. Lorena Garrido

(verb to BE in past)+ (subject) + (verb_ING) + (complement)

1. Was I watching TV last night?
2. Was it eating fish?

f. SHORT ANSWER:
i. Yes, they were. / Yes, it was. / Yes, I was
ii. No, they weren’t / No, it wasn’t. / No, I was not
YES/NO* +(subject) + (verb BE + NOT*)

EXERCISES – IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF TENSE

1. The book is on the desk :______________________________________________

2. Sam bought new jeans. :______________________________________________
3. There were at school. :______________________________________________
4. The girls are singing a song. :______________________________________________
5. What is your phone number? :______________________________________________
6. Did the boys work hard? :______________________________________________
7. The cats are on the tree. :______________________________________________
8. You were sleeping on the floor. :______________________________________________

EXERCISES – CHANGE THE SENTENCE INTO…

1. My children are eating healthy.

(-) _______________________________________________________________________
(?)_______________________________________________________________________
2. You didn’t call me yesterday.
(+) _______________________________________________________________________
(?)_______________________________________________________________________
3. Are you a new student?
(-) _______________________________________________________________________
(+)_______________________________________________________________________
4. Was she writing a diary?
(-) _______________________________________________________________________
(+)_______________________________________________________________________
5. I take the bus to work.
(-) _______________________________________________________________________
(?)_______________________________________________________________________
6. She wasn’t at the library.
(+) _______________________________________________________________________
(?)_______________________________________________________________________