Name: ____________________ Grammar Study Guide Section: 7 (A, B, C, D, E, H)

What is a tense?
It is a method that we use to refer to time
It indicates the time an action takes place, whether sometime in the past, in the present
or will take some time in the future.

Simple Present

The Present Simple tense is the most basic tense in English and uses the base form of
the verb. The only change from the base is the addition of s for third person singular.
Usage:
Key words
 Indicates an action that is generally true or habitual.
"He walks to school." Always, often,
"The sun rises in the east" sometimes, usually,
never, normally, rarely,
generally, daily, weekly
 a future event that is part of a fixed timetable
"The match starts at 9 o' clock." every + time expression
On + days of the week
 Routines and actions that happen regularly
“Ms. Jackson travels every summer.”
Form:
Positive: Subject + verb 1. “I am a pie lover.” / “ He cooks pasta weekly.”
Negative: Subject + do/does + not + [verb - infinitive]. “He doesn’t care.”
To make the verb to be negative, the formula is [to be] + not. “I am not a pie lover”
Question: do/does + subject + [verb - infinitive]? “Do you know how to bake a pie?”

1
 Simple Past

Simple past is used to write and talk about completed actions that happened in a time
before the present.
Usage:
 Actions finished in the past (single or repeated)
“I visited Berlin last week.”
 Series of completed actions in the past
“First I got up, then I had breakfast.”
 Talking about a routine in the past.
“He used to play the piano every night.”
Form:
Positive: Subject + verb 2. “People lived in caves a long time ago.”
Negative: Subject + did not + verb infinitive. “I often brought my lunch to school.”
Subject + wasn’t / weren’t. “Jolie wasn’t there yesterday.”
Questions: Did + subject + verb -infinitive? “Did they leave their house?”

Key words
yesterday, last + time expression, ago, in 2010 / 1999, this morning, once upon a
time, in those days, one day, then

Exercise 1
Use the correct form of the verb:
1. _________________ (have) a bicycle when you were young?
2. Ben ____________ (go) to football practice every Tuesday.
3. They ____________ (not / be) in Rio last summer.
4. Juliana always _________ (ask) for help in her math homework.
5. ________________ (go) to the supermarket every week?

2
Present Continuous

The present continuous is a verb tense which is used to show that an ongoing action is
happening now, either at the moment of speech or now in a larger sense. The present
continuous is formed using am/is/are + v – ing.
Usage:
 To express the idea that something is happening now
“You are studying grammar now.”
 Temporary situations, even if the action isn't happening at this moment.
“I'm reading a really great book.” I might not be reading at this very moment.
 Near Future
“ Is he visiting his parents next weekend?”

Form:
Positive: Subject + is / are / am + v-ing. “Jane is answering the questions right now.”
Negative: Subject + is / are/ am + not + v-ing. “They aren’t doing the homework
currently.”
Question: Is / are / am + Subject + v-ing? “Am I doing this correctly?”

Key words
“now”, “at the moment”, “this week” and “for the time being” and the verbs “Look!” and
“Listen!”

Exercise 2
Use present continuous to complete the following sentences.
1. Joanne ______________ (write) an essay about Covid – 19 at the moment.
2. ________________ (talk) about the new platform currently?
3. Hannah ________________ (clean) her apartment now.
4. They _________________ (not / work) on a new project these days.

3
Past Continuous

Past continuous refers to a continuing action or state that was happening at some point
in the past. The past continuous tense is formed by combining the past tense of to be (i.e.,
was/were) with the verb’s present participle (-ing word).

Usage:
 An action that was happening in the past and continued for a period of time.
“Yesterday from 6 to 7 PM, I was studying science.”
 An action that was happening continuously in the past when another action
interrupted it.
“I was making dinner when she arrived.”
 Two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were
happening at the same time.
“I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made several mistakes.”

Form:
Positive: Subject + was / were + v-ing. “James was working out when I called.”
Negative: Subject + was / were + not + v-ing. “They weren’t listening to me.”
Question: was / were + Subject + v-ing? “Was he preparing the computer?”

Key words
all last night, all last week, all last month, all yesterday, from 2 o’clock to four, for a long time
yesterday, throughout the night

4
Exercise 3 (Mixed Tenses)
Use the correct form of the verb:
1. They ________________ (not / watch) television at the moment.
2. People ______________ (pay) much more to make cell phone calls in the past.
3. Yesterday at this time, I _________________(sit) at my desk at work.
4. I _______________ (meet) some friends after work tonight.
5. Every twelve months, the Earth ______________ (circle) the Sun.
6. Last year, I ________________ (not / travel) to Korea; I traveled to Japan.
7. I ________________ (listen) to music when my mom’s phone rang.
8. The bus ___________________ (not / arrive) at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM.

Exercise 4
Make the following sentences negative:
1. The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
_______________________________________________________________________
2. Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
_______________________________________________________________________

Exercise 5
Circle the correct answer:
1. Are you _______________on any special projects at work?
a. works b. worked c. working

2. They never ____________ to school, they always skipped class.

a. gone b. went c. didn’t go

5
Answer key:

Exercise 1
1. Did you have
2. goes
3. weren't
4. asks
5. Do you go

Exercise 2
1. is writing
2. Are you talking
3. is cleaning
4. aren’t working

Exercise 3
1. are not watching
2. paid
3. was sitting
4. am meeting
5. circles
6. didn't travel
7. was listening
8. does not arrive

Exercise 4
1. The train doesn’t leave every morning at 8 AM.
2. Sammy wasn’t waiting for us when we got off the plane

Exercise 5
1. C
2. B