TENSES

PRESENT SIMPLE

++FORM++

Affirmative I work He/She/It works We/You/They work

Negative I don’ t work He/She/It doesn’ t work We/You/They don’t work
Questions Do I work? Does he/she/it work? Do we/you/they work?

++USES++ The present simple is used:

1 to talk about a habit or something that happens regularly.

How often do you see your grandparents?
2 to talk about a state and general truths such as scientific facts
She doesn’ t like coffee Nine planets travel round the sun/ Babies cry when they’re hungry
3 to talk about a future, timetabled event. The train leaves at 9.30 tonight

+ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY+

1 Adverbs of frequency are often used with the present simple to talk about habitual or repeated actions. Common
adverbs of frequency include: always, usually, often, sometimes, occasionally,seldom, rarely, never

2 They normally come: +after the verb BE : He’ s always late

+after an auxiliary verb: They’ ve often talked about you
+before other verbs: She never wears jeans

3 The adverbs ALWAYS, NEVER, RARELY,SELDOM, HARDLY EVER don’ t normally come at the beginning or end of a
sentence: He always drives to work

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

++FORM++

Affirmative I am working He/She/It is working We/You/They are working

Negative I am not working He/She/It is not working We/You/They are not working
Questions Am I working? Is he/she/it working? Are we/you/they working?
++USES++ The present continuous is used:

1 to talk about what is happening now, at this moment. James, what are you doing?
2 to talk about a temporary situation, or activity happening around now. He’ s learning English
3 to talk future plans or arrangements. An adverb expressing the future ( this summer, tomorrow, next Friday ,etc.) is
normally included in the sentence or implied . Similar in meaning and use to GOING TO but with less sense of
personal intention.
I’m seeing her tonight
4 to talk about change in progress. My father’s becoming very bad-tempered
--It can be used with movement verbs such as ARRIVE, COME, GO, etc. She’s going to New York next week

+VERBS NOT NORMALLY USED IN THE CONTINUOUS FORM:

Some groups of verbs are not normally used in the continuous form. They include:
VERBS OF THINKING AND OPINION: believe, doubt, feel, forget, guess, imagine, know, mean, realise, recognise,
remember,see(=understand), suppose, think, understand
VERBS OF EMOTION: dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish
VERBS OF POSSESSION AND BEING: be, belong, consist of, contain, have (=possess), include, involve,need, own,
possess
VERBS OF THE SENSES: hear, see, smell, sound, taste
These stative verbs are sometimes used in the continuous form but describing a mental activity in progress. Thus,
their meaning changes:

She thinks that girls are better at science than boys (opinion) I’m thinking about the maths exam (mental activity)

PAST SIMPLE

++FORM++

Affirmative I worked He/She/It worked We/You/They worked

Negative I didn’ t work He/She/It didn’ t work We/You/They didn’t work
Questions Did I work? Did he/she/it work? Did we/you/they work?

Regular verbs from the past simple affirmative by adding –d or –ed : live-lived visit-visited

Many common verbs are irregular. See the list of irregular verbs on page…

++USES++ The past simple is used:

1 to talk about a finished action in the past, often with a time adverbial: He left school in 1994
2 to talk about something that happened regularly in the past: She went out every night
3 to talk about a past situation: I went to Oxford University

PAST CONTINUOUS

++FORM++

Affirmative and negative: I/he/she/it was working/wasn’t working

You/we/you/they were working/weren’ t working
Questions: Was I/He/she/it working? Were you/we/you/they working?
++USES++ The past continuous is used:

1 to talk about an action which was in progress at a particular moment in the past.

I was watching television at 9.30.

2 to describe a situation or the background to a scene.
It was raining and he was carrying an umbrella
3 to describe an interrupted action in the past. We were watching the news when you rang.
4 The past continuous is often used after WHILE and AS . The short action is constructed in the past simple form and
interrupts the long action (in the continuous form).
While we were playing, it started to rain
5 to express simultaneity of two actions: While you were washing the car, I was studying.

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

++FORM++

Affirmative and negative I/he/we… had left I/she/ they… hadn’ t left
Questions Had I/he/we.. left?

++USES++ The past perfect is used:

1 for an action that happened before another action in the past.

When we got to the station, the train had already left
2 With IT WAS THE FIRST/SECOND TIME. It was the first time that I’d visited Cuba
3 FOR and SINCE can be used with the past perfect.
I’ d been there for three days when James arrived She’ d worked there since the previous summer

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

++FORM++

Affirmative I have worked He/She/It has worked We/You/They have worked

Negative I haven’ t worked He/She/It hasn’t worked We/You/They haven’t worked
Questions Have I worked? Has he/she/it worked? Have we/you/they worked?

Regular verbs form the past participle by adding –d or –ed Play-played live-lived visit-visited
Many common verbs are irregular. See the list of irregular verbs on page ……. .

++USES++ The present perfect simple is used:

1 to talk about experiences in one’ s life. Have you ever been to America? I’ ve never flown
2 to talk about the present result of a past action. Ann has gone out (=She’ s not here now)
3 to talk about an action which began in the past and which continues in the present.
I have lived in London for ten years She has had the same car since 1993

4 The present perfect simple must be used when the quantity of actions or finished products is mentioned.

I’ ve done three exercises He’ s telephoned a number of times

--We use FOR with a period of time ( for three weeks, for two years, for a long time, for ages, for ever, etc.)
--We use SINCE with a point of time in the past ( since August, since 1993 , since Christmas, since I was a child, etc.)
--To indicate a recently finished action, the present perfect is often used with JUST.
James has just left (=He went out a few moments ago)
+++Other adverbs used are ALREADY and YET.

WILL /SHALL FUTURE

++FORM++
Affirmative and negative I/he/we/they will go I/he/they won’ t go
Interrogative Will I/he/she/we go?

++USES++
1 to make a prediction about the future or express a future fact .
I think it will rain tomorrow He will be forty in June
2 to talk about a decision made at the moment of speaking. I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed
3 to express an offer or request Will you help me with this bag? Shall I give you a lift?
4 to express an opinion about the future after verbs and adjectives or adverbs like THINK, SUPPOSE, EXPECT, DOUBT
IF,PROBABLY, CLEAR,SURE.
I suppose you’ ll be pretty busy Do you think he’ ll come?
5 Shall is sometimes used instead of Will in the first person singular and plural ( I and We) , especially in questions.
Where shall we meet? What shall I do?

GOING TO FUTURE
++FORM+

Affirmative and negative I am/am not going to play he/she/it is /isn’ t going to play
Interrogative Am I going to play? Is he/she/it going to play? Are we/you/they going to play?

++USES++
1 to make a prediction based on what you know, feel or can see.
Look at those black clouds. It’ s going to rain I think I’m going to faint
2 to talk about plans where the decision has been made before speaking. It normally expresses a degree of intention.
She’ s going to study French. We’ re going to have a party

FUTURE CONTINUOUS

++FORM++
Affirmative and negative I/he/we will be waiting I/he/we/they won’ t be waiting
Questions Will I/he/we be waiting?

++USES++
1 The future continuous is used to indicate that an action will be in progress at a particular moment in the future.
I will be working all day tomorrow
When you get home, will your mother be waiting for you?
2 Adverbs used are: At this tie next…, By the end…, at this time tomorrow…, by 7 o’clock.