Present Perfect

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now.
The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time
expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, that day, one day, etc.
We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many
times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

FORM:
[has/have + past participle]

 I have seen that movie twenty times.

 I think I have met him once before.
 Have you read the book yet?
 Have you ever been to Italy?
 Yes, I have been to Italy three times.

However, there are exceptions:

The words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes used in the Present Perfect
to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. For example:

 I have lived in Jeddah for three years.

 I have studied in this university for five months.
 She has worked at the National Guard Hospital for seven years.
 He has taught chemistry for eighteen years.
Past Simple

We use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a
specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific
time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

Examples:

 I saw a movie yesterday.

 Last year, I traveled to Japan.
 I visited Uncle John this morning.
 Did you have dinner last night?

When the time is more important than the action, we use the simple past. On the other
hand, when the action is more important than the time, we use the present perfect.

Present perfect continuous

FORM

[has/have + been + present participle]

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and
has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are
all durations that can be used with the Present Perfect Continuous.
Examples:

 He has been sleeping for the last five hours.

 She has been working at that company for three years.
 What have you been doing for the last 30 minutes?
 James has been teaching at the university since June.
 We have been waiting here for over two hours!

Past perfect

FORM

[had + past participle]

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past.
It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.

Examples:

 I did not have any money because I had forgotten my wallet in the car.
 John knew London so well because he had visited the city several times.
 Had Susan ever studied Italian before she moved to Italy?
 She only understood the movie because she had read the novel.
 Mark had never been to sand dunes before yesterday.
 We were not able to get a hotel room because we had not booked in advance.
Prefixes:
A prefix is a syllable added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning.

Prefix Meaning Examples

Re Again - back Replay, rewrite, reread
Over Too much Overdose, overconfident
Mis wrongly Misunderstand, misjudge
Non not Nonsense, nonstick
Un Opposite, not Uncover, unlock, unsafe

Suffixes:
A suffix is a syllable added to the end of a word to change its meaning.

Suffix change word into Examples

En verb Brighten, frighten, tighten
Ment noun Shipment, argument,
movement
Less Means: without Limitless, endless, powerless
ly adverb Quickly, easily, happily
able - ible adjective Likable, enjoyable, predictable

Possessive (S)
When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually add an
apostrophe + s ('s) to a singular noun and an apostrophe (') to a plural noun, for example:

 the boy's ball (one boy)

 the boys' ball (two or more boys)

Proper Nouns (Names)

We very often use possessive 's with names:

 This is Mary's car.

 Where is Ram's telephone?

 Who took Anthony's pen?

 I like Tara's hair.

When a name ends in s, we usually treat it like any other singular noun, and add 's:

 This is Charles's chair.

But it is possible (especially with older, classical names) to just add the apostrophe ':

 Who was Jesus' father?

Irregular Plurals

Some nouns have irregular plural forms without s (man → men). To show possession,
we usually add 's to the plural form of these nouns:

singular noun plural noun

my child's dog my children's dog

the man's work the men's work

the mouse's cage the mice's cage