ENGLISH TENSES Explanations & Examples
The Simple Present Tense We use the Simple Present as follows: • To talk about things in general • To say that something happens all the time or repeatedly • To talk something is true in general • To say how often we do things
Examples: • Nurses look after patients in hospitals. • I usually go away at weekends. • The earth goes around the sun.
The Formula • S + V( _s/es/ies) + O + C (+) • S + DON’T/DOESN’T + V + O + C (-) • DO/DOES + S + V + O + C? (?) • I/ We / They / You + V + O + C • I/ We / They / You + don’t + V + O + C • Do + S + V + O + C?
He / She / It + V_s/es/ies + O + C • He / She / It + doesn’t + V + O + C • Does + he/she/it + V + O + C? Examples: • I come from Canada. • What does this word mean? • Rice doesn’t grow in cold climate. • My father reads newspaper every morning.
The Simple Past Tense ----> The Simple Past is used to talk about activities or situations that began and ended in the past.
The Formula • S + V.2 + O + C (+) • S + DIDN’T + V + O + C (-) • DID + S + V + O + C? (?) • I/He/She/It/We/They/You + V.2 + O + C • I/He/She/It/We/They/You + didn’t + V + O + C • Did + I/he/she/it/we/they/you + V + O + C?
Examples: • I slept for eight hours last night. • Bob didn’t stay home yesterday morning. • Last night my friends and I went to the cinema.
The Present Continuous Tense • The Present Continuous express an activity that is in progress (is occurring, is happening) right now. The event is in progress at the time the speaker is saying the sentence. Example: - I’m having lunch at the cafeteria right now. • But, sometimes the event is not necessarily happening at the time of speaking. Example: - Some friends of mine are building their own house. They hope it will be finished before next summer.
We use the Present Continuous when we talk about things happening in a period of time. Example: Azka: “Is Zahra working this week?” Syifa: “No, she’s on holiday.”
When we talk about changes happening around now, we also use the Present Continuous. Examples: • The population of the world is rising very fast. • Is your English getting better?
The Formula • S + to be + V_ing + O + C (+) • S + to be + not + V-ing + O + C (-) • To be + S + V_ing + O + C? (?) To be (Present) = am / is / are • I + am/am not • He/She/It + is/is not • We/They/You + are/are not
Examples: • I’m having lunch with my colleagues now. • She is studying French at the moment. • They aren’t doing their science project right now.
The Past Continuous Tense • Expresses an activity that was in progress (was occurring, was happening) at a point of time in the past or at the time of another action. Examples: - I was sleeping when the phone rang. - While I was doing my homework, he was watching TV.
To say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but had not finished. Examples: • What were you doing at 10 o’clock last night? • I waved to her but she wasn’t looking.
The Formula • S + to be + V_ing + O + C (+) • S + to be + not + V_ing + O + C (-) • To be + S + V_ing + O + C? To be (Past) = was / were • I/He/She/It + was/was not • We/They/You/ + were/were not
Examples: • Last night I was walking home when I met Dave. • Ann was watching television when we came yesterday afternoon. • Tom wasn’t doing his homework when I called him last Sunday.
The Present Perfect Tense • Expresses activities or situations that occurred (or did not occur) “before now”, at some unspecified time in the past. Examples: • Jim has already finished studying physics. • She hasn’t had her dinner yet.
Expresses activities that were repeated several or many times in the past. The exact times are unspecified. Examples: • I have visited her five or six times. • Azka has had three tests so far this week. • They have written to the committee twice.
When the Present Perfect is used with since or for, it expresses situations that began in the past and continue to the present. Examples: • Mr. Avery has lived in London since 1989. • I have known Ben for twenty years.
The Formula • S + HAS/HAVE + V.3 + O + C (+) • S + HAS/HAVE + NOT + V.3 + O + C (-) • HAS/HAVE + S + V.3 + O + C? (?) • He/She/It + has/has not • I/We/They/You + have/have not
Examples: • I have finished my work. • Jim has had his lunch. • Have you seen the movie yet? • How long has she lived in Bandung?
THE PAST PERFECT TENSE • Expresses an activity that occurred before another time in the past. Example: I was not hungry at 1:00 P.M yesterday. I had already had lunch. • Expresses an activity that was completed before a particular time in the past. Example; She had already finished working when I called her.
The Formula • S + HAD + V.3 + O + C (+) • S + HAD + NOT + V.3 + O + C (-) • HAD + S + V.3 + O + C? (?) - I/She/He/It/We/They/You + had/had not
Examples: • Paul had already gone home when Sarah arrived at the party. • Somebody had broken into our flat. • Karen didn’t want to come to the cinema with us because she had already seen the movie.
