VERB TENSES

Present Simple
1. The Present Tense describes something that isgenerallytrue:
I live in Alaska
She works in a bank.
I have three brothers
They eat at that restaurant every week.
2. The Present Tense doesnt describe something happening right now. We use for that thePresent
Continuous tense.
Wrong: Right now, I talk on the telephone.
Right: Right now, I am talking on the telephone. (Present Continuous Tense)
3. However, there are some verbs (stative verbs) that do not have a continuous form. In these
cases, we use the Present Tense to describe a situation right now.
Right: Right now, I only have two dollars in my pocket.
4. We occasionally use Present Tense to describe a scheduled future event:
The planes leaves at 3:30 tomorrow evening.
The concert begins at five.
5. The structure of the Present Tense is:
SUBJECT + VERB (+ -s ending)
I eat
You eat
He eats
*note that he/she/it takes ansending
The structure of the negative form is:
SUBJECT + DONT/DOESNT + VERB
I dont eat
You dont eat
He doesnt eat
The structure of the question form is:
DO/DOES + SUBJECT + VERB
Do I eat?
Do you eat?
Does he eat?

Present Continuous
The Present Continuous tense describes an action happeningnow.
I am reading a book right now.
The Present Continuous describes a temporary state.
I am staying at the Ramada Hotel this week.
Currently, I am looking for a job.
We can use the Present Continuous to describe the future. It takes the same meaning as going to
or planning to
We are playing badminton next Thursday.
I am watching a movie tomorrow.
We typically use the Present Continuous Tense with the following phrases:

Currently

Today

Now

This week

Right now

Presently

At the moment
The structure of the Present Continuous Tense is:
SUBJECT + AM/IS/ARE + VERB+ING
I am sleeping
You are sleeping
She is sleeping
The structure of the negative form is:
SUBJECT + AM/IS/ARE + NOT + VERB+ING
I am not sleeping
You are not sleeping
She is not sleeping
The structure of the question form is:
AM/IS/ARE + SUBJECT + VERB+ING
Am I sleeping?
Are you sleeping?
Is she sleeping?

Present Perfect Simple & Present Perfect Continuous

The Present Perfect Tense gives a link between the present and the past. It is similar to the Present
Perfect Continuous Tense, except it focuses on the result of an action rather than the action itself.
We use it in the following situations:
1. To express the meaning, until now, or from a past time until now:
I have lived here since 1967
We have been farmers for many centuries.
2. To express the current result of a previous action:
I have finished my report.
He has finally graduated.
3. We use the Present Perfect Tense with the following keywords:
Ever
Have you ever been to France?
Never
I have never been to France
Before
Have you been to France before
Times
I have been to France five times
Since
I have lived in France since I was young
For
I have lived in France for many years.
Just
I have just returned from France
Recently
I have recently returned from France
Already
I have already finished my homework
4. We do NOT use the Present Perfect when we state a specific time:
Wrong: I have been to France last week.
Wrong: I have seen that movie yesterday.
5. We use been as the past participle of go:
I have been to France. (I have returned)
George has gone to France. (He is in France now)
6. We use HAVE or HAS to form the Present Perfect. With HAD is the Past Perfect.
7. The structure is as follows:
SUBJECT + HAVE/HAS + PAST PARTICIPLE
I have done it
You have done it
He has done it
The question form is as follows:
HAVE/HAS + SUBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE
Have I done it?
Have you done it?

Has he done it?

The negative form is as follows:
SUBJECT + HAVE/HAS + NOT + PAST PARTICIPLE
I have not done it
You have not done it
He has not done it
The passive form is as follows:
OBJECT + HAVE/HAS + BEEN + PAST PARTICIPLE
I have been chosen
You have been chosen
He has been chosen
8. The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is sometimes called the Present Perfect Progressive
Tense. The structure is as follows:
SUBJECT +HAVE/HAS + BEEN + VERB-ING
I have been running
You have been running
He has been running
The meaning is similar to the Present Perfect Tense, but the emphasis is on the action:
I am so tired because I have been running.
I have been waiting for so long!

Past Simple
The structure is as follows:
SUBJECT + VERB (PT)
Danny sang.
We left.
They looked around the shops.
Note 1: The BE verb is formed using WAS/WERE:
He was hungry.
The people were angry.
Note 2: Take care to learn when to use the BE verb and when not to. The following is a common
mistake:
Wrong: I was helped my mother.
Right: I helped my mother.

We use the structure WAS + Past Participle with passive sentences, and WAS + Verb(ing) with the
Past Continuous Tense.
Wrong: I was asked her a question.
Right: I asked her a question..
Right (passive): I was asked a question (by her)
Right (past continuous): I was asking a question.
Note 3: Question and negative form are shown below. Note that these forms use the BASE VERB.
Question Form:

DID + SUBJECT + BASE VERB

Did you see it?
Did you find him?
Did Shaun marry Joanna?
Right: Did Shaun marry Joanna?
Wrong: Did Shaun married Joanna?
Question Form with BE VERB:
WAS/WERE + SUBJECT
Was it nice?
Was Tony happy?
Were the children late?
Negative Form:
SUBJECT + DID NOT + BASE VERB
He did not see it.
We didnt find him.
Shaun didnt marry Joanna.
Right: Shaun didnt marry Joanna.
Wrong: Shaun didnt married Joanna?
Negative Form with BE VERB:
SUBJECT + WAS/WERE NOT
It was not nice. / It wasnt nice.
Tony wasnt happy.
The children werent late.
Note 4: Sometimes the past tense form of the verb has an ed ending and sometimes not.

Past Continuous
The form of the tense is:
SUBJECT + WAS/WERE + VERB(ING)
Sammy was eating
I was thinking
They were walking
We were running
The past continuous is used to describe a continuous or longer action in the past:
I visited the Vatican while I was traveling in Italy.
I visited the Vaticanis the shorter action
I was travelingis the longer action
More examples:
She called me while I was having dinner.
Ben was reading a book when he heard a knock at the door.
They were walking down the street when they saw him.
Often, the past continuous tense is used to give some background detail for a story:
The sun was shining. The birds were singing. It was a great day.
The negative form is as follows:
Sammy was eating - Sammy was not eating/Sammy wasnt eating
We were running - We were not running/We werent running
The question form is as follows:
Sammy was eating - Was Sammy eating?
We were running - Were we running?

Past Perfect Simple

The Past Perfect Tense has the following structure:
SUBJECT + HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE
He had left
She had eaten
We had improved
Nora had already taken it
The Past Perfect Tense is used when we are talking about the past and we wish to reference a
timefurther in the past. That means we are talking about two different times in the past:
When we arrived in Rome, we found that Peterhad already arrangedour accommodation
(Peter had arranged our accommodation before we arrived.)

Many learners confuse the Past Perfect Tense and the Present Perfect Tense.
The Present Perfect compares a past time with the present:
Im not hungry. Ive already eaten.
The Past Perfect compares a past time with another time in the past:
I was not hungry. I had already eaten.
Compared to the Present Perfect, the Past Perfect is not so commonly used. In fact, if we use the
words before or after, we often just use the past tense instead:
Correct: Before I learned Spanish, I had learned Italian.
Also correct: Before I learned Spanish, I learned Italian.
Just like the Present Perfect, we often use the words already and never with the Past Perfect:
When Linda arrived, the guests had already left.
Before he came to Rome, he had never eaten gelato.
We often use the Past Perfect structure with reported speech:
Joe said he had never cooked before.
Mary told me she had spent the day cleaning her apartment

Future simple (Will, going to, present simple & present continuous)
We use going to to talk about something we haveplanned. going to = planning to, and will
to talk about a spontaneous orunplannedfuture event.
He is going to buy a new car. (He is planning to buy a new car)
I think I will take the bus today. (I have just decided)
Other uses:
To talk about future facts or things we believe to be true about the future, we use 'will'.
The boss won't be very happy.
I'm sure you'll like her.
I'm certain he'll finish it today.
If we are not so certain about the future, we use 'will' with expressions such as 'probably',
'possibly', 'I think', 'I hope'.
She'll probably be a big star someday.
I'll try to come but I may not get back in time.
I think we'll get on well.
For making a future prediction based on evidence in the present situation, we use 'going to'.
The sky is clear. It's going to be sunny day.
The traffic is terrible. We're going to miss our flight.
Be careful! You're going to spill your coffee.
Both "will" and "be going to" can express the idea of a general prediction about the future.
It looks like she's going to win.
It looks like she'll win.

GOING TO is used to talk about future plans. This is the structure of a sentence with GOING TO:
Subject + BE verb + GOING + TO + VERB
Frank is going to sleep.
He is going to be late.
They are going to have a nice time.
In spoken English, people often use gonna to mean going to, and it still follows a pattern:
Correct: He is gonna be late.
Wrong: He gonna be late.
Wrong: He is gonna to be late.
The meaning of GOING TO is very similar to the meaning of planning to. These two sentences
have no difference in meaning:
Frank is going to take a bath after supper.
Frank is planning to take a bath after supper.
We can use GOING TO to make a prediction:
I think its going to rain.
But we do NOT use GOING TO for a spontaneous decision; we use WILL for that:
Wrong: Your nose is bleeding. Im going to get you a tissue.
Right: Your nose is bleeding. Ill get you a tissue.
We can use the Present Continuous to describe the future. It takes the same meaning as going
to or planning to
We are playing badminton next Thursday.
I am watching a movie tomorrow.
The structure of the Present Continuous Tense is:
SUBJECT + AM/IS/ARE + VERB+ING
I am sleeping
You are sleeping
She is sleeping
The structure of the negative form is:
SUBJECT + AM/IS/ARE + NOT + VERB+ING
I am not sleeping
You are not sleeping
She is not sleeping
The structure of the question form is:
AM/IS/ARE + SUBJECT + VERB+ING

Am I sleeping?
Are you sleeping?
Is she sleeping?
We occasionally use Present Simple tense to describe a scheduled future event:
The planes leaves at 3:30 tomorrow evening.
The concert begins at five.
The structure of the Present Tense is:
SUBJECT + VERB (+ -s ending)
I eat
You eat
He eats
*note that he/she/it takes ansending
The structure of the negative form is:
SUBJECT + DONT/DOESNT + VERB
I dont eat
You dont eat
He doesnt eat
The structure of the question form is:
DO/DOES + SUBJECT + VERB
Do I eat?
Do you eat?
Does he eat?

Future Continuous (Will be doing)

It is the future form of the continuous tense. The structure of the future continuous form is:
SUBJECT + WILL + BE + VERB + -ING
He will be dancing.
They will be coming.
1. We use it to describe an event in progress at a particular time in the future
I cant meet you at one o clock. I will be having lunch with Brian. (I will be in the middle of
lunch)
We often use the phrase this time:
This time next week, Ill be surfing at Dangga Bay.
This time next year, Ill be studying for my PhD at Harvard.
2. We also use it in the same way that we use GOING TO; for future plans:
Im going to go to Mauritius in June.
Ill be going to Mauritius in June.

Future Perfect (Will have done)

It is the perfect form of the continuous tense. The structure of the future perfect form is:
SUBJECT + WILL + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
He will have arrived.
They will have eaten.
We use the Future Perfect to describe acompletedevent in the future. We often use it with the
phrase by or by the time, because by signifies that something has already occurred.
By August, Iwill have completedmy degree.
By the time she arrives, the other guestswill have left.
We also use it with the word already:
When he reaches Rome he will already have cycled five hundred miles.