Simple Tense

uioup Nembeis
Lee Ling Fang
Lee Wei Ling
Liew Yin Zhen
Lim }ie Ying
Neo Sau Rou
0ng Ping Yeow
Pow Wei }oy
Tan Cheng Yee
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
We usually use the Simple Piesent Tense to
show piesent time
The piesent tense conveys immeuiate
factuality Lewis
I skim the New Yoik Times at bieakfast
The eaith iotates aiounu the sun
Ny mothei loves uaisies
It is a beautiful uay
The forms of simple present
tense
Subject Verb
He / She / It
I / You / We / They
eats
eat
chicken
Subject do/does not Base form
He / She / It
I / You / We /
They
does not
do not eat chicken
Do / Does Subject Base form
Does
Do
he / she / it
I/ you / we / they
eat chicken?
Subject Verb
I am (not)
hungry?
He/ She/ It is (not)
You/ We/ They are (not)
Verb Subject
Am I
hungry?
Is he/ she/ it
Are you/ we/ they
Let us now show how the coie meanings of the simple
piesent its complete oi unchanging natuie anu its
immeuiate factuality apply
Babitual actions in the piesent
Be walks to school eveiyuay
ueneial timeless tiuths such as physical laws oi customs
Watei fieezes at uegiees centigiaue
Spaniaius eat uinnei late
With be anu othei stative veibs to inuicate states
Theie is a laige house on the coinei
I know Ni }ackson
The cai belongs to Bill
0i even the inception of states
Now I unueistanu
In the suboiuinate clauses of time oi conuition when the
main clause contains a futuietime veib
Aftei he finishes woik hell uo the eiianus
If Cinuy passes the bai exam shell be able to
piactice law
xpiesses futuie when a scheuualeu event is
involveu usually with a futuietime auveibial
I have a meeting next Weunesuay at that time
Piesent event action usually in spoiting events
oi uemonstiations pioceuuies of some soit
Beie comes the pitch Lim swings anu misses
Now I auu thiee eggs to the mixtuie
Piesent speech acts wheie the actions is
accomplisheu in the speaking of it
I iesign fiom the commission
Conveisational histoiical piesent useu to iefei to
ceitain past event in naiiation
So he stanus up in the boat anu the waves
his aims to catch oui attention
Simple Past Tense
USE 1 Completed Action in the
Past
se the Simple Past to expiess the iuea that an
action staiteu anu finisheu at a specific time in the
past Sometimes the speakei may not actually
mention the specific time but they uo have one
specific time in minu
xamples
I saw a movie yesteiuay
I uiunt see a play yesteiuay
Last yeai I tiaveleu to }apan
Last yeai I uiunt tiavel to Koiea
Biu you have uinnei last night
She washeu hei cai
Be uiunt wash his cai
USE 2 A Series of Completed
Actions
We use the Simple Past to list a seiies of
completeu actions in the past These actions
happen st nu iu th anu so on
xamples
I finisheu woik walkeu to the beach anu founu a nice
place to swim
Be aiiiveu fiom the aiipoit at checkeu into the
hotel at anu met the otheis at
Biu you auu floui poui in the milk anu then auu the
eggs
USE 3 Duration in Past
The Simple Past can be useu with a uuiation which
staits anu stops in the past A uuiation is a longei
action often inuicateu by expiessions such as foi
two yeais foi five minutes all uay all yeai etc
xamples
I liveu in Biazil foi two yeais
Shauna stuuieu }apanese foi five yeais
They sat at the beach all uay
They uiu not stay at the paity the entiie time
We talkeu on the phone foi thiity minutes
A Bow long uiu you wait foi them
B We waiteu foi one houi
USE 4 Habits in the Past
The Simple Past can also be useu to
uesciibe a habit which stoppeu in the
past It can have the same meaning as
useu to To make it cleai that we aie
talking about a habit we often auu
expiessions such as always often
usually nevei when I was a chilu when I
was youngei etc
xamples
I stuuieu Fiench when I was a chilu
Be playeu the violin
Be uiunt play the piano
Biu you play a musical instiument when you
weie a kiu
She woikeu at the movie theatei aftei school
They nevei went to school they
always skippeu class
USE 5 Past Facts or
Generalizations
The Simple Past can also be useu to uesciibe past
facts oi geneializations which aie no longei tiue
As in S above this use of the Simple Past is
quite similai to the expiession useu to
xamples
She was shy as a chilu but now she is veiy outgoing
Be uiunt like tomatoes befoie
Biu you live in Texas when you weie a kiu
People paiu much moie to make cell phone calls in the
past
Simple Future Tense
Simple Futuie has two uiffeient foims in
nglish
will
be going to
Although the two foims can sometimes be
useu inteichangeably they often expiess
two veiy uiffeient meanings These
uiffeient meanings might seem too
abstiact at fiist but with time anu
piactice the uiffeiences will become cleai
Both will anu be going to iefei to a
specific time in the futuie
FORM Will
will veib
xamples
You will help him latei
Will you help him latei
You will not help him latei
FORM Be Going To
amisaie going to veib
xamples
You aie going to meet }ane tonight
Aie you going to meet }ane tonight
You aie not going to meet }ane tonight
USE 1: "Will" to Express a Voluntary
Action
Will often suggests that a speakei will uo
something voluntaiily A voluntaiy action is
one the speakei offeis to uo foi someone
else 0ften we use will to iesponu to
someone elses complaint oi iequest foi
help We also use will when we iequest
that someone help us oi volunteei to uo
something foi us Similaily we use will
not oi wont when we iefuse to
voluntaiily uo something
xamples
I will senu you the infoimation when I get it
I will tianslate the email so Ni Smith can ieau it
Will you help me move this heavy table
Will you make uinnei
I will not uo youi homewoik foi you
I wont uo all the housewoik myself
USE 2 : "Will" to Express a Promise
Will is usually useu in piomises
xamples
I will call you when I aiiive
If I am electeu Piesiuent of the niteu States I will
make suie eveiyone has access to inexpensive
health insuiance
I piomise I will not tell him about the suipiise
paity
Bont woiiy Ill be caieful
I wont tell anyone youi seciet
USE 3 :"Be going to" to Express a Plan
Be going to expiesses that something is a plan It
expiesses the iuea that a peison intenus to uo something
in the futuie It uoes not mattei whethei the plan is
iealistic oi not
xamples
Be is going to spenu his vacation in Bawaii
She is not going to spenu hei vacation in Bawaii
A When aie we going to meet each othei tonight
B We aie going to meet at PN
Im going to be an actoi when I giow up
Nichelle is going to begin meuical school next yeai
They aie going to uiive all the way to Alaska
Who aie you going to invite to the paity
USE 4 "Will" or "Be Going to" to
Express a Prediction
Both will anu be going to can expiess
the iuea of a geneial pieuiction about the
futuie Pieuictions aie guesses about what
might happen in the futuie In pieuiction
sentences the subject usually has little
contiol ovei the futuie anu theiefoie SS
uo not apply In the following examples
theie is no uiffeience in meaning
xamples
The yeai will be a veiy inteiesting yeai
The yeai is going to be a veiy inteiesting
yeai
}ohn Smith will be the next Piesiuent
}ohn Smith is going to be the next Piesiuent
The movie Zenith will win seveial Acauemy
Awaius
The movie Zenith is going to win seveial
Acauemy Awaius
Thank You