Grammar basics 1 - Verb tenses by Carmen Flores

GRAMMAR BASICS 1 - VERB TENSES Index Present Simple (Elementary)

Present Simple (Intermediate)

List of Stative / State Verbs

Present Continuous (Elementary)

Present Continuous / Progressive (Intermediate) 7 Past Simple (Elementary)

Past Simple and Past Continuous (Intermediate)

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous (Intermediate)

Present Perfect (Intermediate)

Past Perfect (Intermediate)

The Future (Intermediate)

If-clauses (Intermediate)

Auxiliary Verbs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Catalan (Elementary)

Modal Verbs (intermediate)

Revision of the passive (Intermediate)

PRESENT SIMPLE (elementary) FORM: Aff. (+)

Neg. (-)

I don’t play

Do I play?

Yes, I do/ No, I don’t

You play

You don’t play

Do you play?

Yes,you do./ No,you don’t

He/she/it plays

He/she/it doesn’t play Does he/she/it play? Yes,he does/No,he doesn’t

We play

We don’t play

Do we play?

Yes,we do./ No,we don’t.

You play

You don’t play

Do you play?

Yes, you do./ No, you don’t.

They play

They don’t play

Do they play?

Yes,they do./No,they don’t.

play

Question (?)

(+) They play tennis at the weekends.

Short Answers (SA)

/ She plays tennis every day.

(-) They don’t play tennis at the weekends. / She doesn’t play tennis… (?) Do they play tennis at the weekends? / Does she play tennis…? (SA) Yes, they do. / No, they don’t. / Yes, she does. / No, she doesn’t.

-S form: (=rules for plurals) He/she/it

drinks, lives, runs, swims

He/she/it

goes, does

He/she/it

passes, matches, fixes, crashes

He/she/it

studies, cries, tries

(I/you/we/you/they study,cry,try)

USES: 

Habitual actions + routines Examples: I get up at 7.00 every day. She usually has breakfast at home. They go to the gym every day.



Things that are always true (scientific facts + permanent situations) Examples: The sun rises in the east. She’s 40 years old. I love chocolate.

TYPICAL TIME-ADVERBIALS 

Frequency adverbs 100%

ALWAYS USUALLY OFTEN SOMETIMES HARDLY EVER

0% NEVER



Time expressions ON MONDAYS/ TUESDAYS/ WEDNESDAYS/ THURSDAYS, etc. EVERY

DAY WEEK MONTH YEAR SUMMER Etc.

ONCE A DAY A WEEK

TWICE three times

A MONTH

A DAY A YEAR Etc.

Etc.

Present Simple (Intermediate) Uses:    

Regular habits and routines Things that are always true (permanent situations or scientific facts) States, not actions Future only with timetabled activities.

Time-adverbials  Frequency adverbs: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never; expressions of frequency: once a week, twice a year, three times a day; every day/ week/ summer, etc. Examples:

Aff. The sun rises in the east; Mary often wears trainers; They play tennis; She is very optimistic; The train leaves at 10.15 a.m;

Neg. The sun doesn´t rise in the west; Mary doesn´t usually wear trainers; They don´t play tennis; She isn´t very optimistic; The train doesn´t leave at 10 a.m.

Q. Does Mary often wear trainers? (Yes, she does./ No, she doesn´t.); Do they play tennis? (Yes, they do./ No, they don´t.), Is she very optimistic? (Yes, she is. / No, she isn´t.)

State verbs: Dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish, Believe, doubt, feel (=have an opinion), guess, imagine, know, mean, realise, recognize, remember, suppose, think, (=have an opinion), understand, etc.

LIST OF STATIVE / STATE VERBS Stative verbs are those which are not usually used with progressive tenses (i.e: present continuous, past continuous, present perfect continuous, etc.) and others which are only used with progressive tenses in certain of their meanings. 1. Dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish. 2. Astonish, impress, please, satisfy, surprise. 3. Believe, doubt, feel (=have an opinion), guess, imagine, know, mean, realise, recognize, remember, suppose, think, (=have an opinion), understand. 4. Hear, see, measure (=have length, etc.), taste (=have a flavour), smell (=give out a smell), sound, weigh (=have weight). 5. Belong to, concern, consist of, contain, depend on, deserve, fit, include, involve, lack, matter, need, owe, possess. 6. Appear, resemble, seem.

Compare the progressive or non-progressive use of certain verbs: What are you thinking about? I think you´re right. I´m feeling fine.

I feel we shouldn´t do it.

Why are you smelling the meat? Is it bad?

The meat smells bad.

`What are you doing with my whisky?´ - `I´m just tasting it.´ It tastes wonderful. The scales broke when I was weighing myself this morning. I weighed 68 kilos three months ago – and look at me now! Why´s that man measuring the street? I measure 75 cm. Round the waist. I´m seeing philip tomorrow.

I see what you mean.

I can hear a funny taste I can see a woman wearing a yellow dress.

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS/PROGRESSIVE (Elementary)

FORM

am/ is /are + V-ing Examples:

(+) They are writing a letter. (-) They aren’t writing a letter. (?) Are they writing a letter? (SA) Yes, they are./ No, they aren’t.

USES 1.

a) Things that are happening now or around now. Ex: The sun isn’t shining today. She’s wearing a pink dress now. I’m reading a lot these days.

b) Time adverbials Now

right now

These days today 2.

just now

nowadays

at the moment

This week

a) Immediate future Ex: I’m going home. Bye! See you tomorrow!

b) Future plans or arrangements (diary) Ex:

What are you doing this evening? I’m eating out with Paul.

You’re going to the dentist tomorrow at 6.30 p.m. The British students are arriving today at 12.20 p.m.

c) Time adverbials This morning/ afternoon/ evening

Tonight

Tomorrow/ today at 6 o’clock

Next Monday

Present Continuous (Intermediate) Uses:    

Actions happening now or around now. Temporary actions. Changing situations. Future plans or arrangements.

Time-adverbials : now, right now, at the moment, these days, today, at present, nowadays, this week, next Saturday, tomorrow at 5.00, etc.

Examples:

Aff. The sun is shining today; Mary is wearing trainers; “Look! The dog is biting the sofa!”; They are playing a lot of tennis these days; I´m going to the dentist tomorrow at 6.00.

Neg. The sun isn´t shining today. It´s very cloudy; They aren´t playing much tennis these days. Q. Is the sun shining today? (Yes, it is.; No, it isn´t.); Are they playing tennis these days? (Yes, they are.; No, they aren´t.)

PAST SIMPLE (elementary)

REGULAR VERBS

V+-ed

FORM: (+) They lived in New York in 1992. (-) They didn’t/did not live in N.Y. in 1992. (?) Did they live in N.Y. in 1992? (S.A.)

Yes, they did. No, they didn’t.

Some regular verbs:

 Answer

ask

arrive

Climb

cover

carry

call

Cry

discover

decide

Fail

Help

happen

hope

Invent

Jump

Listen

live

laugh

Look

Move

miss

Open

organize

Play

pull

Push

Remember

realize

repair

Stop

study

shout

Suggest

show

start

Stay

Turn

travel

try

Talk

Visit

Wait

walk

watch

want

etc...



Spelling rules –ed



Base form + -ed : listen  listened



Base form –e + -d : like  liked ; dance  danced ; live  lived



Base form consonant + -y  -ied : study  studied; cry  cried



Base form C – V- C  C C – ed (stress on the last syllable, except for –x, -w):

Plan  planned; stop stopped; prefer  preferred 

Travel  travelled

IRREGULAR VERBS - Check the list of irregular verbs – 2nd column Example: GO (Infinitive-base form) – WENT (Simple Past) – GONE/BEEN (Past Participle)

USES:  

Finished actions in the past. Stories (sometimes) Examples: -

Last night I watched “House” on TV. The princess didn’t like her new dress. We arrived yesterday at 10 o’clock. Where did you travel to?

TYPICAL TIME-ADVERBIALS YESTERDAY LAST

THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY

WEEK MONTH YEAR SUMMER MONDAY CHRISTMAS Etc.

IN 1999/2006 ON

2ND SEPTEMBER 2007 MY LAST BIRTHDAY

TWO DAYS/WEEKS/MONTHS/YEARS

AGO

A LONG TIME 5 MINUTES

PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS (Intermediate) SIMPLE PAST/PAST SIMPLE FORM

Regular verbs Irregular V. Aff.

V-ed (liked, walked, lived, etc.) 2nd column on the list. (was/were, drank, ate, went, etc.)

The Robinsons went to Paris in 1995.

Neg. They didn’t go to Paris in 1995.

USE

Did they go to Paris in 1995? Yes, they did. / No, they didn’t.

To talk about actions/ situations/ events taking place in a definite time in the past.

TIME EXPRESSIONS Last year/ Monday/ November/ Christmas/ week... On 14th November 1995

Yesterday

In 1997

On his last birthday

Two days/ a week/ 3 years ago

PAST CONTINUOUS/ PROGRESSIVE FORM

Aff.

I/ he/ she/ it

was

We/ you/ they

were

Neg. I/ he/ she/ it

We/ you/ they

sleeping

wasn’t sleeping weren’t

Q. Was she sleeping? Yes, she was./ No, she wasn’t Were they sleeping? Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t. USES To talk about...

1. Continuing actions or situations in the past. We emphasize the duration of the action.

2. At eight o’clock yesterday, Peter was taking down the curtains and I was doing the washing-up.

Past continuous vs. Simple past (Intermediate) Sentence in the past continuous: a continuing action or situation. Sentence in the simple past:

a shorter action or event that happened in the

middle of the larger one (a) or interrupted it (b) (a) While I was making sandwiches for a picnic, it started to rain. (b) She was watching cartoons when the lights suddenly went out

TIME EXPRESSIONS:

While/as + Past Continuous vs. When + Past Simple Last night at 10 pm, yesterday morning at 8 a.m., etc. + Past Continuous

PRESENT PERFECT (Intermediate) FORM:

HAVE/HAS + Past participle

Aff.

I/ we/ you/ they

have

finished the exercises

‘ve He/ she/ it

has

visited Rome

‘s

Neg. I/ we/ you/ they He/ she/ it

Have Has

haven’t

visited Rome.

hasn’t

I/we/ you/ they visited Rome? he/ she/ it

Past Participle Regular Verbs V –ed

examples: played, stopped, liked...

Irregular Verbs  3rd column on your list. ex.: run, eaten, had, drunk, etc.

USES To talk about… 1. Actions/ situations/ events that happened in an indefinite time in the past (=Simple Past). We often do not say when they exactly happened and in our minds this event has a relation with the present. Adverbs: ever, not....yet, up to now, so far, many/ several times

They have visited a lot of foreign countries up to now. One of my best friends has seen Titanic 5 times. Have you ever met a famous person? I haven’t finished my homework yet. She has never been to Australia before.

2. Sometimes it indicates a very recent past. Adverbs: just, recently, already

I’ve just finished my homework. They’ve recently got married. 3. Actions continuing up to the present Adverbs: since (+starting point)

For (+period of time)

You have studied English since 2005. (You are studying English.) He has helped with the housework since he was 6. (He still helps) You’ve studied English for 6 years. She’s lived in Mediona for 14 years (She still lives there...)

COMPARE TO SIMPLE PAST—> She studied English for 6 years (finished action)

PAST PERFECT 

FORM: HAD/HADN’T + past participle (V-ed/3rd column) (+) She had been to Paris before 2008. ‘d been (-) She hadn’t been to Paris before 2008. had not been (?) Had she been to Paris before 2008? (S.A.) Yes, she had. / No, she hadn’t.



USE

You use the past perfect to describe a past action that happened before another past action. So you use it in combination with the simple past

Examples: When they turned on the TV, the football match had already finished. I felt nervous because I hadn’t flown before. When she got home, she realized she had left her keys at school.



TIME-ADVERBIALS Before that time Then 2009

Etc.

THE FUTURE I.

be (am, is, are) + v-ing

Present Continuous/Progressive - future arrangements or appointments (diary)

e.g. What´s he doing on Wednesday evening? He is watching the Dream Team at home What are you doing tomorrow at 6 o´clock? I´m meeting Ann. - Actions that are already beginning to happen

e.g: Bye bye! I’m going home. I’m leaving.

II. Will / won´t

will / won´t + Verb

We use will/won´t to talk about: -Predictions about the future (opinion)

e.g.

It will probably rain tomorrow In 2010 there will be a computer in every home. I think James will come with us.

-Decisions taken at the time of speaking

e.g.

Mike: Do you know Maria is ill in bed? Ann: Really? Poor Maria! I’ll finish her reports.

-Promises and threats

e.g.

Mum, let us go! We´ll be very nice to Mrs Smith! We won´t touch anything. If you do that again, I’ll kill you.

-Requests

e.g. Will you be quiet, please? Will you please open the door?

III. going to

be (am/is/are) + going to + Verb

-Intention or plans for the future (decisions taken before speaking)

e.g. We´re going to sail around the world next summer. I´m going to study Medicine when I am 19. -Predictions about the future (with external evidence)

e.g. (a cloudy day) Look at those clouds! It’s going to rain. (a woman with a big tummy) She’s going to have a baby. (a drunk man) He’s going to fall down!

IF-CLAUSES Conditional types 0, 1, 2 and 3 If + clause, clause Clause + if+ clause



Conditional type 0: cause and effect

Uses: To talk about things that always happen and scientific truths. If + present tense

Present tense Can + verb Imperative

If you eat very much,

you get fat

If you heat water,

it boils

If you see Peter,

tell him I miss him.

If you finish first,

you can win the competition.



Conditional type 1: open conditions

Uses: To talk about possible real situations that may happen .

If + present tense

Future with will

If you pass your exams

I´ll give you a present

If her boyfriend leaves her,

she will find a better one.



Conditional type 2: hypothetical and unreal conditions

Uses: To talk about unreal hypothetical situations (present or future time reference).

If + past tense

Would, could, might

If I had a lot of money,

I´d build a big house.

If I was very rich,

I could buy an oil well.

If I became a millionaire,

I might go round the world

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Conditional type 3: Unreal conditions in the past

Uses: To talk about unreal hypothetical situations in the past. If + past perfect

Would/ could/ might + have + past ple.

If you had explained your problem to me,

I would have helped you.

If she had taken her medicine,

she would have felt much better.

If you had come to the party,

I would have enjoyed it much more.

ELS AUXILIARS – AUXILIARY VERBS Què són?

Paraules que necessitem quan fem preguntes, negacions o respostes breus en

anglès. Ordre de les preguntes: (Wh-word) EX:

+ AUX + S

What is

Ex:

+ (Objects)?

Maria doing?

Can Ordre de les negacions :

+ (V)

you

swim

AUX+NOT

+ (V)

+ (Objects)

Núria doesn´t

English.

Roger

playing football.

S+

isn´t

fast?

Respostes breus: YES, pronom subjecte AUX. NO, pronom subjecte AUX+NOT. Ex: Do you usually go out at the weekend? Yes, I do. / No, I don’t. D´on els treiem? 1. De dins la frase, perquè tenim un verb que és un auxiliar.

Auxiliars que podem trobar dins la frase: BE (am, is, are, was, were  am not, isn´t, aren´t, wasn´t, weren´t) frase afirmativa: Tom is making his bed. Frase negativa: Tom isn´t making his bed. Pregunta: Is Tom making his bed? Yes, he is. / No, he isn’t. What is Tom making? His bed. CAN (can  can´t, could  couldn´t) frase afirmativa: Mike can climb mountains Frase negativa: Mike can´t climb mountains. Pregunta: Can Mike climb high mountains? Yes, he can. / No, he can’t. What can Mike climb? High mountains.

HAVE (GOT) (Have got, has got  haven´t got, hasn´t got) Frase afirmativa: Ben has got a Mercedes car. Frase negativa: Ben hasn´t got a Mercedes car. Pregunta: Has Ben got a Mercedes car? Yes, he has. / No he hasn’t. What sort of car has Ben got? A Mercedes. Tots els MODALS: WILL (will  won´t), SHOULD (should  shouldn´t), WOULD, SHALL, MAY, ETC.

2. Ens l´”inventem”. Si la frase està en present i a la frase no hi ha cap auxiliar (ni BE, ni CAN, ni HAVE (GOT)) l´insertem DO, DOES, DON’T o DOESN’T. Ex: (+) They live in Sant Joan. (-) They don’t live in Sant Joan. (?) Do they live in Sant Joan? (S.A.) Yes, they do. / No, they don’t.

Si la frase està en passat i no hi ha cap WAS, WERE, COULD, COULDN´T,, ETC. insertarem DID o DIDN’T.

MODALS / Modal Verbs -

They have a special meaning (obligation, advice, ability, etc.) - They don’t have an –s form in the present simple.* - They work as auxiliaries (-, ?, SA)* - MODAL + infinitive without to* - *(except for: have/has to)

 Advice  SHOULD/ SHOULDN’T e.g.: You should talk to Maria and say sorry. You’ve been friends for ages! You shouldn’t be that obstinate!

 Obligation from the speaker  MUST (Past: HAD TO) e.g.: Stop watching TV! You must do your homework now. It’s getting late. Last night I had to finish my homework because my mother was really angry with me.

 Obligation from the outside  HAVE TO / HAS TO (Past: HAD TO) e.g.: You have to hold an identity card or a passport to travel abroad. John can’t have a break because he has to stay in to finish his exam. I had to show my identity card at the airport when I flew to Germany.

 Prohibition  MUSTN’T e.g.: You mustn’t shout or eat in the library.

 No obligation  DON’T / DOESN’T HAVE TO (Past: DIDN’T HAVE TO) e.g.: You don’t have to wash the dishes because I’ve already done it. Yesterday he didn’t have to wash the dishes because I had done it before. They don’t have to come to my party if they don’t feel like.

 Ability  CAN / CAN’T (Past: COULD/ COULDN’T) e.g.: She can’t speak Chinese, but she can speak good Japanese. When I was 5, I couldn’t speak English.

REVISION OF THE PASSIVE

REVISION OF THE PASSIVE.doc

WhatÂ´s the difference between a passive and an active sentence?

Active: John usually prepares my breakfast in the morning Subject

Passive:

Object

My breakfast is usually prepared (by John) in the morning. Subject

agent

WhatÂ´s the structure of the passive? Present Passive:

AM/IS/ARE + Past Participle

Past Passive: Future Passive with will: Present Perfect Passive:

Turn the following active sentences into the passive. 1. They recycle paper, glass and batteries. 2. People buy flats. 3. We read lots of newspapers yesterday. 4. Mary did her homework 5. They cleaned their teeth carefully 6. They have built a house 7. Students discovered the Tomb of a Pharaoh in Egypt. 8. They have chosen Philosophy.