VERB TENSES AND MODALS AUXILIARIES
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SIMPLE PRESENT The simple present tense in English is used to describe an action that is regular, true or normal. We use the present tense: 1. For repeated or regular actions in the present time period. -The train to Berlin leaves every hour. -John sleeps eight hours every night during the week. 2. For facts. -The President of The USA lives in The White House. -We come from Switzerland. 3. For habits. I get up early every day. They travel to their country house every weekend. 4. For things that are always / generally true. It rains a lot in winter. The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace.
Negative Sentences in the Simple Present Tense To make a negative sentence in English we normally use Don't or Doesn't with all verbs EXCEPT To Be and Modal verbs. Affirmative: You speak French. Negative: You don't speak French. Examples of Negative Sentences with Don't and Doesn't: You don't speak Arabic. John doesn't speak Italian.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS The present continuous of any verb is composed of two parts - the present tense of the verb to be + the present participle of the main ver. Affirmative: Subject
+ to be
+ base + ing
she
is
talking
Negative: Subject
+ to be + not
+ base + ing
she
is not (isn't)
talking
Interrogative: to be
+ subject
+ base + ing
is
she
talking?
Examples : Affirmative I am going You are going She it is going
Negative I am not going You aren’t going She isn’t going
Interrogative Am I going? Are you going? Is she it going?
The present continuous is used: to describe an action that is going on at this momento. to describe an action that is going on during this period of time or a trend. to describe an action or event in the future, which has already been planned or prepared. to describe a temporary event or situation. with 'always, forever, constantly', to describe and emphasise a continuing series of repeated actions.
Examples: - I am listening to the news. -You are washing your clothes. - I am not listening to the news. - You are not washing your clothes. - Am I listening to the news? - Are you washing your clothes?
SIMPLE PAST Regular verbs: base+ed 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. I didn't see a play yesterday. Last year, I traveled to Japan. Last year, I didn't travel to Korea. Did you have dinner last night?
Examples: Simple past, irregular verbs - He went to a club last night. - Did he go to the cinema last night? - Did Barry give you my passport? - We didn't come because it was raining.
PAST CONTINUOUS The past continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the past. The action started before that moment but has not finished at that moment. For example: - Yesterday I watched a film on TV. - The film started at 7pm and finished at 9pm. When we use the past continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about. Look at these examples: I was working at 10pm last night. They were not playing football at 9am this morning. What were you doing at 10pm last night? What were you doing when he arrived?
We often use the past continuous tense to "set the scene" in stories. We use it to describe the background situation at the moment when the action begins. Often, the story starts with the past continuous tense and then moves into the simple past tense. Here is an example: - " James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard. Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a telephone box..."
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FUTURE FUTURE (GOING TO)
Going to future expresses a conclusion regarding the immediate future or an action in the near future that has already been planned or prepared. We use 'going to' when we want to talk about a plan for the future. -
I'm going to see him later today. They're going to launch it next month.
We use 'going to' when we want to make a prediction based on evidence we can see now. -
Look out! That cup is going to fall off. Look at those black clouds. It's going to rain soon. positive
negative
question
I
I am going to speak.
I am not going to speak.
Am I going to speak?
you / we / they
You are going to speak.
You are not going to speak.
Are you going to speak?
he / she / it
He is going to speak.
He is not going to speak.
Is he going to speak?
FUTURE (WILL)
Some people have been taught that 'will' is 'the future' in English. This is not correct. Sometimes when we talk about the future we cannot use 'will'. Sometimes when we use 'will' we are not talking about the future. We can use 'will' to talk about future events we believe to be certain. The sun will rise over there tomorrow morning. Next year, I'll be 50. Often we add 'perhaps', 'maybe', 'probably', 'possibly' to make the belief less certain. - I'll probably come back later. - Maybe it will be OK. We often use 'will' with 'I think' or 'I hope'. I think I'll go to bed now. I think she'll do well in the job. We use 'will' at the moment we make a new decision or plan. The thought has just come into our head. Bye. I'll phone you when I get there. I'll answer that.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS
Future Continuous has two different forms: "will be doing " and "be going to be doing." Unlike Simple Future forms, Future Continuous forms are usually interchangeable. Future Continuous with "Will" [will be + present participle] Examples: You will be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight. Will you be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight? Future Continuous with `Be Going To " [am+ going to be + present participle] Examples: You are going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight. Are you going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight?
Examples: - At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes. -At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John. -At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes. -At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.
PRESENT PERFECT
The present perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary verb "has" or "have" with the past participle. I have studied. He has written a letter to MarĂa. We have been stranded for six days. Because the present perfect is a compound tense, two verbs are required: the main verb and the auxiliary verb. I have studied. (main verb: studied ; auxiliary verb: have) He has written a letter to MarĂa. (main verb: written ; auxiliary verb: has)
We have been stranded for six days. (main verb: been ; auxiliary verb: have) In Spanish, the present perfect tense is formed by using the present tense of the auxiliary verb "haber" with the past participle. Haber is conjugated as follows: He has ha
hemos habĂŠis han
You have already learned in a previous lesson that the past participle is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding either -ado or -ido. Remember, some past participles are irregular. The following examples all use the past participle for the verb "comer." -
I have eaten. You have eaten. He has eaten. We have eaten. You-all have eaten. They have eaten.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOS The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is: subject + auxiliary verb have has
+ auxiliary verb been
+ main verb base + ing
Some examples of the present perfect continuous tense: subject
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb
main verb
+ I
have
been
waiting
for one hour.
+ You
have
been
talking
too much.
Contractions
When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes do this in informal writing. I have been You have been He has been She has been It has been John has been The car has been We have been They have been
I've been You've been He's been She's been It's been John's been The car's been We've been They've been
Some examples: - I've been reading. - The car's been giving trouble. - We've been playing tennis for two hours.
How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense? There is usually a connection with the present or now. There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:
An action that has just stopped or recently stopped We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and stopped recently. There is usually a result now. -I'm tired [now] because I've been running. -Why is the grass wet [now]? Has it been raining? -You don't understand [now] because you haven't been listening.
An action continuing up to now We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and is continuing now. This is often used with for or since. -I have been reading for 2 hours. [I am still reading now.] -We've been studying since 9 o'clock. [We're still studying now.] -How long have you been learning English? [You are still learning now.] -We have not been smoking. [And we are not smoking now.]
PAST PERFECT The past perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary verb "had" with the past participle. -I had studied. -He had written a letter to MarĂa. -We had been stranded for six days. Because the past perfect is a compound tense, two verbs are required: the main verb and the auxiliary verb. I had studied. (main verb: studied ; auxiliary verb: had) He had written a letter to MarĂa. (main verb: written ; auxiliary verb: had) We had been stranded for six days. (main verb: been ; auxiliary verb: had) You have already learned in a previous lesson that the past participle is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding either -ado or -ido. Remember, some past participles are irregular.
The following examples all use the past participle for the verb "live"
-I had lived. -You had lived. -He had lived. -We had lived. -You-all had lived. -They had lived.
Examples: You said you had bought this dress in the mall. You had studied German before you moved to Germany. He hadn't studied Italian before he move to Italy. I did not have any money because I had left my wallet at home.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
The past perfect continuous is composed of two elements - the past perfect of the verb to be (=had been) + the present participle (base+ing).
How do we make the Past Perfect Continuous Tense? The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is: subject
+
auxiliary verb HAVE
+
auxiliary verb BE
+
main verb
conjugated in simple past tense
past participle
present participle
had
been
base + ing
For negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense, we insert not after the first auxiliary verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and first auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past perfect continuous tense: subject + I + You - It
auxiliary verb had had had not
auxiliary verb main verb been working. been playing tennis. been working well.
When speaking with the past perfect continuous tense, we often contract the subject and first auxiliary verb: I had been you had been he had she had been it had been we had been they had been
Some examples: I had been buying You had been buying He had been buying
Negative: I hadn't been buying You hadn't been buying He hadn't been buying Interrogative: Had I been buying? Had you been buying? Had she been buying?
I'd been you'd been he'd been she'd been it'd been we'd been they'd been
FUTURE PERFECT A verb form that expresses action completed by a specified time in the future. The future perfect is formed by combining will have or shall have with a past participle.
We use the future perfect tense when we want to emphasize the 'no-later-than' time of the completion of a future action. Compare the meaning of the following sentences, the first in the future tense, the second in the future perfect tense:
Future: We will break for lunch around 12:30. Future perfect: We will have broken for lunch by 12:30.
The future tense sentence merely states when some future action will take place. The future perfect sentence puts a 'no-later-than' time limit on when the action will have been completed. We could break for lunch at noon or even 11:00, but in any event, we will have broken for lunch no later than 12:30.
Structure of sentence Positive sentence • Subject + auxiliary verb + main verb (past participle) + object • Subject + will have + 3rd form of verb or past participle + object Examples -She will have finished the work by Wednesday. -I will have left for home by the time he gets up. - You will have started a job. Negative sentence -Subject + Not between auxiliary verbs + main verb (past participle) + object -Subject + will not have + 3rd form of verb or past participle + object Examples -She will have finished the work by Wednesday. -I will have left for home by the time he gets up. -You will not have started a job. Interrogative sentence -Auxiliary verb + Subject + auxiliary verb + main verb (past participle) + object -Will + Subject +have + 3rd form of verb or past participle + object Examples Will she have finished the work by Wednesday? Will I have left for home by the time he gets up? Will you have started a job?
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS It is used to express a continued or ongoing action that will start in future and is thought to be continued till sometime in future. (Remember, an ongoing action in future which will continue till some time in future). There will be a time reference, such as “since 1980, for three hours� from which the action will start in future and will continue. A sense of time reference is found which gives an idea that action will start at some time in future and will continue for some time. Such time reference or sense of time reference is the identity of Future perfect continuous tense because it tells that action will start at a particular time in future.
For example, “He will have been studying in this school since 2005”, so the it means that he will start studying in this school in 2005 and will study in this school till sometime in future.
Structure of sentence. Positive Sentence. - Subject + Auxiliary verb + main verb (Present participle) + Object + Time reference -Subject + will have been + (1st form of verb or base verb + ing) + object + time reference
Examples. I will have been waiting for him for one hour. She will have been playing football since 2015. Negative Sentence. -Subject +”Not” inside Auxiliary verbs + main verb (present participle) + Object + Time reference - Subject + will not have been + (1st form of verb or base verb + ing) + object + Time reference
To make negative sentence, the word “not” is added inside auxiliary verb, so it becomes “will not have been”. Examples. I will not have been waiting for him for one hour. She will not have been playing football since 2015. Interrogative Sentence. • Auxiliary verb + Subject + auxiliary verb + main verb (present participle) + object + time reference • Will + Subject + have been + (1st form of verb or base verb+ing) + object + time reference Interrogative sentence starts with auxiliary verb “will” and auxiliary verb “have been” is used after subject in sentence. Examples. Will I have been waiting for him for one hour? Will she have been playing football since 2015?
How do we use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense? We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action before some point in the future. Look at these examples: I will have been working here for ten years next week. He will be tired when he arrives. He will have been travelling for 24 hours.
HELPING AND MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS Helping verbs or auxiliary verbs such as will, shall, may, might, can, could, must, ought to, should, would, used to, need are used in conjunction with main verbs to express shades of time and mood. The combination of helping verbs with main verbs creates what are called verb phrases or verb strings.
In the following sentence, "will have been" are helping or auxiliary verbs and "studying" is the main verb; the whole verb string is underlined: As of next August, I will have been studying chemistry for ten years.
Students should remember that adverbs and contracted forms are not, technically, part of the verb. In the sentence, "He has already started." the adverb already modifies the verb, but it is not really part of the verb. The same is true of the 'nt in "He hasn't started yet" (the adverb not, represented by the contracted n't, is not part of the verb, has started). Shall, will and forms of have, do and be combine with main verbs to indicate time and voice. As auxiliaries, the verbs be, have and do can change form to indicate changes in subject and time. I shall go now. He had won the election. They did write that novel together. I am going now. He was winning the election. They have been writing that novel for a long time.
Modal Auxiliaries
Other helping verbs, called modal auxiliaries or modals, such as can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would, do not change form for different subjects. For instance, try substituting any of these modal auxiliaries for can with any of the subjects listed below. I you (singular) he can write well we you (plural) they
There is also a separate section on the Modal Auxiliaries, which divides these verbs into their various meanings of necessity, advice, ability, expectation, permission, possibility, etc., and provides sample sentences in various tenses.
More examples: He should be here by now. I could swim quite well when I was younger. You mustn't blame yourself for this. You might have discussed it with me first. You can't be serious! Could you open the window please? Must you make so much noise? She had to take her brother along with her. We ought to be going.