VERB TENSES ADN MODAL AUXILIARIES
Types of verb tenses Types of Verb Tenses. • Present Simple.
• Present Continuous. • Present Perfect Simple. • Present Perfect Continuous. • Past Simple. • Past Continuous. • Past Perfect Simple • Past Perfect Continuous. • Future Simple. • Future Continuous. • Future Perfect Simple. • Future Perfect Continuous.
PRESENT SIMPLE OR SIMPLE PRESENT Form: Subject + Verb + s/es in third person. Use:
Examples:
1. Permanent situations.
1. She works in a bank.
2. Generally true.
2. The sun rises in the east.
3. Habits, use with: twice a month, often, sometimes, every Tuesday.
3. I play tennis every Tuesday.
4. Future timetables , use with: this evening, at 11am, tomorrow). 5. Future after “when”, “until”. use with: when, until, as soon as, after, before.
4. Our train leaves at 11 am. 5. I won’t go out until it stops raining.
Present Continuous. Form: Subject + verb to be + verb + participle. Use: we use it for things that are happening at the moment of speaking. Example: I'm working at the moment.
We can also use this tense for temporary situations, when we feel something won't continue for a long time. Example: She's staying with her friend for a week. We can use the present continuous for habits but they have to be temporary or new habits Example: You're smoking too much.
Present Perfect Simple. Form: subject + have/has + verb + past participle.
Use:
Result of an action in the past is important in the present Example: I have cleaned my room.
Recently completed actions Example: He has just played handball.
State beginning in the past and still continuing mostly with since (point of time) or for (period of time) 1986.
Example: We have lived in Canada since
together with lately, recently, yet Example: I have been to London recently.
Present Perfect Continuous. Form: Subject + has/have + been + verb + present participle
Use: To say how long for unfinished actions which started in the past and continue to the present. We often use this with for and since. Example: I've been living in London for two years. Actions which have just stopped (though the whole action can be unfinished) and have a result, which we can often see, hear, or feel, in the present (focus on action). Example: I'm so tired, I've been studying.
Past Simple.
Form: Subject + verb + ed
Use:
Finished events in the past with no connection to the present: Example: Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa. With a finished time word (yesterday, last week, at 2 o'clock, in 2003): Example: We visited Japan in 2007.
For stories / lists of events: Example: He went to a café, sat down and lit a cigarette.
Past Continuous.
Form: subject + was/were + verb + ing. Use: A continuous action in the past which is interrupted by another action or a time: Example: I was taking a bath when the telephone rang.
An annoying and repeated action in the past, usually with 'always': Example: He was always leaving the tap running. 4 For two actions which happened at the same time in the past: Example: I was watching TV and he was reading.
Past Perfect Simple .
Form: Subject + had + verb + past participle
Use:
A completed action before something else in the past. Example: When we arrived, the film had started.
To explain or give a reason for something in the past. Example: I'd eaten dinner so I wasn't hungry.
Stative verbs only: something that started in the past and continued up to another action in the past.
Example: When he graduated, he had been in London for six years.
As part of the third conditional.
Example: If I had known you were ill, I would have visited you.
Past Perfect Continuous
Form: Subject + had + been + verb + present participle.
Use:
Something that started in the past and continued up to another action or event (tells us 'how long'). Example: She had been working at that company for a year when she met James. Cause of something in the past. Example: The pavement was wet, it had been raining.
Future Simple
Form Will : Subject + will + verb Form Be Going To: Subject + am/is/are + going to + verb Use: "Will" to Express a Voluntary Action: "Will" often suggests that a speaker will do something voluntarily. Example: I will send you the information when I get it.
"Will" to Express a Promise: "Will" is usually used in promises.
Example: I will call you when I arrive. "Be going to" to Express a Plan: It expresses the idea that a person intends to do something in the future. Example: He is going to spend his vacation in Hawaii.
Future Continuous.
Form: Subject + will + be + verb-ing.
Use: A continuous action in the future which is interrupted by a time or by another action. Example: I’'ll be waiting when you arrive. A complete action in the future that will happen in the normal course of events. Example: The Government will be making a statement later.
Future Perfect Simple. Form with "Will“ : Subject + will have + past participle. Form with "Be Going To“: Subject + am/is/are + going to have + past participle. Use:
Completed Action Before Something in the Future: expresses the idea that something will occur before another action in the future.
Example: By next November, I will have received my promotion. Duration Before Something in the Future (NonContinuous Verbs). Example: I will have been in London for six months by the time I leave.
Future Perfect Continuous. Form Will: Subject + will have been + present participle. Form Be going to: Subject + am/is/are + going to have been + present participle.
Use: Duration Before Something in the Future: show that something will continue up until a particular event or time in the future. Example: They will have been talking for over an hour by the time Thomas arrives.
Cause of Something in the Future
Example: Jason will be tired when he gets home because he will have been jogging for over an hour.
MODAL AUXILIARIES.
ď‚› The verbs can, could, will, would, should, may, might, must, ought and shall are verbs which 'help' other verbs to express a meaning: it is important to realise that these "modal verbs" have no meaning by themselves.
Will and Shall
Use:
Use:
Making personal predictions
Shall is a form of will, used mostly in the first person.
Example: I don't think the Queen will ever abdicate.
Making offers Example: Shall I fetch you another glass of wine?
Making a decision Example: For the main course I'll have grilled tuna.
Making suggestions Example: Shall we go to the cinema tonight?
May and Might. May and might sometimes have virtually the same meaning; they are used to talk about possibilities in the past, present or future. May: ďƒ˜ Talking about things that can happen in certain situations Example: Each nurse may be responsible for up to twenty patients. Might: ď ś Saying that something was possible, but did not actually happen Example: You saw me standing at the bus stop! You might have stopped and given me a lift!
Can and Could Use:
Talking about ability Can you speak Mandarin? She could play the piano when she was five. Making requests Can you give me a ring at about 10? Could you speak up a bit please? Asking permission
Can I ask you a question? Could I ask you a personal question?
Should and Would Should:
Would:
Giving advice
As the past of will, for example in indirect speech
I think you should go for the Alfa rather than the Audi. Obligation: weak form of must The university should provide more sports facilities.
"The next meeting will be in a month's time" becomes
Talking about past habits. When I was small, we would always visit relatives on Christmas Day.
Must and Ought to
Must:
Ought to:
Strong advice and invitations
Ought to usually has the same meaning as should, particularly in affirmative statements in the present:
I think you really must make more of an effort.
Saying you think something is certain This must be the place there's a white car parked outside.
You should/ought to get your hair cut.