The Tenses of the Verb

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

May be used:

A)     WITHOUT REFERENCE TO SPECIFIC TIME

Universal truths or time statements

E.g. Two and two make four

The sun rises in the East

Habitual time statements ( + every day/ week/ month)

E.g. We wake up at seven and leave home at eight every day

B)     THE INSTANTANEOUS SIMPLE PRESENT

+ dynamic verbs (the action is going on at the moment of speaking)

E.g. Smith passes the ball to Charlton

Here comes the winner! (Stage directions)

+ verbs that are not naturally used in the Continuous aspect

E.g. I hear the piano, right now

I see a car in the street

C)    WITH FUTURE TIME REFERENCE

To indicate a future action as part of a timetable

E.g. Our train leaves tomorrow at ten

In conditional and temporal clauses (introduced by if, unless, after, before, as soon as, when etc.)

E.g. Unless you leave now / you'll miss the train

I'll come back / as soon as I can

D)    WITH PAST TIME REFERENCE

+ "communication verbs": tell, hear, learn, write

E.g. They tell me that you have only now recovered from that bad illness

It expresses the persistence in the present

of the effect of a past communication

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

( to be ( present) + -ing form)

May be used:

A)    To express an action that is going on at the time of speaking

The action

1. in progress

2 .not completed

E.g. He is talking to our neighbour

B)     To express an action that will take place in the near future due to a previous arrangement

+ dynamic verbs: go, come, leave, start etc.

E.g. He is leaving Bucharest next week.

VERBS THAT DO NOT NORMALLY COLLOCATE WITH THE CONTINUOS ASPECT

to have = + to posses, to own,

to be = to exist (except in the passive voice!!!)

verbs of physical perception = see, hear, touch, feel, smell, taste

verbs expressing mental activities: gather (that), consider, seem, think, notice, recognise, believe, know, understand, remember, forget, suppose, mean

verbs expressing volition = want, wish, refuse

verbs expressing feelings = love, hate, like, dislike, forgive, care

other verbs = belong to, contain, consist of, possess, matter, cost

denoting permanent features of objects/ people, measure, weigh

performative verbs (pers I)= guarantee, apologise

THEY MAY ONLY BE USED IN THE CONTINUOUS ASPECT

For emphatic purposes

E.g. You are always being late!

To denote the concrete action

E.g.  I'm thinking of leaving right now

I'm smelling this cheese to see if it's good

With reference to an immediate future

E.g. I'm seeing them tomorrow (meet)

To express a temporary condition in process

E.g. How is he feeling now?

THE PRESENT PERFECT (Have + Past Part. -ed, 3^rd form)

May be used:

A)    To express a past action

B)     To express a repeated activity in a period expending to the present

When there is no indication of time

E.g.  They have found the missing book

I have lost my key

With an adverb (or adverbial phrase) of still unfinished time: this week, this year etc.

E.g. He has read three books this week

With adverbs such as: never, before, just, lately, yet, recently, for years, for ages, for a long time, already, since, for, so far etc

E.g.  He has been a very good student so far

N.B. 1) Just + present perfect E.g. He has just left

Just now + past tense E.g. He left just now

2) This century, year, month etc. + a) Present Perfect = if the action is not

completed OR b) Past Tense = if the action is completed

E.g. I saw him this morning (= it's afternoon now!)

I have seen him this morning (= it's still morning)

THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

May be used:

To indicate continuous activity over a period of time expending to the present

E.g. I have been watching T.V. for two hours

N.B. - Present Perfect is used to express an action in terms of its result

E.g. I have washed three shirts this morning result: you have what to wear

Present Perfect Continuous expresses the action itself

E.g. I have been washing shirts this morning

The Present Perfect is preferred to the Present Perfect Continuous in negative sentences

E.g. Let's rest a little! We haven't rested for ages

NOTE!!

As a rule the Present Perfect is used in the main clause while in the "since clause" Past Tense is used more

E.g. I haven't seen you: since you moved here

since yesterday

since you have been staying in this hotel

The action is still going on

Since = refers to a period of time in the past

E.g. I haven't seen you since yesterday

For = refers to a length of time; it answers the question: How long . . . ?

E.g. I haven't seen you for ages

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE (short inf. +ed.) = regular verbs 2^nd form in the list = irregular verbs

May be used:

To express a past action that was completed:

1. Single accomplished actions

E.g. She arrived yesterday afternoon

2. A succession of actions

E.g. He entered, took off his coat, put on his slippers and went upstairs

Recurrent actions in the past

E.g.  We spent many of our evenings talking

NOTE!!

Recurrent actions in the past may also be rendered by:

"used to + infinitive"

E.g.  She used to read stories to us (but not anymore)

"would + infinitive"

E.g.  They would often come to spend their holidays with us

To express the attitude of the speaker rather than the time. The past is felt more polite

E.g. I wandered if you could help me now

THE PAST CONTINUOUS (To be past + -ing)

May be used:

To express actions in progress at a given moment in the past

E.g. He was reading a book at 10 o'clock yesterday

The Simple Past is preferred to the Past Continuous:

With verbs which do not admit the continuous aspect

E.g. She hated his treating her like a child

If the action, however long, is completed

E.g. It snowed for two days without stopping

With habitual actions in the past

E.g. We often took a walk before dinner

When there is another past continuous form in the same sentence and the two actions depend on each other

E.g. While he was reading I washed up

To express a permanent feature of a scene

E.g. Water was dripping (not permanently) from the bush that lined (permanent feature) the drive

PRESENT PERFECT/ PAST TENSE

THE PAST PERFECT

Have - (past tense- had) + past part. (-ed ; third form)

May be used:

To express the priority of an action to a given moment in the past

E.g. He had studied French before he went to Paris

To express an action which began before a given past moment and continue into it = (with verbs that are not used in the continuous form)

E.g. He had been a teacher for 10 years last September

THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

To be - past part.- (had been) + -ing

May be used:

To express 'B' from Past Perfect (above)

E.g. He had been teaching for three years when he became a novelist

*Past Perfect is preferred to Past Perfect Continuous in negative sentences

E.g. They had not met for years when they saw each other in Bucharest

Neutral (no inversion)

E.g. I had hardly entered the room when the bell rang

Emphatic (+ inversion)

E.g. Hardly had I entered the room when the bell rang

EXPRESSING FUTURE TIME

SIMPLE FUTURE [shall/ will + short infinitive] may be used to express:

a)      A pure future fact

E.g. He will come to see you soon

b)      A future fact depending on a condition

E.g. If I go abroad, I shall have to buy a new pair of shoes

NOTE!!

The simple future is not to be used in conditional and temporal clauses

E.g. If you do not accept my terms we shall part

I won't come before he comes

Future Simple Present Simple

Future Perfect Present Perfect

E.g. When he has finished his homework he will go to the cinema

BE GOING TO + INFINITIVE may be used to express

a)      Intentions (S = Person)

E.g. I'm going to be a teacher when I grow up

b)      The idea of an action underway

E.g. The sky is very dark. It is going to rain

She is going to have a baby soon

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE may be used to express:

Arrangements

E.g. She is giving a party this weekend

BE ABOUT TO + INFINITIVE may be used to express:

Near future

E.g. We are about to quarrel

BE TO + INFINITIVE may be used to express:

Arrangements

E.g. We are to be promoted soon

Commands

E.g. You are to be back by 10 o'clock

Pre-destined future

E.g. If he is to succeed in his new job . . .

FUTURE TIME IN THE PAST

Expresses time which is in the future when seen from a viewpoint in the past

a)      Would + Infinitive (literary style)

E.g. He promised he would come to see us

b)      Was/ were going to + infinitive

E.g. You were going to tell me about last night's party

c)      Past Continuous

E.g. I was meeting him at the same place the next day

d)      Was/ Were to + infinitive (formal = was destined to)

E.g. He was later to regret his decision

e)      Was/ were about to + infinitive (on the point of)

E.g. He was about to hit me

THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS

(Shall/ will be + -ing)

Expresses an action in progress at a given moment in the future

E.g. This time tomorrow I shall be sleeping

THE FUTURE PERFECT

(Will Have + Past Participle)

Expresses an action completed before a future moment or a future action

E.g. I shall have finished the book before you come back

THE FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

(Shall/ will have been + -ing)

Expresses an action that will start before a certain moment in the future and will still be going on at that moment

E.g. By the end of the year I shall have been working here for ten years