Grammar :  Verb  Tenses

I.    Simple Sentence

  A simple sentence contains a Subject + a Predicate (or verb part)

  Verbs can either be Verb to Do or Verb to Be.

  1.      For Verb “to Do” :

A verb may be transitive (vt), then, there should be an object after the verb.

                Subject                    Verb to Do                       Object

e.g.  They                        destroy                            the box.

A verb may be intransitive (vi), then, there should be no object after the verb.

                Subject                    Verb to Do                       Object

        e.g.   My heart                 aches.

The same verb can be transitive and intransitive

                Subject                    Verb to Do        Complement           Object

        e.g.  He                          opened        (vt)                                   the door.

                The door                opened.        (vi)                          

                He                            sings                                                a song.

                He                           sings       loudly.

  2.      For Verb “to Be” :

There is no object after the verb to be.

Subject                   Verb to Be               Complement           Object

e.g.  You                           are                                clever.

        The meeting                is                                at 2:30 p.m.

II.               Verb Tenses

1.      Simple Present

i.     The Present tense is NOT usually used to describe present time.

ii.  The Present tense is the tense for:

a)  Descriptions: e.g. Mother cooks our meal everyday.

b)  Definitions: e.g. Recession is a period where national

         outputs falls for a few months or more.

c)  Statements of general truth: e.g. A gas expands when   heated.

d)  Habitual action: e.g. I get up early in the morning.

e) Something scheduled to happen: e.g. The next train leaves at

   two o’clock in the morning.

f)       Commentary:  Leo kicks the ball to John.

g)     Instruction: Turn the light off when you go to sleep.

iii.   Present Tense extends from the past, through the present and into       the Future.

iv.       Adverbs of frequency are common time markers in the present tense:

a) always,  

b) usually,

c)     often,

d) sometimes,

                        e) occasionally,

f) seldom,

             g) rarely,

                  h) hardly ever,

i)      never.

2.      Simple Past Tense.

The simple past is used to talk about activities or situations that

began and ended in the past (e.g. yesterday, last night, two days ago,

in 1990)

e.g. Mary walked downtown yesterday.

     I slept for eight hours last night.

i)      To talk about things that happened in the past with time

specified:

    e.g.  I stayed in that hotel last week.

                He phoned a few minutes ago.

ii)               To talk about the general past and about regular actions or past habit:

  e.g. My friends often visited me when I was in the United States.

      I smoked 10 cigarettes a day till I gave up.

3.       Present Perfect Tense.

    describes

i)        Actions beginning in the past and continuing up to the

present moment ( with the time references like before, ever, since,

never …before, up till now, so far  etc.)

  e.g. I have lived here since 1980.

          I have never tasted any poison.

ii)        Actions which happened at an unspecified time in the past.

e.g. Have you passed your driving test?

             iii)  Action which happened in the past with references to recent time,

like just, recently, already, still, yet.

e.g. I have just eaten.

iv)              Repeated/habitual actions:

e.g. I have seen him on TV several times

4.    Compare SIMPLE PAST to PRESENT PERFECT:

With the Simple Past, we have to say or imply when something happened.

e.g.           I finished the job yesterday/ an hour ago, etc.

With Present Perfect, we do not say exactly when something happened.

e.g. I have finished the job.          I have just finished the job. 

5.  Use of Simple Past Perfect

i)                   We often need the past perfect for the event that happened first to avoid ambiguity:

(We use the past perfect to refer to “an earlier past”, that is to describe the first of two actions):

e.g. When I arrived, she had left ( i.e. before I got there)

         The patient had died when the doctor arrived.

    (First the patient died.  Then, the doctor arrived.)

We often introduce the past perfect with conjunctions like when, after, as soon as, by the time that.  We use adverbs like already, ever, never …before. 

6.      The Simple Future Tense:

i)  Use ‘shall’ and ‘will’ to make predictions.

e.g. It will rain tomorrow.

ii)                To show intentions/ promises.

e.g. I will buy you a car.

iii)              To make requests/invitations.

e.g. Will you hold the door for me, please?

iv)               To make offers.

e.g. Shall I get your books for you?

v)                  To make suggestions.

e.g. Shall we go out for dinner together?

vi)               To make threats.

e.g. Just wait!  You’ll regret this!

vii)             To refer to the future:

We use ‘will’ with all persons (I, you, he, she, etc.)

e.g. I will see you tomorrow ( or I’ll see you tomorrow.)

   Negative short forms : will not = won’t ; shall not = shan’t

 e.g. I won’t see you tomorrow.

viii)          To say what will happen for events that have been arranged:

e.g. The wedding will take place at St. Andrew’s on June 27^th.

ix)              To express expectations or hopes:

e.g. I hope she’ll get the job she’s applied for.

7.       Progressive Tenses

(i)Simple Present Progressive Tense:

a)   For actions in progress at the moment of speaking:

e.g. He is working at the moment.

b)  For temporary situations/ actions

e.g. My son is studying English at Santa Monica College.

c)   For planned actions (+ future adverbial reference):

e.g. We are spending next summer in Canada

d)  For repeated actions with adverbs (like always, forever):

e.g. She is always helping people.

(ii)         Past Progressive Tense:

a)     For temporary actions in progress in the past:

e.g. I was living abroad in 1987.

It was raining all night.

                b) For actions which were in progress when something else

           happened:

         e.g.  When I was leaving, the phone rang.

We were having supper when the phone rang.

b-i)        For actions in progress at the same time:

e.g. While I was reading, she was playing the piano.

b-ii)         For repeated actions with e.g. always:

e.g. When I worked there, I was always making mistakes.

b-iii)        For polite inquiries:

e.g. I was wondering if you could get me a glass of water.

iii)            Present perfect progressive tense

a)     To emphasize that something has been in progress throughout

 a period.

e.g.  I have been typing all day.

b)     For some verbs like learn, lie, live, sleep, wait, work,

naturally suggest continuity and we often use them with

‘since’ and ‘for’.

e.g. I have been waiting there for two hours. 

          I have been studying English for two years.

iv)              Past perfect progressive tense

a) To describe actions in progress throughout a period in the past        e.g. She was very tired.  She had been typing all day.

b) Some verbs like learn, lie, live wait, work suggest continuity.

        e.g. I had been waiting for two hours before he arrived.

c)         To describe some repeated actions.

e.g. He had been phoning every night for a month.

d)        To draw conclusions.

e.g. Her eyes were red.  It was clear she had been crying.