English

Present tense

Present tenseFor general actions witch include truths.Ex: IT people use the computer every day.Permanent actionsEx: I work as a university teacher.For habits.Ex: I read tabloids every day.

Continuous

For the continuous actions going on at particular time in the present.Ex. You cant use the laptop now. I'm working on my PowerPoint project for English course.Temporary actions.Ex. Im working as a tutor at an IT company.

1Simple

1With the verbs: promise,pronounce,name,declare.Ex: I pronounce you man and wife.With the punctual verbs: kick,click,press,smash,jumpEx: Every time he jumps over the barrier from the painpoint.

With the verbs which have some kind of progression or the idea of change such as: become,get,grow,increase,decrease.Ex: Its getting colder and colder.With punctual verbs only when the action is repeated quickly without notice about operation at the time.With verbs which describe an action that refers to a trend.Ex: We are imploying more and more people given the fact that IT market is developing.

2Simple

Continuous

2For instantaneous present:T.V. and sports commentaries.

In stage directions.

In demonstations and instructions.

For duration present: T.V. and sports commentaries when we want to stress the duration of an action.

In stage directions.

3Ex: Mutu enters the field,is running towards the ball,kicks it and scores.Ex: He enters the stage,stirs the fire,then he is arranging the books on the fireplace and settles down to road .Simple

Continuous

3In stories of any kind,instead of past simple,for actions that come,one after another,

For duration present:

4Ex: While her husband is screaming and crying,the wife tries to calm him down and tells him that should take care of everything.Then she picks up the phone,calls the police and starts explaining how everything has happened:When I arrived home,my husband was crying,the house is a mess,computer missing and God knows what else.Simple

Continuous

4In newspaper headlines.Ex: police women shots her husband and goes insane.

Rarely,in newspaper headlines: to point out that a certain activity is repeated very often,and it has become annoying.Ex: Politicians are stealing our money.5Simple

Continuous

5Verbs of existence: be,exist.Exception: The verb be when it refers to an unusual stateEx: He is being annoying.I wonder why.

Verbs of thinking: think,believe,understand,know,consider.Exception: The verb think,when it means to ponder over,that is analyze something before performing an action.Ex: I am thinking of buying a new computer.

Verbs of feeling: (dis)like,love,hate.Exception: All the verbs of feeling when we want to stress the intensity of the feeling.Ex: Im lovin it.

Verbs of possession: have,own,belong,posses.Exception: The verb have,when it doesnt have the meaning of possession(have fun,have a bath,have lunch).Ex: He is having his tea with his best friend.6Verbs not used in thecontinuous aspect6Verbs of appearence: look,appear,seem.Exception: look when it refers to something else(look at,look for)

Verbs of perception: smell,taste,hear,see,touch(feel).Exception: The verb think,when it means to ponder over,that is analyze something before performing an action.Ex: I am thinking of buying a new computer.

The verb weighException: When we want to show that the action is done with a special purpose in mind.Ex: I am weighing my suitcase to see that its over the limit.7Verbs not used in thecontinuous aspect7Past tenseFor completed actions in the past;the moment of actions must be specified with the help of an adverb,adverbial phrase,numeral,a description about a particular past moment or context.Sometimes is enough to mention some kind of detail about particular time in the past.This detail can be the place of action,the moment of action a.s.o.Ex: I called my friend to ask him about my homework yesterdayEx:What did you do last week?Continuous

For an action going at a particular moment in the pastEx: I was telling him about my problems at the moment.8Simple

8Past habits.Used to+ verb or would+ verb can also appear in utterances about past habits.Ex: I read a lot of books a long time ago.Ex: I used to eat a lot of chocolate.

Continuous

Unusual and annoying habits in the pastEx: She was always talking too much about himself.9Simple

An action going on and interrupted suddenly by another action at a given moment in the past.For the first action we use past continuous,and for the second we use present simple.Ex: When they were working on the project,they discovered that they were heading in the wrong direction.9A sequence of actions in the past.The focus is on the fact that certain actions happened.Ex: How did you spend your time during the weekend?Ex: I watched a movie, I had fun with my friends and I slept.

A repeated action which took place over a long period of timeBrad Pitt made his best movies before married Angelina JolieContinuous

Actions going on in the same timeEx: What were you doing entire weekend that you couldnt talk to me?I was cooking and cleaning the house with my parents.

An interrupted action which took place over a long period of time.He was making cookies all day long yesterday to make his wife happy.10Simple

10In narratives and stories of any kind,we use past simple in action come one after another and past continuous for the background actions.Last summer,on a bright sunny day I was strolling trough my neighborhood and suddenly I heard a noise.When I look back I saw the car of my colegue,which had hit the back of another car.The drivers were too concerned with the scratches on their cars to know that the cat was lying in between.The people were screaming and trying to draw their attention.Continuous

11Simple

11Past perfectFor a past action which happened before another past action.Sometimes even if the action was longer we use the simple aspect to stress the idea of its existence leaving aside its duration.Ex: I had completed level 3 when he told me that him himself had reached level 3.

After the structure it was + an ordinal numeral(we use subject+past participle).Ex: It was the second time she had forgiven him.Continuous

Past action which went on over a period of time before another past action.Obiously,the duration is important here.Ex: He had been cleaning the house for three hours when she arrived.

After the structure it was + an ordinal numeral.It was the third time she had been talking about him for hours.12Simple

12In temporal clauses beginning with after ,which describe past actions happening before other past actions.Ex: After they had read the courses they realized they didnt know anything.

With before", but the action in the past tense happened first or it prevented later from happening.Ex: She came before they had left.Continuous

In temporal clauses beginning with after and describing a past action in progress before another past action.Ex: After he had been discussing long hours we decided to stop working and go out.13Simple

13Present perfectRecent actions which have relevance or validity in the present.The time of action is not mentioned and we have no details about the action.Ex: Have you found my files?

Completed actions in the past,whose result is important in the present.Ex: I have finished the project.Here is it.Continuous

Ongoing actions which started in the past and continue until the present time or finished just before he present time.Ex: I have been looking for them, but I havent found them.

Completed action in the past whose duration is important in the present.The result is less important than the duration of the action.Ex: Ive been working on the project.It is complicated.14Simple

14N.B: If we draw a conclusion from a past action in the present we use present perfect simple,but if we draw a conclusion in the present action we use present perfect continuous.Ex: Oh my god! Who has been messing up my files.They arent placed in the right order anymore.Continuous

15Simple

With the adverbs: already,just,yet. Already and just are placed between the auxiliary and the verb,and yet is placed at the end of an interrogative and positive sentence.Ex: Have you eaten yet? Yes I have already had lunch.With the adverbs: lately,recently.Ex: What have you been doing lately?15With for and since when the action is expressed trough verbs that cant be used in the continuous actions.Continuous

With for an since when the action is expressed trough verbs which are used in the continuous actions.16Simple

The idea is that for describes a period of time which most definitely includes the past and the present,and since describes the point of departure of an action,which unfold up until the present.Clearly,the focus is on duration here,but as we know,not all verbs can be used in the continuous aspect.Ex: I have known him for 10 years.Ex: Ive been working with him since 2000.16To offer the information about quantity,with how many.Ex: How many pages have you read?

After the structure it is + ordinal numeral with the subject followed by present perfect simple or continuous,depending on the focus.Ex: It is the first time I have written a poem.Continuous

To offer information about time,with how long.Ex: For how long have you been reading? Ive been reading for 2 hours.After the structure it is + ordinal numeral with the subject followed by present perfect simple or continuous,depending on the focus.Ex: It is the first time I have been reading a book.17Simple

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