Tenses Made Simple 1 Compiled by: Muhammad Asad Yaqub

Present Simple
Use:
1. Facts and generalization.
2. Habits and routines.
3. Permanent situations.
4. State verbs (be, have, think, know and many others).*

Remember
The Present Simple is also used in narrations. For example, while telling a joke or
story:

A man goes to visit a friend and is amazed to find him playing chess with his dog.
He watches the game in astonishment for a while [...]

Some of those verbs can be used in the Present Continuous, although they may change
the meaning of the sentence:

Tense Verb Example Meaning

Present Simple to think I think you should see a doctor opinion
Present Continuous to be thinking I'm thinking of changing my flat idea
Present Simple to love I love going to the cinema feeling
Present Continuous to be loving I'm loving it (Mc Donald's slogan) emphasis

Present Simple to have He's really rich -- he has 3 cars possession

When you called me, I was having a nice
Present Continuous to be having activity
bath

Structure:
The tables below you show you how to create a sentence in the Present Simple. As I
mentioned above it's quite easy:
you just have to know the base form of the verb and who's the performer of the action.

What do we need the performer of the action for?

The table below should make it clear.

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The 3rd
Infinitive
person
speak speaks

go goes

have has
take takes

read reads

study studies

Basically there are 3 types of affixes:

 's'
 'es'
 'ies'

And finally there is a very important exception: the verb 'have' changes into 'has'

She has 4 pets at home.

Mike has a new job.

In positive sentences:

Subject + Verb

I/a dog etc. work/go/make

Sharks have sharp teeth (Use 1)

The Present Simple is one of the English tenses (Use 1)

I learn English twice a week(Use 2)

I have two eggs (Use 4)

[]

I come from Basil (Use 3)

In questions:

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Questions require the auxiliary verb 'do' or, in the 3rd person, 'does'. Keep in mind that
when you ask a question, you don't need 's' anymore. Compare these examples:

A:Does she like going to the mountains?

B:Yes, she does
OR
B: Yes, she likes going to the mountains.

A:Does John have a dog?

B:No, she doesn't (have a dog).

Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Verb

do/does I/a dog etc. work/go/make

Does Mike often play tennis? (Use 2)

Do you know what the Present Simple is? (Use 3)

Is China in Europe? (Use 1)

In negative sentences:

Subject + Auxiliary verb+not + Verb

I/a dog etc. don't/doesn't/do not work/go/make

He doesn't go to cinema at all (Use 2)

I don't like winter (Use 4)

They don't live in New York anymore (Use 3)

Fish don't smoke cigarettes (Use 1)

Note: To express actions that take place regularly, you may use adverbs of frequency such
as:

 always
 never

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 frequently/often
 usually
 seldom/rarely
 nowadays
 every week/year
 sometimes/occasionally
 from time to time

Here go a few examples of how to use them in sentences:

I always go to church on Sundays

I never eat anything after 10 p.m.
My computer freezes from time to time -- it's quite old.

Past Simple
We use the Past Simple to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past.
The actions can be short or long. There can also be a few actions happening one after
another. There are basically two important facts to remember about this tense:

Use:
1. Short actions in the past (e.g. I went to school)
2. Long action in the past.
3. A series of actions in the past.

Infinitive Past (irregular or +ED) Past Participle (+have)

eat ate eaten

fly flew flown

see saw seen

swim swam swum

1. I saw two colorful fish in the lake yesterday (Use 1)

2. He entered a room, lit a cigarette and smiled at the guests (Use 3 )
3. Mary tried the soup but it was too hot to eat (Use 1)

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4. I lived in New York for 10 years (I don't live there anymore)(Use 2)
5. They saw us playing football (Use 1)

In questions:

How long did he work there? (Use 2)

Did the telephone ring? (Use 1)

Did you see that? (Use 1)

Remember

Common time expressions (time adverbials) in the Past Simple:

yesterday, the other day, just now, the day before yesterday.

In negative sentences:

He didn't learn any Italian when he was in Italy two year ago (Use 2)

I wasn't at my grandma's when you came ( Use 1)

Past Continuous
We use the Past Continuous to talk about past actions in progress. The actions can also
be interrupted by something (I was eating my breakfast when the telephone rang).

Use:
1. Actions in progress.
2. Interrupted actions in progress.
3. Irritation.
4. Timid /polite question (read more below).

I was wondering if you could carry my bag.

I was wondering if...

I was thinking you might...

Altough these sentences have the Past Continuous form, they apply to the present moment. Their
meaning is similiar to the "could you" sentences but they are more polite.

In positive sentences:

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At 3 p.m., I was having lunch (Use 1) (the lunch started earlier than 3 p.m.)

Yesterday at this time Steven Seagal was riding a horse.

John was smoking a cigarette when he saw a spider (Use 2)

In questions:

Was she going to the theatre when it started raining?

In negative sentences:

He asked me why I wasn't having dinner at the hotel.

Remember that you can also use the Past Continuous to show your irritation over
something or somebody in the past. E.g. She was always asking me stupid questions.

Past Perfect
The Past Perfect is quite simple and useful, we use it to show that one action in the past
occurred before another action in the past.

Use:
1. A completed action before another activity in the past.

The Past Perfect is also used in a number of expressions like these:

I wish, I'd rather, as if/though and if only

I wish I hadn't gone there.

I'd (=I had) rather see it for myself.
John looked as if he had done something terrible.

In positive sentences:

Mr. Jonson had read the document carefully before he signed it.

Before I was born, my grandfather had gone to war.

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This
You may find that people (especially native speakers) sometimes don't use the Past Perfect in is
sentences like:

After I walked my dog, I went to the cinema

because 'after' or 'before' tell the listener which action happened first.
Still, keep in mind that such sentences are usually used in conversations rather than other situations,
thus try to avoid them -- especially in tests where you can lose points.

In questions:

Had he known some words before he started learning English?

Had they had any pet before they bought the giraffe?

Common time expressions (time adverbials) in the Past Perfect:

after, before, already, as soon as, just, yet, until, till, by the time that.

In negative sentences:

I hadn't seen Berlin before I flew there in the summer.

Brenda didn't call me before her plane had landed.

Of course, the Past Perfect is used in reported speech (=saying someone else said):

Ann: I was in the US 12 months ago.

George: Ann said she had been in the US 12 months earlier.

OR

Ann: I have searched all the rooms.

George: Ann said she had been searched all the rooms.

So what we basically do is replace the Past Simple and the Present Perfect with the Past
Perfect.

Past Perfect Continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous is very similar to the Past Perfect . The difference
between them is we use the Past Perfect Continuous to express longer actions than in the
Past Perfect. In addition, while using this tense we focus on the duration of an activity
rather than the result of it.

Use:
1. Duration of a past action up to a certain point in the past.

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In positive sentences:

had been running for an hour when it started ranining

When I saw him I knew that he had been traning.

In questions:

For how many hours had Fred been painting the house when the ladder fell?

In negative sentences:

It had not been raining since morning.

The Future Tenses

By: Muhammad Asad Yaqub
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Simple Future
There are two different forms in English to express future in the Simple Future: ' be
going to' and 'will '. 'Will' is used to express promises and things we decide to do in the
moment of speaking, 'going to' is used to express our plans. Both of those forms can be
used to express our predictions.

Here goes a list to make it more readable.

Use (Will) :

1. Promises (Use 1)
2. Unplanned actions (Use 2)
3. Predictions (Use 3)

Use (Going to)*:

1. Planned actions (Use 4) -- like in the Present Continuous

2. Prediction (Use 3)

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The difference between them may sometimes seem not very clear but once you have read
a few English books, you won't have any problems with this tense.

*Sometimes you may encounter the form 'gonna', which is an abbreviation of 'going to'.

'Gonna' is rather informal so be careful while using it!

You will regret it (Use 2)

When I'm 60 years old, I will have a long beard (Use 2)

I will go to Mary (Use 1)

(the speaker decided to go to Mary in the moment of speaking.)

Will he be angry when he sees me? (Use 2).

What do you think - will Mark arrive at 10 or 9? (Use 4)

I won't take any equipment with me (Use 1).

Mmmm... you know what? I won't be able to help you with your English today (Use 2)
(The speaker didn't know you woudn't be able to help his or her friend with English -
that's why it's 'Use 2'.)

This team is definitely going to win the competition. (Use 3).

I'm going to visit my grandma next week (Use 4).

Is The Government is not going to lower the taxes (Use 4 or Use 3).

he going to apologise to Mary for his behavior? (Use 4).

Future Continuous
We use the Future Continous to indicate that we will be in the middle of doing
something in a specified time in the future.

Use:
Incomplete actions in the future.

Tommorow at nine I will be hosing off (=washing with a hose) my car.

I am going to (=will) be watching TV when my mother arrives.

Tommorow at this time, I will be getting bored at school!

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Will she be cooking when we knock at the door?

Will Mark be playing football at 6 p.m?

We won't be having supper tomorrow before 8 o'clock.

Future Perfect
We use this tense to express an action that will be finished before some point in the
future.

Use:
1. Actions that will be finished before some point in the future

Common time expressions used in the Future Perfect:

 Before
 By tomorrow/7 o'clock/next month
 Until/till

They will have graduated from from Cambridge by July 2009.

I wi They won't (will + not) have graduated from from Cambridge by July 2009.

I won't have retired by the end of the year.

I’ll have retired by the end of the year.

Will they have graduated from from Cambridge by July 2009?

Will I have retired by the end of the year?

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