CONTENTS

The Verb. Its Definitions and Classifications (Schemes 1-17)……………………………………………..5-12

The Present Tense Aspect Forms. Formation and Use (Tables 1-12)………………………....................13-26
Table 1. Summary table on the Formation of the Present Tense Aspect Forms (Active Voice)……………….13
Table 2. Summary table on the Formation of the Present Tense Aspect Forms (Passive Voice)……………...14
Table 3. The Present Indefinite in Use………………………………………………………………………..15-16
Table 4. The Present Continuous in Use………………………………………………………………………..17
Table 5. Stative Verbs that are used in the Present Indefinite or the Present Continuous
forms depending on their meaning…………………………………………………………………………… ..18
Table 6. The Present Indefinite versus the Present Continuous………………………………………………...19
Table 7. The Present Perfect in Use………………………………………………………………………… ....20
Table 8. The Present Perfect versus the Past Indefinite……………………………………………………....21-22
Table 9. The Present Perfect Continuous in Use…………………………………………………………...…..23
Table 10. Sentence patterns with Present Perfect Continuous I (since)……………………………………......23
Table 11. The Present Perfect and the Present Continuous versus the Present Perfect Continuous…………...24
Table 12. Summary table on the Use of the Present Tense Aspect Forms……………………………….......25-26
The Past Tense Aspect Forms. Formation and Use (Tables 13-24)………………………………….......27-39
Table 13. Summary table on the Formation of the Past Tense Aspect Forms (Active Voice)…………….......27
Table 14. Summary table on the Formation of the Past Tense Aspect Forms (Passive Voice)……………......28
Table 15. The Past Indefinite in Use…………………………………………………………………………29-30
Table 16. Used to + inf. / Would + inf…………………………………………………………………….…..31
Table 17. Formation of Used to + inf………………………………………………………………………….31
Table 18. The Past Continuous in Use………………………………………………………………………...32
Table 19. Sentence patterns with the Past Continuous and the Past Indefinite………………………….........33
Table 20. The Past Perfect in Use……………………………………………………………………………..34
Table 21. Sentence Patterns with the Past Perfect and other Past tense aspect forms………………………35-36
Table 22. The Past Perfect Continuous in Use………………………………………………………………..37
Table 23. Sentence patterns with Past Perfect Continuous I……………………………………………….....37
Table 24. Summary table on the Use of the Past Tense Aspect Forms………………………………….….38-39
The Future Tense Aspect Forms. Formation and Use (Tables 25-33)……………………………….....40-45
Table 25. Summary table on the Formation of the Future Tense Aspect Forms (Active Voice)……………..40
Table 26. Summary table on the Formation of the Future Tense Aspect Forms (Passive Voice)…………….41
Table 27. The Future Indefinite / the Future Indefinite-in-the-past in Use……………………...…….….......42
Table 28. The Future Continuous / the Future Continuous-in-the-past in Use……….………………..……...42
Table 29. The Future Perfect / the Future Perfect-in-the-past in Use………..……………………..…..……. 43
Table 30. The Future Perfect Continuous / the Future Perfect Continuous-in-the-past in Use……...…….... .43
Table 31. Other means of expressing future actions / future actions viewed from the past……………......... 43
Table 32. Modal meanings of Shall and Will…………………………………………………………….….. 44
Table 33. Summary table on the Use of the Future Tense Aspect Forms………………………………….... 45
The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses.………………………………………………………………...…..46-47
Table 34. The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses. The Change of the Tense Aspect Forms……………..…... 46
Table 35. The Relations between the actions of the Principal Clause and the Subordinate
(Object) Clause………………………………………………………………………………………….….... 47
Table 36. The Cases in which the Rules of the Sequence of Tenses are not observed…………………….... 47
The Reported Speech……………………………………………………………………………………...48-56
Table 37. The Use of the Verbs to say, to tell and to ask in the Direct and Indirect (Reported)
Speech………………………………………………………………………………………………………...48
Table 38. Expressions with to say, to tell, to ask……………………………………………………………..48
Table 39. Sample Transformations from Direct Speech into Indirect (Reported) Speech…………………49-50
Table 40. Changing Statements from Direct into Reported Speech………………………………………….51
Table 41. Words that are changed in Reported
Speech………………………………………………………………………………………...…………….…52
Table 42. Changing Questions from Direct into Reported Speech…………………………………………...53
Table 43. Direct, Indirect and Reported Questions compared………………………………………………..53
Table 44. Changing Commands / Requests / Suggestions from Direct into Reported Speech……………….54
Table 45. Changing Exclamations/ Yes / No short answers/ Question Tags from Direct into
Reported Speech……………………………………………………………………………………………....54
Table 46. Reporting a dialogue or a conversation…………………………………………………………….55
Table 47. Introductory Verbs used in Reported Speech………………………………………………….…55-56
The English Verb
Definitions of the English Verb (according to different principles)
1. Verb (according to content) – a word, denoting actions (namely activities, e.g. to walk, to
play, to study; processes, e.g. to live, to sleep, to wait; state, e.g. to be, to like, to know;
relation, e.g. to consist, to resemble, to lack).
2. Verb (according to form) – a word, having certain grammatical categories, such as tense,
aspect, voice, mood, person and number.
3. Verb (according to function) – a word, making up the predicate of the sentence.

Classifications of the English Verb

Scheme 1

Verbs
(according to their meaning)

terminative durative
(imply a limit beyond which the action (do not imply any limit, an action can go
cannot continue), on indefinitely),
e.g. to open, to close, to bring, e.g. to live, to speak, to carry, to know,
to recognize, to refuse, to break to sit, to play
NB! As most verbs in English are polysemantic they may be terminative in one meaning and durative in another, e.g. to
see 1)‘увидеть’, 2) ‘видеть’. E.g. 1) I saw him at once – Я увидел его сразу. 2) I saw his face quite clearly – Я видел
его лицо достаточно четко.
Scheme 2

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 Verbs
(according to their relation to the
continuous He form)

dynamic stative
(admit of the continuous form)
(do not admit of the continuous form)
e.g. You’ll find mother in the
e.g. I understand what you mean (no Continuous form, though the action is
kitchen. She is making a cake.
going on at the present moment).

Most commonly used stative verbs:

verbs of physical perception, e.g. to hear, to see, to notice;
verbs of emotions, e.g. to like, to dislike, to love, to hate, to detest, to adore, to care for,
to respect, etc.;
verbs of wish, e.g. to want, to wish, to desire;
verbs of mental processes, e.g. to admire, to appreciate, to assume, to believe, to
consider, to doubt, to expect, to feel (= to consider), to imagine, to know, to mind (=to
object), to perceive, to presume, to recall, to recognize, to recollect, to regard, to
remember, to suppose, to think, to trust, to understand;
relational verbs, e.g. to be, to have, to apply, to belong, to concern, to consist, to contain,
to depend, to deserve, to differ, to equal, to fit, to hold (= to contain), to include, to
involve, to lack, to matter, to need, to owe, to own, to possess, to remain, to require, to
resemble, to result, to signify, to suffice;
miscellaneous group of verbs, e.g. to agree, to allow, to appear (= to seem), to
astonish, to claim, to consent, to please, to displease, to envy, to fail to do, to feel (intr.),
to find, to forbid, to forgive, to intend, to interest, to keep doing, to manage, to mean, to
prefer, to prevent, to puzzle, to realize, to refuse, to remind, to satisfy, to seem, to
smell (intr.), to sound (intr.), to succeed, to suit, to surprise, to taste (intr.), to tend, to
value.

Scheme 3
Verbs
(according to the type of object
they take)

transitive intransitive
(require some type of object to complete (do not require any object)
their meaning) The objects can be We walked across the fields.
direct (1), indirect (2), prepositional (3) Nobody knew where the old man lived.
I swear I’m telling the truth.
His mother gave him advice.
Now let’s talk of something sensible.

Scheme 4

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 Verbs
(according to their meaning and
function in the sentence)

notional structural
(always have lexical meaning and (may either preserve or lose their lexical meaning, but cannot
independent syntactic function) have an independent syntactic function)
e.g. During the war he lived in London. They are divided into:
modal verbs (are always accompanied by the Infinitive to
form a compound verbal modal predicate)
e.g. The party is at eight. You must dress suitably for it.
link verbs (are always followed by the Predicative to form a
compound nominal predicate)
e.g. He was a middle-aged man.
auxiliary verbs (are entirely devoid of lexical meaning; are
always combined with a notional verb to build up an
analytical form)
e.g. Do you know why he said that?
The young man was sitting at the table alone.

NB! Enslish link verbs are to be, to get = to grow = to become = to turn (становиться), to seem, to appear (= seem), to
remain, to look (выглядеть), to feel, to smell (пахнуть), to taste (быть на вкус).
NB! Predicative – a part of a compound nominal predicate that is usually expressed by:
1) a noun; 2) a pronoun in the absolute form; 3) an adjective, an adjective in the form of Participle I or II; 4) a numeral:
e.g. 1) He is a university teacher.
2) Whose notebook is this? – It’s mine.
3) He looks really handsome in this suit.
The cottage remained charming (uninhabited) all through the winter.
4) How old is she? – She is fifty-five. – Really? She doesn’t look her age!

NB! Polysemantic verbs may be notional as well as structural:

Notional
He is married and has three children (= to possess)
He looked at me, waiting for the next words (= to glance)
Structural
I had to reconsider my position (modal verb, denoting
obligation due to circumstances in the past)
It has finally happened! (auxiliary verb within the Present
Perfect form)
He looked quite happy (link verb, meaning ‘to seem’,
выглядеть).

Scheme 5

Verb Forms
(according to their function in
the sentence)

finite (predicative) non-finite (non-predicative, verbals)

are always used in the function
of the predicate in the sentence;
have the following grammatical
categories: Tense, Aspect, Voice, Mood,
Person and Number
are not used as the predicate of the sentence,
have other functions in the sentence;
have no grammatical categories
They are the Infinitive, the Gerund,
the Participle (I, II)

Scheme 6

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 Basic Forms of the Verb

plain stem the Past Indefinite Participle II

of the verb form = the Past Participle
( = bare infinitive e.g. worked, went e.g. worked, gone
= Infinitive without
particle to)
e.g. work, go

Scheme 7

Verbs
(according to the way of forming
the Past Indefinite and the Past
Participle)

regular irregular
(bare infinitive + ed) (have various patterns of forming
e.g. answered, opened the Past Indefinite and the Past Participle)
e.g. sing-sang-sung, write-wrote-written, cut-cut-cut
NB! Mind two English verbs that have suppletive forms of the Past
Indefinite (i.e. they take these forms from different roots),
e.g. be – was/were, go – went

With regular verbs the following spelling rules are observed:

cons.+ y → ied vowel +y → yed short stressed vowel /-er (ur) + final l is always doubled
consonant → doubled final consonant
study → studied play → played stop → stopped travel → travelled
envy → envied stay → stayed occur → occurred quarrel → quarrelled
Scheme 8

8
 Verb Forms
(are built up with the help of the
above mentioned basic forms)

synthetic
(are built up by means of suffixes or by a
change in the word itself)
e.g. I work – he works, we worked
I go – I went
analytical
(consist of two components that form a very close,
inseparable unit)
the first – auxiliary verb (has only grammatical
meaning, no lexical meaning)
the second – notional verb (has lexical meaning)
e.g. work – has worked (the Present Perfect Active form)
e.g. write – was written (the Past Indefinite Passive form)

NB! The auxiliary verb itself may be an analytical form,

e.g. has been working (the Present Perfect Continuous
form, where has been is an analytical form – Present
Perfect form of the verb to be)
Such forms are called complex analytical forms

Scheme 9

of the English Verb

Grammatical Categories

Tense Aspect Voice Mood Person and

(shows the time (shows the manner (shows whether the (shows the Number
reference of of the action) subject of the relation of the (shows the agreement
the action) sentence is the agent action to of the Subject and the
or the object of the the reality) Predicate
action) of the sentence)

Scheme 10

9
 (time reference of the action)
Tense of the English Verb

Present Past Future

Scheme 11

(manner of the action)

Aspect of the English Verb

Indefinite Continuous Perfect Perfect

(represents (represents (represents Continuous
an action as a fact) an action as an action as a result) (represents an action in
a process) process having a certain
result)

Tense Aspect Forms of the English Verb

Aspect Indefinite Continuous Perfect Perfect Continuous
Tense
the Present the Present the Present Perfect the Present Perfect
Present Indefinite Continuous e.g. He has worked Continuous
e.g. He works hard e.g. He is working hard recently. e.g. He has been
every day. hard now. working hard for two
months already.
the Past Indefinite the Past Continuous the Past Perfect the Past Perfect
e.g. He worked hard e.g. He was working e.g. He had worked Continuous
Past yesterday. hard yesterday from hard before his mum e.g. He had been
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. came home. working hard for eight
hours before his mum
came home.
the Future the Future the Future Perfect the Future Perfect
Indefinite Continuous e.g. He’ll have Continuous
e.g. He promises e.g. He’ll be working worked hard by the e.g. He ’ll hav
Future e been working hard for
he’ll work hard. hard tomorrow from time his mum comes
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. home. eight hours by the time his
mum comes home.
the Future the Future the Future Perfect- the Future Perfect
Indefinite-in-the- Continuous-in-the- in-the-past Continuous-in-the-past
Future-in-the- past past e.g. He said proudly e.g. He said he would
e.g. He promised he e.g. He said he he would have have been working hard
past
would work hard. would be working worked hard by the for eight hours by the
hard the next day time his mum came time his mum came
from 8 a.m. home. home.
to 8 p.m.

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 Scheme 12

(Subject – agent or object of the action?)

Voice of the English Verb

Active Passive
(the Subject of the sentence is (the Subject of the sentence is
the agent of the action) the object of the action)
e.g. They produce sunflower-seed oil e.g. The sunflower-seed oil
in the countryside. is produced in the countryside.

Scheme 13

(relation of the action to the reality)

Mood

Indicative Subjunctive (Oblique) Imperative

(represents an action
as a real one)
e.g. If the weather is
fine, we’ll go for a
picnic.
(represents an action as a (implies an inducement
problematic or an unreal one) to perform an action)
e.g. If the weather was (were) - command or request
fine, we would go for a picnic. e.g. Come over to the
window, (will you?)
e.g. Let’s go for a picnic!

Scheme 14

(agreement of the Subject and the Predicate)

Person and Number

Person Number

the first the second the third singular plural

I, we do you do he, she, it does I, you, he, she, it we, you, they
they do

11
 Scheme15

The Use of the English Verb (I)

free dependent
(is not determined by any structure or (is determined by some structure or
lexical meaning of the word) lexical meaning of the word)
e.g. She knows English grammar well.

structurally dependent lexically dependent

(is determined by certain
types of subclauses)
e.g. If you learn English
Grammar hard, you’ll know
it well (subclause of
condition).
(is determined by the lexical
meaning of certain verbs, such
as to see to, to make sure, to
take care)
e.g. Make sure that she learns
English hard (будет учить).

Scheme 16

The Use of the English Verb (II)

absolute
(the use of the time reference of the
action is free)
e.g. I think you were joking then.
Я думаю, ты шутил тогда.
relative
(implies the relations of simultaneity (1), priority
(2) and posteriority (3) between the action of the
principal clause and that of the subclause)
e.g. (1) I thought you were joking. – Я думал, ты
шутишь.
(2) Soames looked at her and understood that she had
changed a lot. – Соамс посмотрел на нее и понял,
что она сильно изменилась.
(3) She knew that George would be waiting for her. –
Она знала, что Джордж будет ждать ее.

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 Scheme 17

Time contexts of the English Verb

present-time context past-time context

(conversations, letters, newspapers, radio (narration)
reports, lectures, etc.)
the situation is viewed from the moment of the situation is viewed from a past moment;
speaking; past tense aspect forms + Future-in-
any tense aspect form except for the Past the-past forms.
Perfect, the Past Perfect Continuous and e.g. He promised his mum that he
Future-in-the-past forms, which are usually
would study hard, but she
found in Reported Speech.
didn’t believe a word he said.
e.g. - I promise you I’ll study hard.
- I don’t believe a word you say!

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 Table 1
Summary table on the Formation of the Present Tense Aspect Forms
Active Voice
Type of the the Present Indefinite the Present Continuous the Present Perfect the Present Perfect
Sentence Continuous
I ask I am (I’m) asking I have (I’ve) asked, done I have (I’ve) been asking
You ask You are (you’re) asking You have (you’ve) asked, done You have (you’ve) been asking
He, she asks He, she is (he/she’s) asking He, she has (he/she’s) asked, done He, she has (he/she’s) been asking
Affirmative We ask We are (we’re) asking We have (we’ve) asked, done We have (we’ve) been asking
(+) You ask You are (you’re) asking You have (you’ve) asked, done You have (you’ve) been asking
They ask They are (they’re) asking They have (they’ve) asked, done They have (they’ve) been asking

Do I ask? Am I asking? Have I asked, done? Have I been asking?

Do you ask? Are you asking? Have you asked, done? Have you been asking?
Interrogative Does he, she ask? Is he, she asking? Has he, she asked, done? Has he, she been asking?
(?) Do we ask? Are we asking? Have we asked, done? Have we been asking?
Do you ask? Are you asking? Have you asked, done? Have you been asking?
Do they ask? Are they asking? Have they asked, done? Have they been asking?

I do not (don’t) ask
You do not (don’t) ask
He, she does not (doesn’t) ask
Negative
We do not (don’t) ask
(-)
You do not (don’t) ask
They do not (don’t) ask
I am not (I’m not) asking
You are not (aren’t) asking
He, she is not (isn’t) asking
We are not (aren’t) asking
You are not (aren’t) asking
They are not (aren’t) asking
I have not (haven’t) asked, done
You have not (haven’t) asked, done
He, she has not (hasn’t) asked, done
We have not (haven’t) asked, done
You have not (haven’t)asked, done
They have not (haven’t)asked, done
I have not (haven’t) been asking
You have not (haven’t) been asking
He, she has not (hasn’t) been asking
We have not (haven’t) been asking
You have not (haven’t) been asking
They have not (haven’t) been asking

I do ask
You do ask
Emphatic He, she does ask ___________ _____________ _____________
We do ask
You do ask
They do ask

13

Summary table on the Formation of the Present Tense Aspect Forms
Passive Voice
Type of the the Present Indefinite
Sentence
I am (I’m) asked
You are (you’re) asked
He, she is (he/she’s) asked
Affirmative We are (we’re) asked
(+) You are (you’re) asked
They are (they’re) asked
Am I asked?
Interrogative Are you asked?
(?) Is he, she asked?
Are we asked?
Are you asked?
Are they asked?
I am not (I’m not) asked
Negative You are not (aren’t) asked
(-) He, she is not (isn’t) asked
We are not (aren’t) asked
You are not (aren’t) asked
They are not (aren’t) asked
the Present Continuous
I am (I’m) being asked
You are (you’re) being asked
He, she is (he/she’s) being asked
We are (we’re) being asked
You are (you’re) being asked
They are(they’re) being asked
Am I being asked?
Are you being asked?
Is he, she being asked?
Are we being asked?
Are you being asked?
Are they being asked?
I am not (I’m not) being asked
You are not (aren’t) being asked
He, she is not (isn’t) being asked
We are not (aren’t) being asked
You are not (aren’t) being asked
They are not (aren’t) being asked
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Table 2
the Present Perfect the Present Perfect
Continuous
I have (I’ve) been asked
You have (you’ve) been asked
He, she has (he/she’s) been asked _____________
We have (we’ve) been asked
You have (you’ve) been asked
They have (they’ve) been asked
Have I been asked?
Have you been asked?
Has he, she been asked? _____________
Have we been asked?
Have you been asked?
Have they been asked?
I have not (haven’t ) been asked
You have not (haven’t ) been asked
He, she has not (hasn’t ) been asked _______________
We have not (haven’t ) been asked
You have not (haven’t ) been asked
They have not (haven’t ) been asked
 Table 3
The Present Indefinite in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
INDEPENDENT USE
Present Action
1. *recurrent action in the present
(with terminative verbs) 1) She usually rings up early in the morning.
Note: usu. used with such adverbial modifiers of frequency as 2) The charwoman doesn’t come in daily.
often, seldom, sometimes, occasionally, always, never, ever, every year 3) Do you often bring her coffee to bed?
(day, week, month,), usually, daily, once (twice, three times) a year, daily,
on Sundays (Mondays, Tuesdays), etc.
2. *permanent action in the present 1) He teaches English and History at a college, and lives with his parents.
(with durative verbs) 2) He is seventy five, and he doesn’t walk, he runs.
3. permanent characteristic 1) I always talk too much when I’m nervous.
given through a recurrent action 2) He sometimes plays the piano for five hours a day.
(marginal case)
4. general statement or universal truth 1) The Earth goes round the Sun.
(expressed by a recurrent or a permanent action) 2) Still waters run deep.
5. stage directions - Good night! (They shake hands. As he passes Vivie, he shakes hands with
her too...) Come along, Sir, at once.
succession of actions at the moment comments ...Chi-Chi walks to the travelling box. Chi-Chi climbs on the rock (TV film).
of speaking
demonstrations Now I peel the apples, slice them and put them into the dish.
6. with stative verbs 1) I quite understand what you mean.
an action going on (see scheme 2, p. 4 ) 2) He wants to see you for a minute.
at the moment of speaking
when it’s not viewed 1) You leave me no choice.
(instead of the Present Continuous)
in its process 2) I refuse to listen to you. You talk such nonsense.
Future Action
7. future action which is certain to take place due to the official 1) The Baker Street train leaves at 8.08.
arrangement (timetable, schedule, programme, etc.) 2) “Can you tell me when the game starts tonight?”
(+ indication of the stated time or future time)
Past Action
8. succession of actions in the past She arrives (приехала) full of life and spirit. And about a quarter of an hour later she sits
(to make a vivid narrative of past events) down (села) in a chair, says (сказала) she doesn’t feel well (чувствует себя нехорошо),
(historic or dramatic present) gasps (вздохнула) a bit and dies (умерла).

15
 Table 3
№п/п Meaning Example
DEPENDENT USE

Structurally dependent use

Future Action
9. of time
(introduced by when, till, until, When the weather is fine, we’ll go for a picnic to Fred’s.
before, after, as soon as, etc.) But: I don’t know when the weather will be fine (object subclause, the question is
what?)
in subclauses of condition
(introduced by if, unless, in case, on condition If the weather is fine, we’ll go for a picnic to Fred’s.
that, providing/provided that, etc.) But: I wonder if (whether) the weather will be fine (object subclause, the question is what?)

of concession
(introduced by even if, even though, no matter Even if the weather is bad, we’ll go for a picnic to Fred’s.
how, whenever, whatever, however, etc.)
10. What do we do next? – Что будем делать сейчас/дальше?
in some special with reference to the immediate future Where do we go now? – Куда сейчас пойдем?
questions What happens next? – Что будет сейчас/дальше?

Lexically dependent use

Future Action
11. to see to He’ll see that she is properly looked after.
(проследить за тем, чтобы…) Он проследит за тем, чтобы за ней должным образом присмотрели.
(досл. присмотрят)
in object clauses to make sure He’ll make sure no harm is done to her.
after Он убедится в том, что ей не причинят вреда.
(убедиться в том, что…)

to take care He’ll take care that no one interferes with them.
(позаботиться о том, чтобы…) Он позаботится о том, чтобы никто не вмешивался в их дела.

* recurrent action - point (instantaneous) action, repeated a number of times.

* permanent action - continuous, uninterrupted process which naturally includes the present moment.

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 Table 4
The Present Continuous in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
Present Action
1. an action going on 1) I think he is talking to his mother now.
at the present moment 2) Is anything new happening?
(occasion. + now, at present) 3) I’m not watching TV. You can turn it off.
2. an action going on 1) I stay indoors most of the time. I’m catching up with my studies.
at the present period 2) What are you doing in Geneva? Are you writing a play?”
(occasion. + indications of the present period like this year, etc.) 3) She isn’t working this year. She’s on her maternity leave.

3. an action generally characterizing the person denoted by the 1) People are always blaming the circumstances for what they are.
subject, bringing out the person’s typical traits 2) She is constantly complaining about everything in life. She is just unbearable.
(emotionally coloured characteristic) (+ always, constantly)
Future action
4. future action which is certain to take place due to one’s previous 1) I’ m flying early tomorrow morning.
decision / personal arrangement (+ indication of the future time) 2) Are you dining out with them tonight?

The Present Continuous can be used with stative verbs when…

5. to see=1) to meet, 1) Is he seeing (= meeting) his new client in the afternoon?
2) to see off 2) I’m seeing (= seeing off) her to the station tonight.
to think / to consider = 1) I’m thinking of buying a new car now.
stative verbs to think over (обдумывать, размышлять над…) 2) I’m seriously considering his offer at the moment.
change their to hear = to discuss in the court This notorious case is being heard again now.
meaning to taste = to try the taste of (пробовать) He is tasting the soup, as he doesn’t want to put too much salt into it.
to smell = to feel the smell of (нюхать) Look at him! He is smelling all the flowers here!
to be = to behave Don’t pay attention to him! He is just being silly (=is behaving silly now)
to have as a part of a set phrase (to have dinner 1) Mr. Franklin can’t answer the phone now. He is having a bath.
(to have = to eat), to have shower (to have = to wash), 2) Are they having a party tonight?
to have a party (to have = to enjoy oneself)
6. great intensity of feeling is expressed 1) I’m loving it! (McDonald’s) (= love it very much) (verb of emotions)
(usu. with stative verbs of emotions 2) I see you are scared! You are wishing I hadn’t done it! (verb of wish)
occasion. with stative verbs of wish and physical perception ) 3) I miss her so much, I even think I’m hearing her! (verb of physical perception)
Note: The Present Continuous in the meaning of an action going on at the present moment / period is synonymous to the phrase to be busy doing smth.
e.g. Father is cutting (= is busy cutting) the grass in the garden (an action in progress at the present moment).
e.g. Nigel is getting himself (= is busy getting himself) into the parliament (an action in progress at the present period).

17
 Stative
tasteVerbs
(быть that
наare used in the
вкус) Present
What Indefinite
did you put intoorit?the Present Continuous forms depending on their meaning
too spicy.
5. to have a certain This perfume smells (= is) so to feel the smell of (нюхать) - Where is she?
to smell smell (пахнуть) wonderful. Can you give it to - She is smelling perfumes over there!
me for my birthday?
6. to have certain looks You look so glamorous! Is it to use one’s eyes in order to Why are you looking at me like that?
to look (выглядеть a new haircut? see smth.
опред.образом) (смотреть)
7. to exist He is a very obedient boy. to behave He is being so naughty today! What’s
to be (быть) (permanent characteristic) (вести себя) happened?
(temporary characteristic)
8. a part of a set phrase, 1) The boss is not in the office now. He is
e.g. to have breakfast/ lunch/ dinner/ having lunch in the restaurant.
coffee (= to eat, to drink) –
завтракать, обедать, ужинать, пить 2) Don’t call him. He won’t hear you. He is
to have to possess My father has three cars at кофе
having a bath.
(иметь, владеть) the moment. to have a bath/ a shower (=to
wash) – принимать ванну/ душ
to have a problem/ a trouble 3) -Why is he so sad?
(= to experience) – испытывать -He is having some family problems at the
затруднения moment.

18
 Table 6
The Present Indefinite versus the Present Continuous

№ The Present Indefinite The Present Continuous

п/п Meaning
Meaning Example Meaning Example

Present action

1.
present action permanent action He teaches English literature temporary action This week he is giving lectures on
in the present at Oxford. in the present Irish poetry at Eton College.

2.
permanent permanent permanent
characteristic characteristic of She always talks too much when characteristic of She is always talking too much when
of a person a person that is she is nervous. a person that is she is nervous. It drives me mad!
emotionally neutral emotionally coloured
(marginal case) (+ always, constantly)

Future action

3.
future action due to the official due to one’s previous
that is certain arrangement The Baker Street train leaves decision / personal They are leaving for holiday tomorrow
to take place in (timetable, schedule, at 8.08. arrangement afternoon.
the near future programme)

Table 7
19
 The Present Perfect in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
Present Perfect I (Present Perfect proper)
1. an accomplished action
viewed from the moment of speaking
as a part of the present situation 1) He is very sensitive. I have just discovered that.
 attention is centered on the action itself 2) I haven’t talked to him yet. I don’t know how to do it less painfully.
 circumstances appear to be unimportant 3) Has she passed her final exam yet?
+ adverbial modifiers just, already, yet, not…yet, before, always, never, ever,
recently= lately= of late
Present Perfect II
2. + for +(period of time) I've known this young lady for all my life.

with stative verbs + since

an action which began (see scheme 2, p. 4 ) *1) as an adverb, 1) We have known each other since.
before the moment of *2) as a preposition, 2) We have known each other since childhood.
speaking and continues *3) as a conjunction 3) We have known each other since we went to the same school.
up to it or into it (instead +for +(period of time) I’ve lived in this beautiful house for twenty years.
of Present Perfect with dynamic verbs
+ since
Continuous I) when the action is not
*1) as an adverb, 1) I’ve lived in this beautiful house since.
viewed in its process
*2) as a preposition, 2) I’ve lived in this beautiful house since childhood.
*3) as a conjunction 3) I’ve lived in this beautiful house since we moved here.
+for +(period of time) Shall we sit down a little? We haven’t sat for ages.
+ since
in negative sentences *1) as an adverb, 1) He hasn’t written to me since.
*2) as a preposition, 2) He hasn’t written to me since that autumn.
*3) as a conjunction 3) He hasn’t written to me since we quarrelled.
Present Perfect III
3. a future action that will be accomplished before the action of the principal 1) You’ll find that you’ll long for home, when you have left it.
clause (in adverbial clauses of time introduced by 2) As soon as I have had some tea, we will go for a walk.
when, before, after, as soon as, till, until)
* since as an adverb (с тех пор) – doesn’t require any other word / words to complete its meaning e.g. I’ve seen him every day since.-Я вижу его каждый день с тех пор.
* since as a preposition – introduces a prepositional phrase with a noun as a headword e.g. The sun has been in the room since morning.- Солнце (находится) в комнате с утра.
* since as a conjunction – introduces a subclause of time e.g. She has been much better since she started the injections. – Она чувствует себя намного лучше с тех пор, как ей
начали делать инъекции.
(Note! The Past Indefinite is generally used in the since- subclause to express a single past action, that serves as a starting point for the action of the principal clause, see started above)

20
 Table 8
The Present Perfect versus the Past Indefinite
The Present Perfect (= Present Perfect I) The Past Indefinite

Time reference

present time reference past time reference

Adverbial modifiers

indicators of indefinite time and frequency such as
just, already, yet, not… yet, always, never, ever,
recently (= lately= of late)
e.g. I’ve just broken the vase. I’m being so awkward today.
indicators of the past time,
such as yesterday, five days ago, last month, in 2005, etc.
e.g. Yesterday I broke my mum’s favourite elephant figure.
I thought she would kill me.

some indicators of the present time, such as this morning, today, tonight some indicators of the present time, such as this morning, today, tonight
(when the period of time mentioned is not over yet) (when the period of time mentioned is already over)
e.g. I’ve sent him an express letter this morning. (It’s still morning.) e.g. I sent him an express letter this morning. (It’s afternoon now.)

_____________________ indicators of the place of the action (e.g. in Germany)

e.g. I ate turnips in Germany.

______________________ indicators of the attending circumstances (e.g. for Lord Henry)

e.g. They built that palace for Lord Henry.

21
 Table 8
Type of the action

past action, connected somehow past action, not connected

with the present situation with the present situation
e.g. I’ve lost the keys, I can’t get into the house now. I lost the keys yesterday, so I couldn’t get into the house
until my husband came.

Types of questions

1) general questions with reference to the present 1) general questions with reference to the past
e.g. Has anything new happened recently? I know she met him yesterday. Did she invite him to the party?

2) special questions beginning with who, what, why, 2) special questions beginning with who, what why,
if the reference is made to the present if the reference is made to the past
e.g. Who has done it, I wonder? 1) Who taught you English last year?
e.g. You look so frustrated. What has happened? 2) What happened in the Oxford street?
e.g Why haven’t you gone either? Why are you still here? 3) Why did you leave then without saying good bye?

3) special questions beginning with when, where, how

______________________ 1) When did they actually arrive?
2) Where did they finally meet?
3) How did it happen then?

Just/just now
- just - just now
e.g. I have just told you I am really short of time. I told you just now, I am (was) really short of time.

22
 Table 9
The Present Perfect Continuous in Use
№п/п Meaning Example

Present Perfect Continuous I ( = Present Perfect II)

1.
an action which began
before the moment of speaking
and continues up to it or into it
(with dynamic verbs)
(in Russian translation – present)
+for +(period of time)
+ since
1) as an adverb,
2) as a preposition,
3) as a conjunction
I’ve been waiting for you for ages here (жду)!
1) He’s been living here ever since (живу).
2) He’s been living here since childhood.
3) He’s been living here since he was a child.

Present Perfect Continuous II

2. 1) - Your shoes are wet.
an action which was in progress quite recently and - I’ve been walking in the rain (гулял).
affects somehow the present situation
(in Russian translation – past) 2) - What have you been doing (делал)? Your clothes are dirty.
- I’ve been repairing (чинил) the car.

Table 10
Sentence patterns with Present Perfect Continuous I (since)
№п/п Meaning Example
Principle clause Subordinate clause
1. the action of the principle clause the action of the subordinate
began at the same time as the clause is a single past action and
1) He has been reading since he came.
action of the subordinate clause serves to express the starting
2) Он читает (present) с тех пор, как пришел (past).
and continues into the moment point of the action
of speaking in the principal clause
2. an action of the principle clause an action of the subordinate 1) He has been reading since he has been working in the library.
began in the past and continues clause is parallel to that 2) Он читает (present) с тех пор, как работает (present)
into the moment of speaking of the principal clause в библиотеке.

23
 Table 11
The Present Perfect and the Present Continuous versus the Present Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect II Present Perfect Continuous I
Rule Example Rule Example

1) I’ve known the Smiths all my life. 1) I’ve been learning this paragraph
with stative verbs 2) I’ve known the Smiths since we moved with dynamic verbs for almost an hour! It’s so complicated.
(see scheme 2, p.4) there 5 years ago. 2) I’ve been learning this paragraph
since I came home.
with dynamic verbs 1) He’s lived in this luxurious mansion
when the action is not for twenty years. with dynamic verbs 1) I’ve been waiting here for ages!
viewed in its process 2) He’s lived in this luxurious mansion when the action is viewed 2) I’ve been waiting here since 3 p.m.
as well as in since childhood. in its process
negative sentences 3) Shall we rest for a while? We haven’t had
any rest for ages.
Present Perfect I Present Perfect Continuous I
1) the emphasis is on 1) the emphasis is on
the result of the action the duration of action
2) completed action How many pages of the book have you read? 2) action in process How long have you been reading
3) how much/many, 3) how long the book?
how many times
Present Perfect I Present Perfect Continuous II

the emphasis is on
the result of the action
Present Continuous
an action going on at the
present moment
(no connection with
the past)
The ceiling was white. Now it is blue. the emphasis is on the duration
Ann has painted it (покрасила). of the action, the activity itself
Present Perfect Continuous (both I and II)
an action 1) which began before
the present moment (in the past)
Don’t disturb me now. I’m working. and continues up to it or
into it (I); 2) which was in
process quite recently and
affects the present situation (II)
Ann’s clothes are covered in paint.
She has been painting the ceiling
(красила).
1) I’ve been working hard for a month
already (I).
2) I’ve been working hard, so now
I’m going to have a rest (II).

Table 12
24
 Summary table on the Use of the Present Tense Aspect Forms
№ the Present Indefinite
п/п
INDEPENDENT USE
Present Action
1. recurrent action in the present
(with terminative verbs)
+ often, seldom, sometimes, always, never,
ever, every year, etc.
e.g. She usually rings up early in the
morning.
2. permanent action in the present
(with durative verbs)
e.g. He teaches English and History
at a college, and lives with his parents.
3. permanent characteristic
given through a recurrent action
(marginal case)
e.g. I always talk too much when
I’m nervous.
4. general statement or universal truth
(expressed by a recurrent or
a permanent action)
e.g. The Earth goes round the Sun.
5. succession of actions at the moment
of speaking (in stage directions, comments, etc.)
e.g. Now I peel the apples, slice them and
put them into the dish.
the Present Continuous
Present Action
an action going on
at the present moment
(occasion. + now, at present)
e.g. I think he is talking to his mother
now.
an action going on
at the present period
(occasion. + indication of the present
period like this year, etc.)
e.g. She isn’t working this year.
She’s on the maternity leave.
an action generally characterizing
the person denoted by the subject,
bringing out the person’s typical traits
(emotionally coloured characteristic)
(+ always, constantly)
e.g. He is constantly grumbling.
I hate it.
the Present Perfect
Past-Present Action
Present Perfect I
an accomplished action
viewed from the moment
of speaking
as a part of the present situation
e.g. He is very sensitive.
I have just discovered that.
Present Perfect II
an action which began before the
moment of speaking and
continues up to it or into it (instead
of Present Perfect Continuous I
1) with stative verbs,
2) when the action is not viewed in its
process, 3) in negative sentences)
e.g. We have known each other
since childhood (for 20 years).
the Present Perfect
Continuous
Past-Present Action
Present Perfect Continuous I
an action which began
before the moment of speaking
and continues up to it or into it
(with dynamic verbs, + since, for)
e.g. He’s been living here
since childhood (for 10 years).
Present Perfect Continuous II
an action which was in progress
quite recently and affects
somehow the present situation
e.g. - Your shoes are wet.
- I’ve been walking in the
rain.

Table 12
6. an action going on
25
 at the moment of speaking
(instead of the Present Continuous with stative
verbs (1), and when the action is not viewed
in its process (2))
e.g. I refuse (1) to listen to you. You talk (2)
such nonsense.
7. Future Action Future Action Future Action
future action which is certain to take future action which is certain to Present Perfect III
place according to the official take place due to one’s previous a future action that will be
arrangement decision /personal arrangement accomplished before the action of
(timetable, schedule, programme, etc.) (+ indication of the future time) the principal clause (in adverbial
(+ indication of the stated time or e.g. I’ m flying early tomorrow clauses of time introduced by when,
future time) morning. before, after, as soon as, till, until)
e.g. The Baker Street train leaves at 8.08. e.g. You’ll find that you’ll long
for home, when you have left it.
8. Past Action
succession of actions in the past (to make
a vivid narrative of past events)
(historic or dramatic present)
e.g. She arrives (приехала) full of life and
spirit. And about an hour later she sits down
(села) in a chair, and dies (умерла).
DEPENDENT USE
Future Action
Structurally dependent use
9. in subclauses of time, condition and
concession
e.g. When(if) the weather is fine, we’ll go for a
picnic to Fred’s (time, condition).
e.g. Even if the weather is bad, we’ll go for a
picnic to Fred’s (concession).
10. in some special questions
with reference to the immediate future
e.g. What do we do next?
Lexically dependent use
11. in object clauses after to see to, to make sure,
to take care, e.g. He’ll see (make sure, take
care) that she is properly looked after.

Table 13
26
 Summary table on the Formation of the Past Tense Aspect Forms
Active Voice
Type of the the Past Indefinite the Past Continuous the Past Perfect the Past Perfect
Sentence Continuous
I asked, wrote I was asking I had (I’d) asked, written I had (I’d) been asking
You asked, wrote You were asking You had (you’d) asked, written You had (you’d) been asking
He, she asked, wrote He, she was asking He, she had (he/she’d) asked, written He, she had (he/she’d) been asking
Affirmative We asked, wrote We were asking We had (we’d) asked, written We had (we’d) been asking
(+) You asked, wrote You were asking You had (you’d) asked, written You had (you’d) been asking
They asked, wrote They were asking They had (they’d) asked, written They had (they’d) been asking

Did I ask, write?
Did you ask, write?
Interrogative Did he, she ask, write?
(?) Did we ask, write?
Did you ask, write?
Did they ask, write?
Was I asking? Had I asked, written? Had I been asking?
Were you asking? Had you asked, written? Had you been asking?
Was he, she asking? Had he, she asked, written? Had he, she been asking?
Were we asking? Had we asked, written? Had we been asking?
Were you asking? Had you asked, written? Had you been asking?
Were they asking? Had they asked, written? Had they been asking?

I did not (didn’t) ask, write
You did not (didn’t) ask, write
Negative He, she did not (didn’t) ask, write
We did not (didn’t) ask, write
(-)
You did not (didn’t) ask, write
They did not (didn’t) ask, write
I was not (wasn’t) asking
You were not (weren’t) asking
He, she was not (wasn’t) asking
We were not (weren’t) asking
You were not (weren’t) asking
They were not (weren’t) asking
I had not (hadn’t) asked, written
You had not (hadn’t) asked, written
He, she had not (hadn’t) asked, written
We had not (hadn’t) asked, written
You had not (hadn’t)asked, written
They had not (hadn’t)asked, written
I had not (hadn’t) been asking
You had not (hadn’t) been asking
He, she had not (hadn’t) been asking
We had not (hadn’t) been asking
You had not (hadn’t) been asking
They had not (hadn’t) been asking

I did ask, write

You did ask, write
Emphatic He, she did ask, write ___________ _____________ _____________
We did ask, write
You did ask, write
They did ask, write

Table 14
27
 Summary table on the Formation of the Past Tense Aspect Forms
Passive Voice

Type of the the Past Indefinite the Past Continuous the Past Perfect the Past Perfect
Sentence Continuous
I was asked I was being asked I had (I’d) been asked
You were asked You were being asked You had (you’d) been asked
He, she was asked He, she was being asked He, she had (he/she’d) been asked
Affirmative We were asked We were being asked We had (we’d) been asked _____________
(+) You were asked You were being asked You had (you’d) been asked
They were asked They were being asked They had (they’d) been asked

Was I asked? Was I being asked? Had I been asked?

Interrogative Were you asked? Were you being asked? Had you been asked?
(?) Was he, she asked? Was he, she being asked? Had he, she been asked? _____________
Were we asked? Were we being asked? Had we been asked?
Were you asked? Were you being asked? Had you been asked?
Were they asked? Were they being asked? Had they been asked?

I was not (wasn’t) asked
Negative You were not (weren’t) asked
(-) He, she was not (wasn’t) asked
We were not (weren’t) asked
You were not (weren’t) asked
They were not (weren’t) asked
I was not ( wasn’t) being asked
You were not (weren’t) being asked
He, she was not (wasn’t) being asked
We were not (weren’t) being asked
You were not (weren’t) being asked
They were not (weren’t) being asked
I had not (hadn’t ) been asked
You had not (hadn’t ) been asked _______________
He, she had not (hadn’t ) been asked
We had not (hadn’t ) been asked
You had not (hadn’t ) been asked
They had not (hadn’t ) been asked

Table 15
28
 The Past Indefinite in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
INDEPENDENT USE
Past action
1. indicators of the past time, such as 1) I got a letter from Willy yesterday.
yesterday, five days ago, last month, 2) Did you meet her only five days ago?
in 2005, etc. 3) The Browns didn’t visit the Smiths last month.
some indicators of the present time, I saw the announcement in the paper this morning.
a single action which the time of the such as this morning, today, tonight (I saw it in the morning, but told about it in the afternoon,
took place in the past action is indicated (when the period of time mentioned when the morning was already over, so
by… is already over ) the Past Indefinite is used)
indicators of the place of the action I ate turnips in Germany.
(e.g. in Germany)
indicators of the attending They built that palace for Lord Henry.
circumstances (e.g. for Lord Henry)
the time of the when the action is definite in the
action is not mind of the speaker (= from Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.
indicated the wider context it is clear that
the action refers to the past)
2. We quarrelled for three days and finally stopped
And now I think it wasn’t worth it at all (that period
of time is already over).
an action which the period of time is for + period of time Compare: They have quarreled (have been quarrelling)
occupied a whole period indicated by for three days now. And it seems to me they are not going
of time now over to stop (the period of time is not over yet, it is closely
connected with the present situation)
during + period of time They worked during their summer holidays and
earned a lot of money
3. expressed by single _________ He found some matches, climbed on the table,
accomplished lit the gas lamp and settled down to read.
succession of actions actions
in the past expressed by for, during, from…to, She looked at him for some time and then shrugged.
actions of some all day/night, etc.
duration

Table 15
29
4. *recurrent action in the past adverbial modifiers of frequency such 1) She often mentioned me in her letters.
as often, sometime, now and again, etc. 2) But sometimes he found his work difficult.

5. *permanent action in the past

 continuous uninterrupted process in the past 1) Dan lived alone in London and saw no one except me.
(general characteristic of the person 2) He worked in a factory twelve hours a day
denoted by the subject ) for nine shillings a week.
 the time of the action is not usually indicated 3) He had a large blunt nose, thin mouth and shrewd eyes.
(it is definite in the mind of the speaker)
6. with stative verbs 1) I quite understood what you meant.
an action going on (see scheme 2, p. 4) 2) He really wanted to see you. But he couldn’t
at a given past moment wait till you came.
(instead of the Past Continuous) when it’s not viewed 1) His voice was tense. He spoke with deep emotion.
in its process 2) I refused to listen to him. He talked such nonsense.
7. Future action viewed from the past (The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses, Reported speech)
future action which was certain to take place due to the official arrangement
(timetable, schedule, programme when the Rules of the Sequence of Tenses are observed) It was announced that the Baker Street train left (leaves)
(+ indication of the stated time) at 8.08.
DEPENDENT USE
Future action viewed from the past (The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses, Reported speech)
Structurally dependent use
8. of time He said that when the weather was fine, they would go
(introduced by when, till, until, for a picnic to Fred’s.
before, after, as soon, etc.)
of condition He told them that if the weather was fine, they would go
in subclauses (introduced by if, unless, in case, for a picnic to Fred’s.

on condition that, providing that, etc.)

of concession He assured them that even if the weather was bad, they would go
(introduced by even if, even though, no matter for a picnic to Fred’s.
how, whenever, whatever, however, etc.)
Lexically dependent use
9. to see to (проследить за тем, чтобы…) He promised her to see that the children were properly
in object clauses looked after.
after to make sure (убедиться в том, что…) He assured her parents that he would make sure no harm
was done to her.

30
 to take care (позаботиться о том, чтобы) He said that he would take care that no one interfered with them.
* recurrent/ permanent action in the past can be also expressed by the constructions used to +infinitive and would +infinitive (see tables 16 and 17)

Table 16
Used to + inf. / Would + inf.

№ Meaning Used to + inf. Would + inf.

п/п (mainly literary style)
1. My grandfather used to read me fairy-tales every day My grandfather would read me
recurrent action in the past before I went to bed. fairy-tales every day before I went to bed.

2.
permanent action / state in the past I used to be as sentimental as anyone else in those ____________________
days.

Note! 1) Both used to + inf. and would + inf. serve to express an action which was typical in the past and is no longer true at present.
2) used to + inf. to express a recurrent action / permanent state and would + inf. to express a recurrent action only can be used occasionally
instead of the Past Perfect, which serves to denote precedence in the past context.
e.g. He ordered dinner, and sat down in the very corner, at the very table, perhaps, at which he and young Jolyon used to sit twenty-five years ago
(= had sat twenty-five years before that – here the Rules of the Sequence of Tenses are observed).

Table 17
Formation of Used to + inf.

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I – we used to do I – we didn’t use to do I – we use to do

You – you e.g. I used to meet You – you e.g. I didn’t use to Did You – you e.g. Did you use to
He, she, it – they him sometimes when He, she, it – they meet him though He, she, it - they meet him when he
he was working there. he was working was working there?
31
 next door.

Table 18
The Past Continuous in Use
№п/п Meaning Example

Past action

1.
an action which was going on
In a moment I returned to where Martin was still reading by the fire.
at a given past moment
(background action in the past)

2.
an action which was going on He remembered that Helen (had) met her first husband
at a given past period when she was working in a New York publishing house.

3.
an action generally characterizing the person
denoted by the subject, bringing out the person’s typical traits
(past situation (recollection), emotionally coloured characteristic)
(+ always, constantly)
1) He was always suffering from a cut or a burn.
2) I remember how he was always writing verses when he was a student.
Those were quite stupid ones and irritated me a lot.

Future action viewed from the past

(when the Rules of the Sequence of Tenses are observed, in Reported Speech)
4.
future action which was certain to take place
due to one’s previous decision / personal arrangement 1) Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving (… что ты уезжаешь)?
(used in the Reported Speech or when 2) At the end of the week she wired that she was returning (… что она
the Rules of the Sequence of Tenses are observed) возвращается).

Note: 1. The Past Continuous in the meaning of an action which was going on at a given past moment / period is synonymous to the phrase
to be busy doing smth. in the past:
e.g. Father was cutting (= was busy cutting) the grass in the garden (past moment).
e.g. Nigel was getting himself (= was busy getting himself) into the parliament (past period).

32
 2. The Past Continuous is also synonymous to the sentence pattern to spend + the time + Ving,
e.g. He was helping his uncle on the farm in summer. = He spent summer helping his uncle on the farm.

Table 19
Sentence patterns with the Past Continuous and the Past Indefinite
№п/п Meaning
(relations between the actions) Example
Principal clause Subordinate clause

Complex Sentences with As / When-subclauses

1. the actions are fully simultaneous

1) I watched (was watching) him as / when he drank (was drinking) his

the Past Indefinite the Past Indefinite tea.
(the Past Continuous) (the Past Continuous) 2) Roy talked (was talking) little as / when they drove (were driving) home.

2. the actions are partially simultaneous

the Past Indefinite The Past Continuous Martin rang me up just as / when I was leaving the office.
(single action) (background action)
( + when)
The Past Continuous the Past Indefinite
(background action) (single action) I was crossing the street when I saw them.
(+ when)
3. the actions form a succession As / when the sun disappeared, a fresh breeze stirred the curtains.
the Past Indefinite the Past Indefinite
Complex Sentences with While-subclauses
1. the actions are fully simultaneous
While I was cleaning (cleaned) the flat, my mum was cooking (cooked)
The Past Continuous The Past Continuous dinner.
(the Past Indefinite) (the Past Indefinite)
2. the actions are partially simultaneous

33
 the Past Indefinite The Past Continuous While I was reading, I heard a splash from the bath and realized that Martin
(single action) (background action)+(while) was there.

Table 20
The Past Perfect in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
Past Perfect I (Past Perfect proper)
1. an action accomplished 1) We had translated the article by five o’clock.
before a given past moment or another past action 2) It was long afterwards that I found out what had happened.

Past Perfect II
2. +for +(period of time) She suddenly understood that she had loved him all her life.

with stative + since 1) She began to do all the things that she had wanted to do since.
verbs 1) as an adverb, 2) She began to do all the things that she had wanted to do
(see scheme 2, p. 4) 2) as a preposition, since her maidenhood.
3) as a conjunction 3) She began to do all the things that she had wanted to do
since she was a young girl.
an action which began +for +(period of time) He mentioned that they had lived in that beautiful house
before a given past with dynamic for twenty years.
moment and continued verbs when the + since 1) He mentioned that they had lived in that beautiful house
up to it or into it action is not 1) as an adverb, since.
(instead of Past Perfect viewed in its 2) as a preposition, 2) He mentioned that they had lived in that beautiful house
Continuous I) process 3) as a conjunction since his childhood.
3) He mentioned that they had lived in that beautiful house
since they moved there.
+for +(period of time) They wanted to sit down a little. They hadn’t sat for ages.

in negative + since
sentences 1) as an adverb, 1) He was upset that she hadn’t written to him since.
2) as a preposition, 2) He was upset that she hadn’t written to him since that autumn.
3) as a conjunction 3) He was upset that she hadn’t written to him since they quarrelled.

34
 Past Perfect III
3. a future-in-the-past action that would be accomplished before the He was sure that they wouldn’t talk to him
action of the principal clause (in adverbial clauses of time until they had made up their mind.
introduced by when, before, after, as soon as, till, until)
Table 21
Sentence Patterns with the Past Perfect and other Past tense aspect forms
№п/п Meaning (relations between the actions) Example
Principal clause Subordinate clause
Complex Sentence with After-subclause
1. the action of the subclause precedes the action of the principal clause 1) After he had been through with the grammar, he took up the dictionary and
added twenty words to his vocabulary.
the Past Indefinite the Past Perfect 2) Shortly after we returned from Basel, Roy moved to London
(the Past Indefinite with (‘to return’ is a terminative verb).
terminative verbs)
Complex Sentence with Before-subclause
2. the action of the principal clause precedes the action of the
subclause 1) She had heard the news before she entered my house.
the Past Perfect the Past Indefinite 2) She brought all the dishes just before we arrived.
(the Past Indefinite with (‘to bring’ is a terminative verb).
terminative verbs)
3. the action of the principal clause was not fully accomplished before the
action of the subclause took place They hadn’t gone four miles before they understood that it was going
the Past Perfect the Past Indefinite to rain. (Не прошли они и….)
(negative form)
Complex Sentence with When-subclause
4. the action of the principal clause precedes the action of the
subclause 1) When he next spoke his tone had changed.
the Past Perfect the Past Indefinite 2) When we entered the house he already opened the window
(the Past Indefinite with terminative (‘to open’ is a terminative verb).
verbs)
5. actions form a succession
the Past Indefinite the Past Indefinite or When they showed / had shown him around, they eagerly demanded
the Past Perfect the news.
(to emphasize the completion of the
action)
35
6. the action of the principal clause was not fully accomplished when the
action of the subclause took place I hadn’t gone a hundred yards, when I noticed there was a car behind me.
the Past Perfect (negative form) the Past Indefinite (Не прошел я и….)

Table 21
7. the action of the principal clause was not fully accomplished when the
action of the subclause took place 1) She had hardly sat down, when a very stout man flopped on the chair
the Past Perfect the Past Indefinite opposite hers.
+ scarcely, hardly, nearly, no 2) Hardly had she sat down, when a very stout man flopped on the chair
sooner… than opposite hers.

Complex Sentence with As soon as-subclause

8. actions form a succession
the Past Indefinite the Past Indefinite or 1) As soon as she arrived at her flat, she busied herself tidying it up.
the Past Perfect 2) As soon as he had gone, I spoke to Hanna.
(to emphasize the completion of the
action)
Complex Sentence with Till/Until-subclause
9. the action of the principal clause stopped only after the action
of the subclause was accomplished That evening I took out a deck-chair, sat under one of the apple-trees and
the Past Indefinite the Past Perfect read until the summer sky had darkened.

10. the action of the principal clause is an action of some duration and
precedes that of the subclause He read the manuscripts until he was dead tired.
the Past Indefinite the Past Indefinite

11. Compound sentences

co-ordinate sentence (1) co-ordinate sentence (2)

one action got accomplished before a given past moment, which (the
moment) serves as a starting point of the next action that is in process
the Past Perfect the Past Continuous 1) Ann had risen and was peering over his shoulder.
(an accomplished action) (an action in process)/ the Past 2) The rain had passed and the air was fresh and sweet.
Indefinite (with stative verbs
36
 and some dynamic verbs of
durative meaning)

Table 22
The Past Perfect Continuous in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
Past Perfect Continuous I ( = Past Perfect II)
1. She suddenly realized that it was completely dark and
an action which began +for +(period of time) that she had been walking for a long time!
before a given past moment and
continued up to it or into it + since He knew what she had been thinking about
(with dynamic verbs) (as an adverb, preposition since she received the telegram.
and conjunction)
Past Perfect Continuous II
2. an action which was in progress just before a given past moment and 1) Adeline had been helping her mother all day long.
affected somehow the past situation 2) Winifred was tired as she had been jogging.

Table 23
Sentence patterns with Past Perfect Continuous I
№п/п Meaning Example
Principal clause Subordinate clause
1. the action of the principle clause the action of the subordinate clause
began at the same time as the action serves to express the starting point
of the subordinate clause and of the action in the principal clause Wilfred said exactly what he himself had been thinking over
continued into a given past moment ever since he came.

Past Perfect Continuous I since + the Past Indefinite

2. the action of the principle clause
began before a given past moment
and continued into it or up to it
Past Perfect Continuous I
3. the action of the principal clause had
begun before the moment indicated
by the action of the subclause and
the action of the subordinate clause is
parallel to that of the principal clause He assured us that he had been reading since/ all the time/
as long as he had been working in the library.
as long as, all the time (that), since +
+ Past Perfect Continuous I
the action of the subordinate clause
serves to indicate a given past moment He had been sitting by the fire for nearly an hour,

37
 continued up to it or into it
Past Perfect Continuous I
Summary table on the Use of the Past Tense Aspect Forms
№ the Past Indefinite
п/п
INDEPENDENT USE
Past Action
1. single action in the past
+ (1) indicators of the past time (e.g. last month),
(2) indicators of the present time, (e.g. this
morning, etc., when the period of time mentioned
is already over), (3) indicators of the place of the
action (e.g. in Germany), (4) indicators of the
attending circumstances (e.g. for Lord Henry),
(5) no time indicators (the action is definite in the
mind of the speaker) )
e.g. (1) The Browns didn’t visit the Smiths
last month.
(2) I saw the announcement in the paper
this morning (it’s afternoon already).
(3) I ate turnips in Germany.
(4) They built that palace for Lord Henry.
(5) Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.
2. an action which occupied
a whole period of time now over
(for / during + period of time)
e.g. We quarrelled for three days and finally
stopped. Now I think it wasn’t worth it at all.
e.g. They worked during their summer
holidays and earned a lot of money.
3. succession of actions in the past,
expressed by:
1) single accomplished actions, 2) actions of some
duration (+ for, during, from…to, all day / night)
e.g. 1) He found some matches, lit the gas lamp
when + the Past Indefinite
the Past Continuous the Past Perfect
Past action
an action which was going on
at a given past moment
(background action in the past)
e.g. In a moment I returned to where
Martin was still reading by the fire.
an action which was going on
at a given past period
e.g. He remembered that Helen
(had) met her first husband when
she was working in a New York
publishing house.
an action generally characterizing
the person denoted by the subject,
bringing out the person’s typical traits
(past situation (recollection), emotionally
coloured characteristic)
38
when his mother came into the room with a letter in her hand.
Past Action
Past Perfect I
an action accomplished
before a given past moment or
another past action
e.g. It was long afterwards that I
found out what had happened.
Past Perfect II
an action which began before a
given past moment and continued
up to it or into it (instead of Past
Perfect Continuous I with stative
verbs, when the action is not viewed
in its process, in negative sentences)
e.g. She suddenly understood that she
had loved him all her life
Table 24
the Past Perfect
Continuous
Past Action
Past Perfect Continuous I
an action which began
before a given past moment
and continued up to it
or into it
(with dynamic verbs,
+ since, for)
e.g. She suddenly realized that it
was completely dark and that
she had been walking
for a long time!
Past Perfect Continuous II
an action which was in
progress just before a given
past moment and affected
somehow the past situation
e.g. Adeline was tired as she had
been jogging.
 and settled down to read. (+ always, constantly)
2) She looked at him for some time e.g. He was always suffering
and then shrugged. from a cut or a burn.

Table 24
4. recurrent action in the past
Note: usu. used with such adverbial modifiers
of frequency as often ,usually, sometimes,
never, now and again, etc.
= used to +infinitive and would +infinitive
e.g. She often mentioned (used to/ would
mention) him in her letters.
5. permanent action in the past
= used to + infinitive
e.g. I was (used to be) as sentimental
as anyone else in those days.
6. an action going on
at a given past moment
(instead of the Past Continuous with stative verbs,
and when the action is not viewed in its process)
e.g. His voice was tense.
He spoke with deep emotion.
Future action viewed from the past Future action viewed from the past Future action viewed from the past
7. a future-in-the-past action which was certain a future-in-the-past action which was Past Perfect III
to take place due to the official certain to take place due to a future-in-the-past action that would
arrangement (timetable, programme, etc.) one’s previous decision / personal be accomplished before the action
(+ indication of the stated time) arrangement (when the Rules of the of the principal clause (in adverbial
(when the Rules of the Sequence of Tenses are Sequence of Tenses are observed clauses of time introduced by when,
observed and in the Reported speech) and in the Reported speech) before, after, as soon as, till, until)
e.g. It was announced that e.g. Why didn’t you tell me you e.g. He was sure that they wouldn’t talk
the Baker Street train left at 8.08. were leaving. to him before he had left.
DEPENDENT USE
Structurally dependent use
8. in subclauses of time, condition
and concession
e.g. He said that when / if the weather was fine,
they would go for a picnic (time, condition).
e.g. He assured them that even if the weather was bad,
they would go for a picnic (concession).
Lexically dependent use
9. in object clauses after to see to,

39
 to make sure, to take care
e.g. He promised her to see (to make sure, to take
care) that the children were properly looked after.

Table 25
Summary table on the Formation of the Future Tense Aspect Forms
Active Voice
Type of the the Future Indefinite the Future Continuous the Future Perfect the Future Perfect
Sentence Continuous

I shall/ will (I’ll) ask
You will (you’ll) ask
Affirmative He, she will (he/she’ll) ask
(+)
We shall/ will (we’ll) ask
You will (you’ll) ask
They will (they’ll) ask
I shall/ will (I’ll) be asking
You will (you’ll) be asking
He, she will (he/she’ll) be asking
We shall/ will (we’ll) be asking
You will (you’ll) be asking
They will (they’ll) be asking
I shall/ will (I’ll) have asked
You will (you’ll) have asked
He, she will (he/she’ll) have asked
We shall/ will (we’ll) have asked
You will (you’ll) have asked
They will (they’ll ) have asked
I shall/ will (I’ll) have been asking
You will (you’ll) have been asking
He, she will (he/she’ll) have been asking
We shall/ will (we’ll) have been asking
You will (you’ll) have been asking
They will (they’ll ) have been asking

Shall/will I ask? Shall/ will I be asking? Shall/ will I have asked? Shall/will I have been asking?
Interrogative Will you ask? Will you be asking? Will you have asked? Will you have been asking?
(?) Will he, she ask? Will he, she be asking? Will he, she have asked? Will he, she have been asking?
Shall/ will we ask? Shall/ will we be asking? Shall/ will we have asked? Shall/will we have been asking?
Will you ask? Will you be asking? Will you have asked? Will you have been asking?
Will they ask? Will they be asking? Will they have asked? Will they have been asking?

I shall/ will not (shan’t/ won’t) ask
Negative You will not (won’t) ask
He, she will not (won’t) ask
(-)
We shall/ will not (won’t) ask
You will not (won’t) ask
They will not (won’t) ask
I shall/ will not (shan’t/ won’t)
be asking
You will not (won’t) be asking
He, she will not (won’t) be asking
We shall/ will not (shan’t/ won’t)
be asking
You will not (won’t) be asking
They will not (won’t) be asking
I shall/ will not (shan’t/ won’t) have asked
You will not (won’t) have asked
He, she will not (won’t) have asked
We shall/ will not (shan’t/won’t) have
asked
You will not (won’t) have asked
They will not (won’t) have asked
I shall/ will not (shan’t/ won’t)
have been asking
You will not (won’t) have been asking
He, she will not (won’t) have been asking
We shall/ will not (shan’t/ won’t)
have been asking
You will not (won’t) have been asking
They will not (won’t) have been asking

*NB! The Future-in-the-past Tense Aspect Forms (Active Voice), such as the Future Indefinite-in-the-past, the Future Continuous-in-the-past, the Future Perfect-in-the-past
and the Future Perfect Continuous-in-the-past, that serve to express future active actions viewed from the past, are formed with the help of the auxiliary verbs should or would
40
(past equivalents of shall and will) combined with the corresponding active forms of the notional verb (ask, be asking, have asked and have been asking). E.g. He said that he would
(he’d) be asking the same questions again the next day. – Он сказал, что завтра снова будет задавать те же вопросы (the Future Continuous-in-the-past).

Table 26
Summary table on the Formation of the Future Tense Aspect Forms
Passive Voice
Type of the the Future Indefinite the Future Continuous the Future Perfect the Future Perfect
Sentence Continuous
I shall/ will (I’ll) be asked I shall/ will (I’ll) have been asked
You will (you’ll) be asked You will (you’ll) have been asked
He, she will (he/she’ll) be asked He, she will (he/she’ll) have been asked
Affirmative We shall/ will (we’ll) be asked _____________ We shall/ will (we’ll) have been asked _____________
(+) You will (you’ll) be asked You will (you’ll) have been asked
They will (they’ll) be asked They will (they’ll) have been asked

Shall/ will I be asked? Shall/ will I have been asked?

Interrogative Will you be asked? Will you have been asked?
(?) Will he, she be asked? _______________ Will he, she have been asked? _____________
Shall/ will we be asked? Shall/ will we have been asked?
Will you be asked? Will you have been asked?
Will they be asked? Will they have been asked?

I shall/will not (shan’t/won’t )

I shall/will not (shan’t/won’t) be asked have been asked
You will not (won’t) be asked You will not (won’t ) have been asked
He, she will not (won’t) be asked He, she will not (won’t )
Negative have been asked
We shall/will not (shan’t/won’t) be asked ________________ _______________
(-) We shall/will not (shan’t/won’t)
You will not (won’t) be asked
have been asked
They will not (won’t) be asked You will not (won’t ) have been asked
They will not (won’t ) have been asked

*NB! The Future-in-the-past Tense Aspect Forms (Passive Voice), such as the Future Indefinite-in-the-past and the Future Perfect-in-the-past (only these two
forms are possible in the Passive Voice), that serve to express future passive actions viewed from the past, are formed with the help of the auxiliary verbs should or

41
would (past equivalents of shall and will) combined with the corresponding passive forms of the notional verb (be asked and have been asked). E.g. He was sure that he
would (he’d) be asked the same question again the next day. – Он был уверен, что завтра ему снова зададут (будут задавать) те же вопросы (the Future Indefinite-in-the-past).

Table 27
The Future Indefinite / the Future Indefinite-in-the-past in Use
№п/п Meaning Example

1. a single action in the future (future viewed from the past) He will return tomorrow.
(with terminative verbs) He told us that he would return the next day.
2. an action occupying a whole period of time in the future I think I’ll remain in love with you all my life.
(future viewed from the past) I thought I would (should) remain in love with him all my life.
(with durative verbs)
3. a succession of actions in the future He’ll ring you up and tell you everything.
(future viewed from the past) He promised that he would ring me up and tell me everything.

4. recurrent action in the future I hope you will write regularly.

(future viewed from the past) I hoped you would write regularly.
5. permanent action in the future I’m afraid he will be a bit lonely there.
(future viewed from the past) I was afraid he would be a bit lonely there.
6. prediction The weather will be warm tomorrow (an action of some duration).
(usu. expressed by a single action or an action of some duration in the They assured us that the weather would be warm the next day.
future (future viewed from the past))
7. on-the-spot decision - I’m going out.
(usu. expressed by a single action or an action of some duration in the - I’ll join you (a single point action in the future).
future (future viewed from the past)) I told him that I would join him.
Table 28
The Future Continuous / the Future Continuous-in-the-past in Use
№п/п Meaning Example

1. an action in progress at a definite future moment Tomorrow at 8 he’ll be writing a test.

(at a definite future moment viewed from the past) He said in despair that the next day at 8 he would be writing a test.
2. an action in progress at a definite future period I’ll be travelling in summer.
(at a definite future period viewed from the past) He told us that he would be travelling in summer.
3. an action in progress at a definite future moment / period John is tired, so he’ll be sleeping soon.
(at a definite future moment / period viewed from the past) John was tired, so he would be sleeping soon.
due to the natural course of events
4. polite enquiry (asking for plans) / polite enquiry (asking for plans) Will you be translating tomorrow morning?
viewed from the past He asked if (whether) I would be translating the next morning.
42
 (modal meaning)

Table 29
The Future Perfect / the Future Perfect-in-the-past in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
1. 1) We’ll have translated the article by 5 o’clock.
an action that will be finished by a definite future moment They said that they would (they’d) have translated the article by 5 o’clock.
or another future action 2) I’ll have finished the work before you return.
He assured us that he would (he’d) have finished the work before we returned.
Table 30
The Future Perfect Continuous / the Future Perfect Continuous-in-the-past in Use
№п/п Meaning Example
st
1. an action that will begin before a definite future moment / By the 1 of June he’ll have been working at this plant for 5 years.
a definite future moment viewed from the past He said that by the 1st of June he would (he’d) have been working
and will continue up to it or into it at that plant for 5 years.
(+by- and for- time indicators)
Table 31
Other means of expressing future actions / future actions viewed from the past
№п/п Form Meaning Example
1. a future action / a future action viewed from the past The train leaves at 10.
the Present Indefinite due to the official arrangement She said that the train left / leaves at 10.
(time-table, schedule, programme)
2. the Present Continuous a future action / a future action viewed from the past Jane is leaving on Sunday.
due to one’s previous decision / personal arrangement They said that Jane was leaving on Sunday.
3. 1) premeditated intention / premeditated intention viewed from the past (They said) Jane is (was) going to leave on Sunday.
to be going to + Inf. 2) inevitable action in the future / future viewed from the past Look at those clouds! It’s going to rain.
(with some usu. visible evidence) When I looked at those clouds I understood that it
was going to rain.
4. to be about to + Inf. a future action / a future action viewed from the past Please, hurry up! The train is about to leave.
that is sure to happen in the nearest future He asked us to hurry up as the train was about to leave.
5. a future action / a future action viewed from the past I’ve got a letter from home, so I am to go back at once.
to be to+ Inf. due to one’s previous decision / personal arrangement I got a letter from home, so I was to go back at once.
(+ additional modal meaning of obligation
resulting from this arrangement)
43
 Table 32
Modal meanings of Shall and Will
№ Shall Will
п/п

Meaning Example Meaning Example

1.
promise intention I will write as soon as I can. –
nd
(with the 2 and the 3 rd
You shall have these books tomorrow. determination Я непременно напишу, как только
persons) (usu. with the 1st person) смогу.

2.
warning Don’t eat too much chocolate. refusal to perform The door won’t open. – Дверь никак
(with the 2nd and the 3rd You shall be sick. an action не открывается.
persons) (Russian – никак не…)

3.
threat Accidents will happen. – Несчастные
nd rd
(with the 2 and the 3 They shall regret if they do it. inevitability случаи неизбежны.
persons)

4.
1) You will do exactly as I say. – Ты
asking for instructions 1) Shall I close the window? сделаешь именно так, как я тебе скажу.
(with the 1st and the 3rd (Мне) открыть окно? order or command 2) Will you be quiet! – Да замолчишь ты
persons) 2) When shall they come? наконец!
Когда им приходить? 3) Shut the door, will you? – Да закрой
же ты дверь!

5.
expressing offer Shall I clean the car? (1) Will you help me? – Поможете мне?
(that is very close to Мне помыть машину? polite request (1) or (2) Will you have some tea? – Чай
asking for instructions) offer (2) будешь?

44

Summary table on the Use of the Future Tense Aspect Forms
№ the Future Indefinite
п/п
1. a single action in the future
(with terminative verbs)
e.g. He will return tomorrow.
2. an action occupying the whole period
of time in the future
(with durative verbs)
I think I’ll remain in love with you all my life.
3. a succession of actions in the future
e.g. He’ll ring you up and tell you everything,
(+ additional meaning of promise)
4. recurrent action in the future
e.g. I hope you will write regularly.
5. permanent action in the future
e.g. I’m afraid he will be a bit lonely.
6. prediction
(usu. expressed by a single action or an action
of some duration in the future)
e.g. - The weather will be warm tomorrow
(an action of some duration).
7. on-the-spot decision (usu. a single future action)
I’m going out. – I’ll join you.
NB! The Future Tense Aspect forms viewed from the past are semantically identical to the Future Tense Aspect forms with the only two differences: 1) auxiliary verbs shall and
will are substituted for by auxiliaries should and would; 2) they are typical only of the past-time contexts. E.g. He will return tomorrow. – He told us that he would return
the next day.
Table 33
the Future Continuous the Future Perfect the Future Perfect
Continuous
an action in progress at a an action that will be finished an action that will begin before
definite future moment by a definite future moment or a definite future moment and
another future action will continue
up to it or into it
e.g. Tomorrow at 8 he’ll be writing a e.g. We ’ll have translated the e.g. By the 1st of June
test. article by 5 o’clock (before you he’ ll have been working
return). at this plant for 5 years.
an action in progress at a
definite future period
e.g. I’ll be travelling in summer.
an action in progress at a
definite future moment / period
(due to the natural course
of events)
e.g. John is tired. He’ll be sleeping
soon.
polite enquiry (asking for plans)
(modal meaning)
e.g. Will you be translating tonight?

45
 Table 34
The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses
The Change of the Tense Aspect Forms
Present-time Context Past-time Context

Present Tenses
the Present Indefinite the Past Indefinite

the Present Continuous the Past Continuous

the Present Perfect the Past Perfect

the Present Perfect Continuous the Past Perfect Continuous

Past Tenses
the Past Indefinite the Past Perfect / the Past Indefinite

the Past Continuous the Past Perfect Continuous / the Past Continuous

the Past Perfect the Past Perfect

the Past Perfect Continuous the Past Perfect Continuous

Future Tenses
The Future Indefinite The Future Indefinite-in-the-past

The Future Continuous The Future Continuous-in-the-past

The Future Perfect The Future Perfect-in-the-past

The future Perfect Continuous The future Perfect Continuous-in-the-past

46
 Table 35
The Relations between the actions of the Principal Clause and the Subordinate (Object) Clause
Relations between Tense Aspect Form used in Example
the actions the Object Subclause
The Past Indefinite I was sure that you knew her address (…знаешь…).
the Past Continuous I thought that he was waiting for me in the entrance hall
simultaneous actions (… ждет…).
(in Russian – present) the Past Perfect (for + period or since) I knew he had been ill for a long time (since Monday)
(… болеет…).
the Past Perfect Continuous I knew that he had been living in Liverpool for 5 years
(for + period or since) (since) (…живет..).
the action of the subclause the Past Perfect 1) He said that he had lost his watch (… потерял…).
precedes that of the principal 2) They informed that they had sent the books by the parcel post.
clause NB! the Past Indefinite or the Past Continuous 1) I thought that he graduated from the university in 2005.
(in Russian – past) (with the past time indications such as 2) She said that she was working when I rang her up.
in 2005, yesterday, 2 years ago, when-subclause)
the Future Indefinite-in-the-past I hoped that I would (should) find him at home (…застану…).
the action of the subclause the Future Continuous-in-the-past I was sure that when I came he would be sleeping at home.
follows that of the principal
the Future Perfect-in-the-past She assured me that she would have done everything herself
clause (in Russian – future)
by the time we came (…сделает…).
the Future Perfect Continuous-in-the-past He said that by 2010 he would have been working in that company
for 10 years (… будет работать…).
NB! In the complex sentence with several subclauses the choice of the tense aspect form depends on the tense aspect form of the action in the previous clause, not necessarily in the
principal clause. E.g. He said that Andrew had told her that he was writing a new play. Он заявил, что Эндрю сказал ей, что он пишет новую пьесу.
Table 36
The Cases in which the Rules of the Sequence of Tenses are not observed
Case Example
when the action of the subclause denotes The teacher told the children that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
general statement or universal truth
when modal verbs must, should and ought to are 1) He told us that we mustn’t cross the road with the red light. 2) They were sure that he should be
used in the subclause more patient. 3) He told her that she ought to visit her grandparents more often.
in the attributive (1), comparative (2) subclauses, and (1) My brother told me about the book that you are reading. (2) He was once stronger than
subclauses of reason (3) he is now. (3) He refused to go to the cinema as he will have an examination in a few days.

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 Table 37
The Use of the Verbs to say, to tell and to ask in Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech

Models Examples
Direct Speech Reported Speech
to say → to say “I can fix it,” he said. He said he could fix it.
to say to smb. → to tell smb. “I can do it,” he said to me He told me he could do it.
to say to smb. → to ask smb. “Please, don’t go,” he said to me. He asked me not to go.
to ask smb. → to ask smb. “Please, don’t go,” he asked me. He asked me not to go.

NB! We can use “to say + to-infinitive”, but we never use “to say about”. E.g. The boss said to work harder. – Босс сказал работать усерднее.
NB! But we use “to tell smb.”, “to speak / to talk about smb. / smth.”, where “to speak” is more official. E.g. He spoke / talked about his trip. He told us about his trip.

Table 38
Expressions with to say, to tell, to ask

Expressions with to say Expressions with to tell Expressions with to ask

to say good morning / evening, etc. to tell the truth to ask (for) a favour
to say smth. to tell a lie to ask the time
to say one’s prayers to tell (smb.) the time to ask a question
to say a few words to tell (smb.) one’s name to ask the price, etc.
to say so to tell smb. so
to say no more to tell a story
to say for certain, etc. to tell a secret
to tell (smb.) the way
to tell smb’s fortune
to tell one from another (отличать от)
to tell the difference (различать), etc.

48

Sample Transformations from Direct Speech into Indirect (Reported) Speech
Model Transformation
Direct Speech Indirect (Reported) Speech
the Present Indefinite →
the Present Continuous →
the Present Perfect →
the Present Perfect Continuous →
The Past Indefinite →
the Past Continuous →
the Past Perfect →
the Past Perfect Continuous →
the Future Indefinite →
the Future Continuous →
the Future Perfect →
the Future Perfect Continuous →
am / is/ are + to-Inf. →
am / is/ are going to + Inf. →
am / is/ are about to + Inf. →
Example
Direct Speech
The Change of the Tense Aspect Forms
The Present Tense Aspect forms
the Past Indefinite “I usually work hard,” he said.
The Past Continuous “I am working hard,” he said.
the Past Perfect “I have worked hard,” he said.
the Past Perfect Continuous “I have been working hard for too long,”
he said.
The Past Tense Aspect forms
The Past Perfect / the Past “I worked hard yesterday,” he said.
Indefinite
the Past Perfect Continuous / “I was working hard at that time
the Past Continuous yesterday,” he said.
the Past Perfect “I had worked hard before you came
then,” he said.
the Past Perfect Continuous “I had been working hard for too long
before you came then,” he said.
The Future Tense Aspect forms
the Future Indefinite-in-the-past “I’ll work hard tomorrow,” he said.
the Future Continuous-in-the-past “I’ll be working hard tomorrow
morning,” he said.
the Future Perfect-in-the-past “I’ll have worked hard by the time
you return,” he said
the Future Perfect Continuous-in- “I’ll have been working hard for too
the-past long by the time you return,” he said.
Other Means of Expressing Future Actions
was / were + to-Inf. “I am to work hard,” he said.
was / were going to + Inf. “I am going to work hard tomorrow,” he said.
was / were about to + Inf. “I am about to work hard very soon,” he said.
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Table 39
Indirect (Reported) Speech
He said (that) he usually worked hard.
He said (that) he was working hard.
He said (that) he had worked hard.
He said (that) he had been working hard
for too long.
He said (that) he had worked hard the day
before / worked hard yesterday.
He said (that) he had been working /
was working hard at that time the day
before / at that time yesterday.
He said (that) he had worked hard
before we came then.
He said (that) he had been working hard
for too long before we came then.
He said (that) he would work hard
the next day.
He said (that) he would be working hard
the next morning.
He said (that) he would have worked hard
by the time we returned.
He said (that) he would have been working
hard for too long by the time we returned.
He said (that) he was to work hard.
He said (that) he was going to work hard the next day.
He said (that) he was / is about to work hard very soon.
 Table 39
Modal Verbs
could “I can lift weights,” he said. He said (that) he could lift weights.
can → (present action)
would be able “I can do it tomorrow,” he said. He said (that) he would be able to do it
(future action) the next day.
may → might “You may see John”, he said. He said (that) I might see John.

must / had to “You must return it soon,” he said. He said (that) I must / had to return it soon.
(obligation)
must →
must “She must be clever,” he said He said (that) she must be clever.
(deduction) (Она, должно быть, умная).

didn’t need to / didn’t have to “You needn’t do it now,” he said. He said (that) I didn’t need to / didn’t have
(present action) to do it then.
needn’t →
wouldn’t have to “You needn’t come tomorrow,” he said. He said (that) I wouldn’t have to go
(future action) the next day.

“I’ll write to you as soon as possible,” He said (that) he would write to me as soon
will → would he said. as possible.

should / to-infinitive “How shall I repair the tap?” he said. He asked how he should repair / how
(asking for advice) to repair the tap.

shall → would “When shall we arrive?” he said. He asked when they would arrive.
(asking for instructions)

offer “Shall I clean it?” he said. He offered to clean it.

(expressing offer)

should → should “You should work more,” he said. He said (that) I should work more.

had better → had better “You had better help me,” he said. He said (that) I had better help him.

NB! Past forms of the modal verbs, such as could, might, had to, was / were to, would as well as modal verbs should and ought to remain unchanged in Reported Speech.
E.g. 1) “I could swim very well when I was a child,” he said. – He said that he could swim very well when he was a child. 2) “You ought to care about your elderly parents more,”
he said. – He said that I ought to care about my elderly parents more.

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 Table 40
Changing Statements from Direct into Reported Speech
№п/п Rule Example
Direct Speech Reported Speech
1.  Inverted commas are omitted in
Reported Speech “I’m going out,” he said He said (that) he was going out.
 That is optional in reported sentences
2. when the reporting verb (said, told, etc.) is in the past → “I enjoy dancing,” she said. She said she enjoyed dancing.
the following verb is usually in the past
3. the reporting verbs are used in
the present or future tense “The station is far from here,” he says. He says that the station is far from here.
the tense aspect forms aspect forms
do not change the speaker expresses general “Water turns into ice,” he said. He said water turns into ice.
in Reported Speech statement or universal truth
“I will call you back,” he said. He said he will call me back (immediate reporting
when
up-to-date reporting takes place – up-to-date).
Compare: He said he would call me back (later
reporting – out-of-date).
4.  if the reporting sentence is up to date → 1) “They are leaving next week,” he said. 1) He said that they are leaving next week
the tense aspect forms remain unchanged (speech reported before they have left – up to
date)
 if the reporting sentence is out of date → 2) “They are leaving next week,” he said. 2) He said that they were leaving the next week.
the tense aspect forms are changed (speech reported after they had left – out of
date)
5.  if smth. is true → the tense aspect forms may 1) “She likes strawberries very much,” he said 1) He said that she likes / liked strawberries
change or remain unchanged (true). very much.
 if smth. is untrue → the tense aspect forms 2) “Canada is a poor country,” he said 2) He said Canada was a poor country.
definitely change (untrue).
6. the Past Indefinite is not changed into the Past
Perfect and the Past Continuous is not changed into “I came home when Ann was cooking dinner,” He said that he came home when Ann
the Past Perfect Continuous when the reported he said. was cooking dinner.
sentence contains a time subclause
7. in the reported sentences with unreal past, 1) “It’s time we went,” he said (unreal past). 1) He said it was time they went.
conditionals 2 / 3 and wishes → the tenses remain 2) “If I were you, I would apologize,” he said 2) He said that if he were me, he
unchanged (conditional 2) would apologize (conditional 2).
8. personal and possessive pronouns change according
to the context “I’ll show you my new dress,” she said. She said she would show me her new dress.

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 Table 41
Words that are changed in Reported Speech
Direct Speech Reported Speech

this that

these those

here there

come go

tonight that night

today that day

this week / month / year that week / month / year

now then / at that time

yesterday the day before

last night / week / month / year the previous night / week / month / year

tomorrow the next day / the following day / the day after

next week / month / year the next / the following week / month / year

two days / months / years, etc. ago two days / months / years, etc. before

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 Table 42
Changing Questions from Direct into Reported Speech
№п/п Rule Example
Direct Speech Reported Speech
1.  in reported questions → the affirmative word
order “When is she leaving?” he asked me. He asked me when she is / was leaving.
 the question mark → a full stop (up to date / out of date)

2. To report special and general questions we use

the following models:
 1) ask + wh-word (who, where, etc.) 1) He said, “What are you doing?” 1) He asked what I was doing.
when the special question is reported
 2) ask + if / whether 2) He said, “Did you enjoy the party?” 2) He asked if / whether I had enjoyed
when the general question is reported the party.
NB! Pronouns, tense aspect forms and time expressions
change as in statements
3. NB! Reported questions shouldn’t be confused
with Indirect Questions
(See table 43 below)

Table 43
Direct, Indirect and Reported Questions compared
Direct Questions Indirect Questions Reported questions
(are used to ask for information / advice) (are used to report someone else’s questions,
suggestions, offers or requests)

He asked me, “Shall I phone her?” I wonder whether I should phone her / He asked me whether he should phone
whether to phone her. her.

He asked me, “Where can I put it?” Do you know where I can put it / He asked me where he could put it /
where to put it? where to put it.

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 Table 44
Changing Commands / Requests / Suggestions from Direct into Reported Speech
№п/п Rule Example
Direct Speech Reported Speech
1.  to report commands → the verbs to order and 1) “Lie down,” he said to us. 1) He ordered us to lie down.
to tell are generally used 2) “Touch your toes,” he said to us. 2) He told us to touch our toes.

2.  to report requests → the verbs to ask and 1) “Can I go out,” he said. 1) He asked to go out.
to beg are generally used 2) “Please, please, stay with us tonight,” he 2) He begged her to stay with them that
said to her. night.
3.  to report suggestions → the verbs to offer and 1) “Would you like me to drive you home”, 1) He offered to drive me home.
to suggest are generally used he said.
2) “Let’s play football,” he said. 2) He suggested playing football.

Table 45
Changing Exclamations/ Yes / No short answers/ Question Tags from Direct into Reported Speech
№п/п Rule Example
Direct Speech Reported Speech
1.  exclamations are introduced into Reported Speech
with to exclaim, to cry out in pain, to give
 an exclamation of surprise / horror / disgust “Ow!” she said as she hit her head on the door. She cried out in pain as she hit her head
/delight, etc. on the door.

2. Yes / No short answers are expressed in Reported

Speech with the help of the following models:
 subject + appropriate auxiliary verb (1)
 subject + appropriate introductory verb (2)
3. Question tags are omitted in Reported Speech.
Appropriate introductory verbs can also be used to retain
their effect
“Can you help me?” he said. “Yes/No,” she
said.
“He isn’t lying, is he?” she said.
(1) He asked her if she could help him
and she said she could / couldn’t.
(2) He asked her if she could help him,
and / but she agreed / refused.
1) She asked if he was lying.
2) She wondered if he was lying
(is better).

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 Table 46
Reporting a dialogue or a conversation
№п/п Rule Example
Direct Speech Reported Speech
1. In conversations or dialogues we use a mixture of 1) “Oh, that is a very nice sweater!” she said. 1) She exclaimed / remarked that it was
statements, questions, commands, etc. When we “Where did you buy it?” a very nice sweater and asked
report dialogues or conversations, we use and, as, where I had bought it.
adding that, and he/she added that, explaining 2) “It is too difficult for you,” she said. 2) She said it was too difficult for me,
that, because, but, since, so, and then he/she went “Shall I help you?” offering to help.
on to say, while as well as introductory verbs in the
form of Participle I (see them in table 47). 3) “Why don’t you come over for dinner on 3) She invited me for dinner on Friday,
Friday?” she said. “We could discuss it then.” suggesting that we could discuss it then.

Table 47
Introductory Verbs used in Reported Speech
№п/п Introductory Verb Example
Direct Speech Reported Speech
1. agree “Yes, I’ll do it again.” He agreed to do it again.
claim “I witnessed the crime.” He claimed to have witnessed the crime.
demand “Tell me the truth!” He demanded to be told the truth.
offer + to-inf. “Would you like me to drive you home?” He offered to drive me home.
refuse “No, I won’t tell you her secret.” He refused to tell me her secret.
promise “I shall pay you on Friday.” He promised to pay me on Friday.
threaten “Keep quiet or I shall punish you.” He threatened to punish me if I didn’t keep quiet.

2. advise “You should talk about your problem.” He advised me to talk about my problem.
allow “You can use my phone.” He allowed me to use his phone.
ask “Please, close the door.” He asked me to close the door.
beg “Please, please, don’t hit the dog.” He begged me not to hit the dog.
command “Move to your right.” He commanded me to move to my right.
encourage “Go ahead, say what you think.” He encouraged me to say what I thought.
forbid + smb.+ to-inf. “You mustn’t come home after eleven.” He forbade us to come home after eleven.
instruct “Mix the eggs with the flour.” He instructed me to mix the eggs with the flour.
invite “I’d like you to come to my party.” He invited me (to go) to his party.
order “Don’t leave your room again.” He ordered me not to leave my room again.
permit “You may speak to the judge.” He permitted / allowed me to speak to the judge.
remind “Don’t forget to turn the lights off.” He reminded me to turn the lights off.
urge “Try to have sympathy for the family.” He urged me to try to have sympathy for the family.
warn “Don’t touch the wire with wet hands.” He warned me not to touch the wire with wet hands.
want “I’d like you to be kind.” He wanted me to be kind.

55
 Table 47
3. accuse smb. of “You acted as if you were guilty.” He accused me of acting as if I were guilty.
apologize for “I’m sorry I hurt you.” He apologized for hurting me.
admit (to) “Yes, I was wrong.” He admitted (to) being wrong.
boast about “I’m the fastest runner of all.” He boasted about being the fastest runner of all.
complain to smb. about + -ing form “You always argue.” He complained to me about my arguing.
deny “No, I didn’t eat your cake.” He denied eating / having eaten my cake.
insist on “You must wear that blouse.” He insisted on me / my wearing that blouse.
suggest “Let’s order a pizza.” He suggested ordering a pizza.

4.
agree “Yes, she’s very kind.” He agreed that she was very kind.
claim “I saw the accident.” He claimed that he had seen the accident.
complain “You never ask my opinion.” He complained that I never asked his opinion.
deny “I have never met her!” He denied that he had ever met her.
exclaim + that-clause “It’s a tragedy!” He exclaimed that it was a tragedy.
explain “It’s a complicated problem.” He explained that it was a complicated problem.
inform smb. “Your request is being reviewed.” He informed me that my request was being reviewed.
promise “I won’t be late. He promised that he wouldn’t be late.
suggest “You ought to give her a call.” He suggested that I (should) give her a call.

5.
explain to smb. + how “That’s how I succeeded.” He explained to me how he had succeeded.

6.
wonder where / what / why / how + subclause
(when the subject of the introductory verb is not the same
as the subject in the indirect question)
He asked himself, “Where are my keys?” He wondered where his keys were.
He asked himself, “What is the right answer?” He wondered what the right answer was.
He asked himself, “Why is she so cold?” He wondered why she was so cold.
He asked himself, “How old is she?” He wondered how old she was.

7.
wonder + whether + to-inf. or sublause
wonder where / what / how + to-inf.
(when the subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject
of the finite verb)
He asked himself, “Shall I invite them?” He wondered whether to invite them / he should invite them
He asked himself, “Where shall I go?” He wondered where to go.
He asked himself, “What shall I read first?” He wondered what to read first.
He asked himself, “How shall I tell her?” He wondered how to tell her.

56