Present Simple 

 
Acciones habituales, afirmaciones o hechos universales, situación largas. 
Hobbies, rutina. 
 
She-He-It → Verb → S/Es 
I-They-We → Verb 
 
Se interroga con Do-Does. 
 
Frequency adverbs → Always, usually, sometimes, never.  
 

Present Continuous 
 
 
Acciones que estamos haciendo.  
 
She-He-It → Is → Verb + Ing 
I → Am → Verb + Ing 
You-They-We → Are → Verb + Ing 
 
Verbos usados con frecuencia en Present Continuous: Like, love, hate, want, 
need, prefer, know, realize, suppose, mean, understand, believe, remember, 
belong, contain, depend, seem.  
 
Think ​→ When think means believe, do not use present continuous. Ex. What 
do you think will happen?  
But → What are you thinking about?  
 
Have ​→ When have means possess, do not use the continuous. Ex. We have a 
nice room. 
But → We are having a great time.  
 
See-Hear-Smell-Taste​: Normally we use ​Present Simple ​with these verbs.  
 
When see means having a meting with in the future use ​Present Continuous 
→ Ex. I'm seeing the manager tomorrow. 
 

Simple past  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
References: Yesterday, ago, last (ex. last week). The preposition: On, from, 
for, in, to. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Past Continuous  
 
Acciones y situaciones que empezaron en el pasado pero no terminaron. “I was 
in the middle of doing something at a certain time” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We often use the ​past simple​ and the​ past continuous​ together to say that 
something happened in the middle of something else. Ex. Matt ​phoned ​while 
we ​were having​ dinner.  
 
Know and want are not normally used in the continuous. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Present Perfect. 
 
We often explain a present situation by saying what has happened. Ex. Why 
are you late? - I´ve lost my watch. 
 
Statement: ​Subj + have-has + past participle 
 
I-you-we- they → Have 
He-She-It → Has 
 
Negatives: ​Subj + Haven't - Hasn't + Past Participle 
 
Questions: ​Have - Has + Subj + Past Participle? 
 
Have I-You-We-They eaten pizzas? 
Has He-She-It left? 
 
Been and gone​ → Kate has been = She’s at home now 
Kate has gone to school = She’s not at home 
 
Ever - Never​ → - Have you ever seen a lion? - I´ve never seen a lion. 
Just ​→ - Is Peter here? - No, he's just gone 
 
Yet​ → With negatives and questions. I haven’t finished yet.  
Have you finished your homework yet? 
 
Already​ → With statements. I’ve already eaten 
Since ​→ I’ve lived in this town since 2008. I live here now (2008 is the time I 
started living here) 
For​ → I’ve lived in this house for three years. I live here now. (Three years 
is the period of time I’ve lived here) 
 
 
 
 

Going to and Will 

 
I’m ​going to​ do something = I have already decided to do it, i intend to do it.  
Ex. “This cheese smells horrible. I’m not going to eat it” “Sarah is going to 
buy a new car” 
 
You can also say that something is going yo happen in the future.  
Ex. The man isn’t looking where he is going. 
He is going to walk into the wall 
Look at those black clouds! It’s going to rain.  
 
I’m doing vs I’m going to 
 
★ We use I am doing (present continuous) when we say what we have 
arranged to do. 
★ I am going to do something = I have decided to do it, but perhaps not 
arranged to do it 
 
Will → We use will to announce a new decision 
Ex. - Let’s have a party 
- That’s a great idea. We’ll invite lots of people 
 
Will vs I’m going to 
 
Gary phoned while you were out: 
 
1. Ok. I’ll call him back 
2. Yes, I know. I’m going to call him back 
 
We use both ​will ​and ​going to​, to predict future happenings and situations. 
Ex. I think the weather ​will ​be nice later or I thing the weather is ​going to ​be 
nice later.  
 
When we say something is going to happen, we know this from the situation 
now. Ex. I feel terrible. I think I’m going to be sick. 
Do not use will in this type of situations  

 
Could 
 
We use could (not can) to say that something (a situation or a happening) is 
possible now or in the future. The meaning is similar to might or may. 
Ex. The story could be true, but i don’t think it is.  
She could get here at any time. 
 
  
Can vs Could 
★ The weather ​can ​change very quickly in the mountains → ​In general 
★ The weather is nice now, but it ​could ​change → ​Now, not in general 
 
Couldn’t​ → We use couldn’t to say something would not be possible. Ex. I 
couldn’t live in a big city. I’d hate it.  
 
 

May and Might 

We use may and might to talk about possible actions or happenings in the 
future: 
 
★ I haven’t decided yet where to go on holiday. I ​may ​go to Ireland 
(perhaps I will go there) 
★ Take an umbrella with you. It ​might ​rain later (perhaps it will rain) 
 
The negative forms are may not and might not - mightn´t 
 
Structure: Sub + May - Might + (not) + verbs 
 
Will vs May-Might 
 
I’ll be late for dinner (for sure) 
I may-might be late for dinner (perhaps) 
 
We only use might when the situation is not real.  
Ex. If they paid me better, I might work harder 
They situation here is not real because they do not pay me well, so I’, not 
going to work harder. 
 

 
 
 Modals of obligation 
 
Rule → Have to or Must 
Advice or recommendation → Should 
It’s necessary → Need to 
It isn’t allowed → Mustn´t  
Strong advice not to → Shouldn’t 
It isn’t necessary → Don’t have to or don’t need to 
Must or have to → We usually use must when we make the rule ourselves, 
and have to when it’s a general rule. So must and mustn’t can seem impolite.  
Use have to or should when talking to people you don’t know well.