TOPIC 2 TENSES

This module intends to help students revise and analyse the three main tenses and
forms in English.

Learning Outcomes
 To enable studenrs to identify tenses used in texts.
 Use correct and appropriate language structures in different types of writing
 Assess own language progress through self and peer evaluation

Content

Forms Simple Progressive Perfect

Tenses
Present eat/s am/is/are eating have/has eaten
Past Ate was/were eating had eaten
Future will/shall eat will be eating will have eaten

1.PRESENT TENSE

Present tense expresses a general truth, habitual action and talks about something
existing at the time of speaking.

Example Meaning
The Earth is round A fact. The truth
Every morning, I brush my teeth. Recurring action / Habitual action
I hear the train coming. Happens at that particular time frame.

2. PAST TENSE
Past tense expresses an action or situation that begins and completes at a particular
time in the past. Most past tense verbs end in –ed. The irregular verbs have special
past tense forms which must be memorized.

Example Form
The students arrived in class before the Regular –ed past form
teacher
Shiela went to the hospital yesterday Irregular form
morning.

3. FUTURE TENSE
-Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the future. This tense
is formed by adding will/shall with the basic form of the verb.
e.g The Prime Minister of Malaysia will speak at the opening ceremony tomorrow.

Try out this exercise.

A : Complete the sentences with DO,DOES, IS or ARE. Put a (-) in the blank
wherever not needed .

1. Jack __________ not work at his father’s office.

2. Kate ___________sells flowers at a stall.
3. ________ you plan to get a job, too?
4. ________ a lizard a reptile?
5. A mosquito ___________ flying around Sam’s head.
6. Denise and Scott usually __________work together on small construction jobs.
7. __________ mosquito repellent work?
8. Almost all reptiles __________ lay eggs.
9. Look outside!. It _________ raining. I’m feeling cold.
10. They _______ late for class because of the rain.
B: Identify and underline the present tense forms in the following text. Use the
following to indicate: SP(simple Present), PProg(Present Progressive) and PP
(Present Perfect ).
TEXT 1

WAYS TO MAKE WATER TASTE BETTER

Many packaged drinks are quite expensive. The cheapest drink out there is water.
The main reason that people don’t drink water is that it is tasteless and not very
‘fun’ to drink. On the other hand, water is definitely healthier than soda, so now
there is an entire category of packaged drinks that is basically bottled water with
added colouring, vitamins, and flavour. Instead of buying these, there are many
things you can add to water at home to make it more exciting to drink.

1. Add herbs such as mint, lemongrass and parsley to the water. If you want to
release the flavour, you can crush the plants a little before putting them into your
water.

2. Adding vinegar to water is similar to adding citrus. You will get wour water that
has vitamin C. When I was a kid. I like adding apple cider vinegar to the water
before drinking it..

3. I’m sure you’ve heard of the term “electrolytes” in the marketing for energy
drinks. Electrolytes are little more than just ions that can be found in common table
salt. Adding a little bit of salt to water helps your body absorb the liquid more
quickly. As long as you don’t go overboard with the salt, the water should be very
quenching. It is great for workouts, since the body loses salt through water.

Readers Digest Nov 2010

B: Identify and underline the present tense forms in the following text. Use the
following to indicate: SP(simple Past), PProg(Past Progressive) and PP (Past
Perfect ).

TEXT 2
They had eaten the barbecued lamb, the grilled steaks and the green lettuce.
Through crispy, aromatic smoke which spread thinly across the flood-lit lawn, they
had picked at the satay with their teeth and sipped glasses of wine and beer.
Loud laughter frequently burst forth from a few tables followed by moments of
unnatural quiet. The talk at one table was about a bomb explosion outside the
house of Wan Nurudin, Secretary-General to Housing Minister a few days
previously. His gate was blasted open and a security guard killed. That’s why the
dinner was being held at Panglima’s house and Wan Nurudin, though present, was
in the background. The lady who provided the details, Esther fu, had plucked
eyebrows which had been painted over in two semi-circular black lines. That’s
what she had heard. She explained that there had been a top level meeting; a
new policy towards the disorder in the town had been drafted. “You’ll see, “ she
said. “We’ll soon be able to walk safely in the streets.”

Green is the colour – F. Lloyd.

Do visit the following websites for further exercises to try out or as references .
http://www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.englishexercise.com
http://www.nonstopenglish.com

References
Xin Lu.(2010), November.ways to make water taste better. Readers Digest.
Lloyd Fernando , Green is the Colour,rdasia.com
Betty Schrampfer Azar, Donald A,Azar (1999), Fundamentals of English grammar. 2nd ed : Longman.