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Situations 101
1. Talking Facts
Simple Present
You’re probably already familiar with the Present Simple, the most basic
English present tense. Use this tense for information that doesn’t change,
such as facts about yourself and your work. You’ll need to speak about
these facts during job interviews, at networking events, etc.
A- Simple Past
This is the most basic English Past Tense and you’ll need it
when presenting stuff that’s done and dusted. These are projects or
efforts that are finished, often accompanied by the time you completed
them.
B- Present Continuous
To form this tense, use the verb “to be” as a helping verb, plus the “-ing”
form of your main verb. Use this tense to discuss projects that are still in
progress.
C- Present Perfect
Have a recent development to report? Use the present perfect.
For example, if your manager is aware that you’re working on a specific
task, you can use this tense to update them on any changes to its status.
This tense is formed with “to have” as a helping verb, plus the past
participle of your main verb. You may want to also incorporate words
like just, already, yet or still to give further information about the status.
Simple Future
You’re probably already at least somewhat familiar with this tense. Just
remember that you can use “will” or “going to” plus a verb to indicate
a commitment or prediction for the future.
As a general rule, “going to” is a bit less formal than “will.”
Present Continuous
Here’s the present continuous again. You can use it to describe future
activities that’ve already been arranged.
This means it’s on! No backing out!
Present Simple
Here’s a specific use of the present simple to describe plans for a
formally arranged event or action.
Use the verb “to be” in the present simple tense, plus the phrase “due
to/set to [verb].”
Confusing? Examples will help:
The new service center is due to begin operations in July of next
year.
The bands are set to arrive at 6 p.m., so they have enough time to
rehearse.
Future Perfect
For advanced English speakers, you may find the appropriate situation to
use the future perfect (“will have” + past participle) or future perfect
continuous (“will have been” + verb in “-ing” form) to forecast the
completion of a certain task by a specific point in time.
By the time he arrives, we will have ended the meeting.
By next January, we will have been developing this product for three
years.