Week 6

50. Topic: Verb Tenses – Basic Past

General Description:

 The basic past tense of a verb is used to talk about events that happened in the past.
 In forming the past tense of the verb, -ed, or –d is added at the end of the verb.
o Ex. The New Times published the business news article yesterday.
 The word “is” changes to “was” [singular] and the word “are” changes to “were” [plural].
o Ex. We are happy to serve you
 à We were happy to serve you.
The broadcaster is a graduate of State University
 à The broadcaster was a graduate of State University.
Remember: Sentences may also include time expressions such as yesterday, last night, last
week, last month, etc.
Examples:
1. Adding –ed at the end of the verb (Structure: Verb + ed)
 Ex. I finished my homework before I watched TV last night.
2. Adding – d at the end of the verb (Structure: Verb + d)
 Ex. The barman operator charged Sir Barrie $15 for a beer.
[‘charge’ already ends in an -e]
3. Changing is to was – for singular forms of verb
 Ex. She is absent today.
à She was absent yesterday.
4. Changing are to were – for plural forms of verb
 Ex. They are here tonight to watch the movie.
They were here last night to watch the movie.

Comprehension Check: Which verb would best suit the sentence?

The Dean of SPCBA (look, looks, looked, looking) strict when he talked to the students.

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the past tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the following
sentences.
1. Our boss was a guest on the Johnny Carson Show last night.
2. The BBC World News Station covered yesterday’s press conference.
 51. Topic: Verb Tenses Part 2 (Basic Present)

General Description:
1. The simple present tense is used:
a. To talk about things that are always true:
 Teachers work in schools
b. To talk about general facts about our lives:
 We live near an art gallery.
c. With words like never/sometimes/often/always:
 They often buy chocolates.
Or time expressions like “every day”:
 I visit my grandmother every day.
d. To talk about regular or repeated actions:
 I volunteer to do community service during my summer vacations.
2. The endings of the verb change with the pronouns he/she/it [third person singular].

 I work  He/She/It  We work

 You work works  They work
3. With verbs that end in o/ss/ch/sh/x/z the present simple form is –es.
 go - He goes to school every day.
 watch - She watches a lot of documentaries on TV.
 finish - The movie finishes at 9:30 pm.
4. With verbs that end in consonant y, the he/she/it present tense verb ending is -ies
 study – He studies English grammar.
 fly - The plane flies at twice the speed of sound.
For verbs ending in vowel + y, just add s:
 I play - he plays.
 I buy - she buys.

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences (3-4 minutes)

Using the present tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the following
sentences.
1. Sir JayJay writes brilliant stories.
a. write b. wrote c. writes d. writing
2. The students go to the party instead of doing their homework.
a. go b. goes c. going d. gone
3. We play billiards together every weekend.
a. play b. plays c. played d. playing

52. Topic: Verb Tenses Part II (Basic Future Tense)

General Description:

 The basic future tense of a verb is used for actions that have not yet happened; they will
occur in the future.
o Ex. I will get paid by SPCBA next week.
 The basic future tense of the verb is made by adding the auxiliary “will” before the main
verb. To make it negative, just add the word “not” after the “will” –
o Ex. I will not get paid by SPCBA this week.

Examples:
POSITIVE
Auxiliary Main Verb
He will go to the bank tomorrow.
He will transfer money to my bank account.
NEGATIVE
Auxiliary Negative Main Verb
My friend will not apply for a loan from the bank.
SPCBA will not give a pay increase to the teachers.

Comprehension Check:
Are the following sentences in basic future tense or not?
a) I will visit my hometown next month. - yes
b) I will not go back to Australia later this year. - yes

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the future tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the following
sentences.
1. The bank will approve the loan once the documents have been checked.
a. will b. will be c. will have d. will have been
2. The total payment for the loan will include interest.
a. will including b. will include c. will be included d. will have included
 3. The bank will send a statement every month starting next month.
a. will send b. will be sent c. will sending d. will have sent
53. Topic: Verb Form – Past Progressive [‘imperfect’ tense]

General Description:

 The way you make a verb into the past progressive tense to add was/were + -ing form of
verb.
o Singular – “I was drinking beer” o Plural – “They were drinking beer”

 The past progressive or imperfect tense is a verb form that has the following uses:
1. For past actions that continued to happen for some time.
Examples:
o I was reading the Bible last night.
 [The Bible is a long book!]
o We were discussing English grammar yesterday.
 [English grammar is a HUGE subject!]
2. For actions that began in the past, and then another action happened straight after: the
second action uses the simple past tense. It looks like this -
Past Progressive Simple Past
[first action starts] [then the second action happens]
I was reading a book when she called.
I was working at my desk when the phone rang.
He was writing a report when the boss arrived.

Comprehension Check:
Fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb ‘to go’ in the past progressive tense:
I was going (go) to the bank when I saw you.

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the past progressive tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the
following sentences.
1. She was paying her bills on the third day of every month.
a. was paid b. were paid c. was paying d. were paying
2. We were discussing our lesson plan when the boss arrived.
a. is discussing b. are discussing c. was discussing d. were discussing
3. The company was celebrating its successful sales figures last week.
a. is celebrated b. are celebrated c. was celebrating d. were celebrating

54. Topic: Verb Form – Present Progressive

General Description:

 The present continuous tense (also called the present progressive tense) is used for
actions happening right now - and lasting for some time. It’s a bit like the “present” version
of the “past progressive” …
 This is how you make it - just add the appropriate bit of the verb “to be” [making it ‘agree’
with the subject!] + the “-ing” form of a verb.
o Examples: Here are the rules, using the example verb “sing”:

Subject verb “to be” “-ing” form of verb

I am singing
You are singing
He/She/It is singing
We are singing
They are singing
Examples:
1. Laura and Harry are (split) splitting their tax deductions.
2. Laura is (claim) claiming both her children as a tax deduction.
3. Harry is (use) using their interest payments as his tax deduction.

Comprehension Check:
Use the following verbs in a sentence using the present progressive tense - i.e. three sentences
- make up your own! - one for each verb.
1. to study – My sister is studying for her preliminary exam.
2. to cook – My mom is cooking for tonight’s dinner.
3. to read – I am reading the handout given to me by Sir Barrie.

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the present continuous tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the
following sentences.
1. SPCBA is remitting the tax taken from my pay to the government today.
a. was remit b. is remitting c. are remitting d. have remitted
2. Rebecca is paying her monthly medical bills.
a. is paying b. are paying c. were paying d. are paid
 3. The government is exempting their employees from having to pay taxes.
a. is exempted b. is exempting c. are exempt d. was exempted
55. Topic: Verb Form- Future Progressive

General Description:

 Future Progressive Tense is a bit like the “future version” of the “present
progressive/continuous”
There are two ways it can be used:
1. when an action will happen in the future and will last for quite a long period of time
Ex. “With my new job, I will be traveling back and forth across the country.”
The action might have already started, but it’s not finished yet - it will “carry on” into the
future
Ex. “Sir Barrie will be marking the students’ exam papers until the end of the week.”
2. when predicting an action that is going to happen in the future.
Ex. Hanna is going to present her report at 3:30 pm this afternoon.
You can make sentences using the future progressive tense like this –
Subject + “will” + “be” + “-ing” form of the verb + the object/end of the sentence
Ex. “I - will - be - marking - exam papers for the students all weekend.”
If you want, you can use “going to” in place of “will”
Ex. The banks - are - going to - be - having - problems because of bad loans.
Subject + appropriate part of “to be” + going to + be + “-ing” verb + object/end of the
sentence
Examples: [notice how ‘to be’ has to agree with the subject!]:
1. The manager is going to be studying the financial report next week.
2. Jay is going to be training the new salesman next month.
3. They are going to be making speeches tomorrow.

Comprehension Check:
Complete the following sentence using the future progressive tense:
Do you think you will be doing the same accounting activities next year?

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the future progressive tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the
following sentences.
1. Companies might be struggling to stay in business because of the recession.
a. be struggling b. have struggle c. is struggling d. are struggling
2. Sir Barrie will be working on his lesson material until 7:00 tonight.
a. are working b. will be working c. be working d. is working
3. The accountant will be doing the financial report at the end of the year.
a. will doing b. be doing c. will be doing d. might have done
55. Topic: Verb Form - Past Perfect [pluperfect]

General Description:

 You can make past perfect tense by adding “had” + the past participle of the verb [“-ed”]
Examples:
o The bank had opened when he arrived.
o He was worried because he had not submitted his homework.

 The Past Perfect tense is used to tell us about an action that finished at some time in the
past before something else happened.
Examples:
Second Event [past tense] First Event [past perfect tense]
Anne only paid her credit card bill because she had received calls from the bank.
We were able to settle the electric bill because we had saved enough money.
Note the logic: first we saved the money [past perfect] à THEN we paid the bill

 The Past Perfect is also used to show that something started in the past and continued to
happen right up until another event happened - also in the past.
Examples:
1. We had received that overdue payment notice for weeks before the boss finally
decided to pay the bill.
2. By lunchtime, I had waited two hours for the cashier.
Note the logic: I started waiting [first event] à and was still waiting when lunchtime came
[second event, also in the past…
the overdue payment notice arrived [first event] but weeks went by à before the boss paid the
bill [second event]

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the past perfect tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the following
sentences.
1. She had never seen an invoice before she joined the company.
a. saw b. see c. seen d. seed
2. Had Sir Barrie paid all his bills before he moved to the Philippines?
a. Have b. Had c. Has d. Haven’t
3. James had never been to the library before yesterday.
a. be b. visit c. came d. been
56. Topic: Verb Form – Present Perfect Tense

General Description:

 The Present Perfect Tense expresses an action that we are talking about now, but it has
already been completed in the past - “over and done with!”
 You make it by adding “has” or “have” [singular/plural] to the past participle of the verb -
often ends in “-ed”.
Examples:

 Stan has reached the maximum on his creditcard.

 He has included his daughter in the celebrations
 She has gone to the clinic to get a medical certificate. [gone = past participle of “go”]
 She has gotten her medical card today.
Note: the past participle of “to get” is gotten in American English - the British say “got”
More Examples:

 SPCBA has provided us with an ID card.

 We have visited the doctor for a health check-up.
 I have not passed the quiz because I was absent yesterday.
 He has called in sick today.
Note the logic: SPCBA gave us the ID ‘back then’ at the beginning of term - “over and done
with” - but I am talking to you now about how they did this

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the Present Perfect Tense - choose the word or phrase that would best complete the
following sentences. Be careful! There may be more than one ‘grammatically correct’ answer
but I will only “pay” the one that conveys the meaning action is finished, ‘over and done with’
1. The team leader has discussed my poor sales figures for last month.
a. are discussing b. has discussed c. have discussed d. were discussing
2. The cat has used up his nine lives.
a. has used up b. were used up c. have used up d. been used up
* proverb: “A cat has nine lives.” Cats are very smart - they are “survivors” and always seem to
land on their feet!
 57. Topic: Future Perfect Tense

General Description:

 You make the future perfect tense by adding “will have” to the past participle of a verb
[“-ed ending]. For variety, you can add “be going to” instead of “will have”.
 It is used to talk about something that has not happened yet but WILL happen in the future -
before something else happens [also in the future]
on the timeline it comes here:
present à future perfect à further into the future
- we are here - à event will happen later - à then something else happens

Examples:
1. By the deadline, I will have submitted my essay to Sir Barrie. (will)
2. By the time you go home from SPCBA, you will have done the quiz. ( will)
3. I will have been supervisor for two months by the time I accept this offer. (will)
4. By Monday, Mr. Smith is going to have been in Spain for a week. (be going to)

[Note the logic: You are at SPCBA now ---à later today you will do the quiz ---à and then after
that you will go home]

Comprehension Check:
Combine these two phrases to make one sentence using the future perfect tense.
tomorrow + finish taking the medicine.
By tomorrow, I will have finished taking the medicine.

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the future perfect tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the
following sentences.
1. By tomorrow, Dr. Smith will have finished performing my blood test.
a. be finished b. will have finished c. shall be finishing d. is finishing
2. Once three o’clock comes, I will have been waiting for Dr. Smith for two hours.
a. will be b. shall be c. shall been d. will have been
3. Dr. Smith will have finished preparing the medicine by the time the patient arrives.
a. will preparing b. will be prepared c. will have finished d. shall be finishing
preparing preparing
58. Topic: Past Perfect Progressive

General Description:

 You make the Past Perfect Progressive tense by adding

o had + been + present participle of the verb [ “-ing” ending]

[The Past Perfect Progressive is also called the Past Perfect Continuous]

 It is used to talk about an event that started to happen in the past and WAS STILL GOING
ON when something else happened - also in the past.
Here it is on the timeline - working BACKWARDS from the present --- further into the past ---
past perfect progressive --- present
then something else happened, --- an event started happening --- we are here while the first
event was still going on!
Remember: We use the Past Perfect Progressive [or Continuous] to talk about something that
started in the past and then continued on and on - up until the time when something else
happened to stop it!
More Examples:

 I had been waiting there for two hours when the doctor finally arrived.
 The nurse had been working at the hospital for three years when it closed down.
 I had been recovering from my illness when my boss asked me to go to work.
 I had been resting on the bed for four hours when the nurse checked my blood pressure.
Note the logic: moving from the present moment BACKWARDS IN TIME, it’s like this - and I
was STILL lying down when they checked my blood pressure ß I had to lie down ß last week I
felt ill ß today I feel fine

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the Past Perfect Progressive, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the
following sentences.
1. I had been talking to my doctor when my boss said I could have time off work.
a. has b. had c. have d. will have
2. I had been working in my office early in the morning when the fax arrived.
a. am b. are c. were d. been
3. I had been working when the boss walked up to my desk.
a. work b. works c. worked d. working

59. Topic: Present Perfect Progressive Tense

General Description:

 You make the Present Perfect Progressive Tense by adding "have" or "has" (for singular
or plural subjects) + "been" + present participle of the verb ( “-ing” ending)
o So the pattern is - Subject + has/have + been + verb(-ing)
 It is used to talk about an action that was going on for quite a while in the past before it
finally finished - or indeed it might still be going on now!
Example:
Question: “have you been working?”
Answer: “No I have not been working.”
Here are the ways you can use the Present Perfect Progressive tense:

 To point out how long the action was going on for

o Ex.: He has been working very hard for over three hours.
 For actions that have recently stopped or are still going on:
o Ex.: Sir Barrie has been working at SPCBA since 2014. (still going on)
 For an action that has finished - but still affects us now
o Ex.: I have been planning to give you a quiz all this week.

Note the logic: I’ve stopped planning now; but now you have to do the quiz!

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the Present Perfect Progressive Tense, choose the word or phrase that would best
complete the following sentences.
1. Paul has been considering the idea of buying a house.
a. is b. has c. have d. was
2. The workers have been waiting for their pay.
a. tiring b. giving c. getting d. waiting
3. I have been working on the plan for eight months.
a. for asking him b. on the plan c. for the new location d. built the house
 60. Topic: Verb Form – Future Perfect Progressive

Description:

 You make the future perfect progressive tense by adding - ‘will have been’ + present
participle of the verb [ “-ing” ending]
 We use it to talk about something that has not happened yet, but WILL happen in the future.
“I will have been drinking vodka by the time you get here.”
Example:
(Future point in time) (future perfect progressive) (say ‘how long’)
By 2026, SPCBA will have been existing for 40 years.
You can add extra information about ‘how long?’ by using phrases like -
 by tomorrow  in 2020
 a day after my 65th birthday  on our 11th anniversary
Or you can add ‘for’ + a definite unit of time -
 for 2 seconds/for 3 minutes  for 6 years/decades/centuries.
 for 4 days/for 5 months
Note: the future perfect progressive tense is used to talk about an action that will happen in the
future; once it begins, it will carry on happening for a while, before something else happens to
make it stop!
Here is the timeline -
present --- à future perfect progressive --- à further into the future….
we are here --- à an event starts in the future --- à something else happens to end it!
“I will have been drinking vodka by the time you get here.”
Note the logic:
I am sober now --- à I’ll start drinking later --- à but when you arrive I will stop drinking
[so I won’t be too drunk to talk to you!]

Comprehension Check:
Using the future perfect progressive tense, write a sentence saying how long you would have
been alive for by the end of this year. I will have been living for 18 years by the end of this year.

Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences

Using the future perfect progressive tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete
the following sentences.
1. By next year, I will have been selling this property for one year already.
2. In June of this year, I will have been living in this house for 5 years.
3. I will have been consulting a real estate agent by the time I decide to sell my house.

61. Topic: Verbs in the Present Progressive Form

General Description:

 You can make the present progressive tense like this:

Subject whatever part of verb “to be” Main Verb + ing rest of the sentence that
‘agrees’ with the subject
I am renting a small room.
The tenants are paying their rent every month.
She is moving to a new apartment.
 To make it negative, simply add ‘not’ after the “to be” bit

Subject “to be” bit Negative Main Verb + ing rest of the sentence that
‘agrees’ with the subject
I am not renting a small room.
The tenants are not paying their rent every month.
She is not moving to a new apartment.
Remember: The present progressive tense is used to talk about an action this is still going on,
and has been lasting for some time already - a ‘continuing’ action.
More specifically it can be used:

 To talk about an activity happening now

o Ex.: The couple is checking the house they want to rent.
 To talk about a temporary situation
o Ex.: I’m living with my friends at the moment.
 To talk about a future plan
o Ex.: We are paying half of the rent next week.
 To talk about something that has changed
o Ex.: Housing is getting cheaper thanks to the good economy.
 To complain about someone! In this case, the word “always” is added –
o Ex.: Our landlady is always pestering me about the overdue rent.

Comprehension Check:
Change the following sentence into the present progressive tense:
The tenant settles the rent at the end of every month.
Exercise 1: Incomplete Sentences
Using the present progressive tense, choose the word or phrase that would best complete the
following sentences.
1. I am visiting the room I want to rent today.
2. Renting a house is becoming cheaper these days.
3. The tenant is demanding that the landlord lower his rent.