Present tenses Present simple ‘The present simple is used 1. for describing routine actions or habits: Before breakfast, Igo online to check my emails, (L's my daily routine) In this business, we don’t take holidays in summer. (Refers to every summer, not just this one) 2 to show thata situation is permanent: His girlfriend teaches ata local primary school. (It’s a permanent job.) { ‘My grandparents live just around the corner from here. (it's their permanent home) 3. when something is always true, ora definite fact Jn autumn, the trees in my garden lose their leaves, (This always happens) Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius. (It's a scientific fact) Present continuous ‘The present continuous is used 1. to describe an action which is happening right at this ‘moment: The children are sleeping, so we can't tlk too loudly. (They are sleeping right now.) Where are you calling from? (We are on the phone right snow) 2 fora situation which is temporary, and will not last permanently: Tmdoing a training course at work at the moment. For a fixed period, not forever) We're staying with Jo while we look fora flat to rent. (We'll eave Jo's home when we find a flat.) 3 when talking about changes or developing situations: ‘The mumnber of road accidents is increasing year by year. (Che situation is getting worse) Shopping online is becoming the most popular way to buy books. (It’s developing) 4 with abwvays, when we want to show that we are annoyed or surprised by an action: ‘My brother is always borrowing ray laptop without asking me, (This irritates me!) ‘That new student is always asking the strangest ‘questions in class! (It’s surprising) 5. for future arrangements (see Grammar reference Unit 5) Tmhaving dinner with Aray tomorrow night The present continuous cannot normally be used with stative verbs, which describe a state (such as existing or feeling), as opposed to an action (such as walking or eating). Some common stative verbs are: agree, believe, belong, consider, consist, cost, disagree, exist, hate, have, know, like, love, matter, ‘mean, need, own, prefer, realise, remain, remember, seem, suppose, think, understand, want. For example This car belongs to my uncle. ¥ (state of possession) ‘This car is belonging to my uncle. ‘That sound doesn't exist in my language. / (state of existence) ‘That sound isn't existing in my language. However, some stative verbs can be used in the present continuous when they describe actions: John can't answer the phone because he's having a shower. (action, not state) dolor contsmerer thephrenebeccusetehase shore” Does Claire's new apartment have a shower? ¥ (state, not action) eee a Present simple in time clauses ‘When we are talking about the future, the present simple must be used after time expressions like when: Tlsend her an email when I get home. (time clause after when) i eae Other expressions which are followed by the present simple are: afte, as soon as, before, by the time, next time, once, until Past tenses Past simple ‘The past simple is used for past events or actions: He closed the front door, locked it, and set off to work. In the end, we decided not to move house. ‘The past simple is often used with a specific time: ‘The previous director retired in November. ‘She wrote her first novel in 200. Past continuous ‘The past continuous is used for a continued action which was happening when another action took place: We arrived at the theatre just asthe show was starting. In many cases, the continued action is interrupted: When he called, Iwas watching my favourite soap opera. (His, call interrupted me) ‘The past continuous is also often used to set the scene at the beginning of a story ‘Tewas raining hard and an icy wind was Blowing, Alex knew the journey would be impossible. crawuar rererence GLE‘The past continuous cannot normally be used with stative verbs: My grandparents rarely disagreed with each other. 7 aa For list of common stative verbs, see Grammar reference Unit 1: present tenses. Past perfect ‘The past perfect is used to show that an action happened earlier than another past action: ‘The police were unaware that the attacker had already escaped. (The attacker escaped before the police realised.) Sometimes itis not necessary to use the past perfect if itis very clear which action happened first: After we finished eating, we played cards. Past perfect continuous ‘The past perfect continuous is used for a continued action ‘which happened before another past action: Weld been working so hard that we decided to take a break (We took a break after a continued period of work) ‘The past perfect continuous can be used to show how long an action continued up to a certain point in the past: When the search began, the girl had already been missing for two days. (She was missing for two days before the search began.) used to / didn’t use to ‘The structure used to + infinitive is used for repeated actions, habits or states in the past: Before the Internet, people used to write letters a lot more. ‘The negative form of this structure is didn’t use to: We didn’t use to have a dishwasher in our old house, Used to is not normally used with time expressions which specify the duration of the action: I smoked for ten years, but then I gave up. 7 used to-smoke forten years-butchen gave up: Would + infinitive can also be used for actions and habits in the past: When Twas a child, my dad would always tell mea story at bedtime. However, would cannot be used to talk about past states: This collection of paintings used to belong to a rich family. 7 Phiccollectiorep paintings would belong tore rih fr: (Belong isa stative verb) NAMIE cannan nerenence Seer Modal verbs ability ‘To express ability in the present, we use can or be able to: (On a clear day, you can see the mountains from my balcony. Tmnot able to read without my glasses. For general ability in the past, we use could or beable to: ‘The sea was warm, so we were able to swim all year round. In the old days you could buy everything atthe local market. However, when we are talking about ability on one specific occasion in the past, we only use be able to, not could: Luckily we didn’t get lost because Alice was able to get directions from someone. (specific occasion) Eckily we didnt get tost because Alice could get directions: Fomesoreone possibility ‘To say that something is possible, we use could, may or might: Without treatment, your health could be at risk. Let's have dinner indoors because it might rain late. Imay be able to join you later, but I can't say for sure. ‘We use could have, may have or might have to talk about possibility in the past: ‘She could have let us know about the change, but she forgot They may have missed the ferry because the traffic was bad. This place might have been important in ancient times, but experts are not sure. impossibility ‘To say that something is impossible in the present, we use cant: You can't eross the river here because the bridge is closed. We use can't have or couldn't have to talk about impossibility in the past: You can't have seen James in towm today because he was at hhome all day. She couldn't have won the competition without her family’s support. certainty When we are certain about something, we use must: You must be exhausted after walking such a long way. ‘To talk about certainty in the past, we use must have: ‘They must have been terribly worried when their children didn’t come home.