e.g. She goes up to this mand and looks straig into his eyes.

to describe MAIN EVENT S

He´s not wearing his glasses and he doesn´t recognise her.

af ter PAST
 e.g. I was sitting in the park, reading a newspaper, when all
to HIGHLIGHT T ENSES &
of a sudden this dog jumps at me.
SUDDENLY/ALL OF
A SUDDEN

(like sports
events) When the
in LIVE COMMENT ARIES report takes place
at the same time
as the action
 e.g. King serves to the lef t-hand court and Adams makes a
wonderf ul return. She´s playing magnif icient tennis in this
match...

 e.g. I gather you´re worried about Pedro.

to INT RODUCE NEWS
It says here, I hear, I gather, I see, I
that we have understand, T hey say, (Someone)
heard, read, seen says, (Someone) tells me... or with  e.g. Sophia tells me you´re thinking of emigrating.
or been told past tenses (It said here, I heard,
etc.)
 e.g. Prof essor Hendriks is at the conf erence and I hear she
´s an excellent speaker.

 e.g. 'SECOND QUAKE HIT S JAPAN'

to talk about
EVENT S T HAT
Present Simple in NEW HEADLINES
HAVE RECENT LY
 e.g. 'FIRE BREAKS OUT  IN HOT EL ROOM'
HAPPENED
 e.g. 'FOREIGN MINIST ER RESIGNS'

 e.g. T hompson gives a list of the largest European

companies in Chapter 6.

to ref er to the contents

 e.g. At the beginning of the book, three men f ind $4 million
of  BOOKS, FILMS,
in a crashed plane.
NEWSPAPERS, etc.

 e.g. In the f ilm, Loni Baranski takes the role of a private

detective.

 e.g. I suggest you to park outside the city and get the bus to
(verbs which the centre. Also: acknowledge, admit, advise, apologise, beg,
perf orm the confess, congratulate, declase, deny, forbid,
action they guarantee, name, order, permit, predict, promise,
describe)  e.g. We request that you read the terms and conditions refuse, remind, request, thank, warn
caref ully bef ore signing.

some verbs used as perf ormatives with the present simple

with PERFORMAT IVES
in af f irmative (= positive) sentences (apologise, deny,
 e.g. I don´t deny / I´m not denying taking books, but Miguel
guarantee, promise, suggest) have a similar meaning with
either the PRESENT SIMPLE or the PRESENT CONT INUOUS said it was okay.
in negative sentences.

 e.g. We would advise you to arrive two hours bef ore the

f light leaves.
MODALS are of ten used with perf ormatives to make what
we say more tentative or polite.
 e.g. I must beg you to keep this a secret.

e.g. She goes up to this man and looks straight into his eyes.
to describe LONGER BACKGROUND EVENT S
He´s not wearing his glasses, and he doesn´t recognise her.

(like sports
events) When the
in LIVE COMMENT ARIES report takes place
at the same time
as the action
 e.g. King serves to the lef t-hand court and Adams makes a
wonderf ul return. She´s playing magnif icient tennis in this
match...

that are  e.g. You are constantly changing your mind.

characteristic of a
to emphasise FREQUENT ACT IVIT IES
person, group or
thing
Always, constantly,
continually or
f orever
 e.g. He´s always of f ering to help me with my work.

the last pattern is of ten

used to indicate Always, constantly,
to indicate DISAPPROVAL FREQUENT continually or  e.g. Was Olivia always  asking you f or money, too?
UNPLEASANT f orever
ACT IVIT IES (the past
continues is used too)

 e.g. At eight o´clock I´m usually driving to work, so phone

things we regularly do at
to describe RUT INES
a certain time
me on my mobile.
Usually, generally, etc.
 e.g. Seven o´clock is a bit early. We´re generally eating then.

Present Continuous
 e.g. Ella stays with us quite of ten. T he children love having
to emphasise that a her here. and
situation is temporary or Attract, like, look,
Compare:
f or a period of time love, sound
around the present  e.g. Ella´s with us at the moment. T he children are
loving having her here. 

 e.g. T he app doesn´t appear to work on my phone (appear: state = seem)

with ST AT E VERBS
some verbs have 'State' meaning - Also: cost, expect,
and
dif f erent meaning when PRESENT SIMPLE
feel, fit, have,
they are used to talk 'Action meaning' - Compare:
about states and when PRESENT imagine, measure,
 e.g. Carley Robb is currently appearing in a musical on Broadway. think, weigh
they describe actions SIMPLE/CONT INUOUS
She of ten appears in musicals (appear: action = take part)
(depending on context)

State verbs wich we RARELY USE Believe, consist of ,

WIT H PRESENT CONT INUOUS include doubt, own

 e.g. I regret that the company will have to be sold (= I´ve

to emphasise that we
have recently started to
think about sth or that we
are not sure about sth
made the decision and I´m sorry about it) and
Find, realise, regret,
Compare:
think, understand
 e.g. I´m regretting my decision to give her the job (=I´m
increasingly aware that it was the wrong decision)

when it means 'think caref ully about', CONSIDER is only  e.g. He´s considering taking early retirement (not He
with MENT AL ST AT E VERBS
used with the present continuous considers taking early retirement)

some other verbs describing

pref erences and mental states Believe, conclude,
 e.g. I believe you now (not I´m believing you now)
are RARELY USE WIT H PRESENT know, pref er
CONT INUOUS

 e.g. I didn´t shave this morning (= the morning is over and I

· if we think of this morning (etc.) as a past, complete time didn´t shave) and
that ref ers to the present, such as this morning / week /
period, we use PAST SIMPLE.                                                          · if
month and today, can be used with either PRESENT Compare:
we think of this morning (etc.) as a time period which
PERFECT or PAST SIMPLE verbs.
includes the present moment, we use PRESENT PERFECT  e.g. I haven´t shaved this morning (= it still the morning and
I might shave later)

 e.g. Since Mr Dodson became president unemployment has

increased (rather than ... has become ...)
when they includes SINCE, we generally pref er the
PRESENT PERFECT in the MAIN CLAUSE and the PAST
SIMPLE in the T IME CLAUSE (that ref ers to a particular point
 e.g. She hasn´t been able to play tennis since she
in the past)
broke her arm (rather than ... has broken ...)

if the two situations described in the main  e.g. Have you met any of your neighbours since you´ve
with T IME CLAUSES
and time clause extend until the present lived here? (not ... you lived ...)

 e.g. After she lef t hospital (past), she had a long

holiday. and

 e.g. After Lucas has lef t school (f uture), he will be spending

six months in India.
Compare:
 e.g. The minute I got the news about Anna (past) I
a) ... af ter, when, telephoned my parents. and
until, as soon as,
once, by the
time  · the PAST SIMPLE refers to past, completed events         e.g. I´ll contact you the minute I´ve got my exam results.
a) with time clauses introduced by ...        b)
and the time expressions ...   · the PRESENT PERFECT refers to future events (f uture)

b) ... the minute / second

/ moment
Note: in sentences like these it is also possible to use the  e.g. After she had lef t hospital, she had a long holiday. 
PAST PERFECT  instead of the past simple and the
Present Perfect Simple PRESENT SIMPLE instead of the present perf ect with the
same meaning  e.g. After Lucas leaves school, he will be spending six
months in India.

 e.g. A Russian spacecraf t has returned saf ely to Earth with

the RECENT EVENT S will be of ten
introduced with the PRESENT PERFECT ,
in NEWS REPORT S
while the PAST SIMPLE & OT HER PAST
T ENSES are used to give details
its two passengers. US astronaut Scott Keane and Russian
cosmonaut Olga Kaleri landed in the early hours of
Wednesday.
 e.g. An American woman has become the f irst person to
make 2 million contributions to Wikipedia. Esther Miller
began editing the site eight years ago.

 e.g. That´s the first time I´ve seen Jan look embarrased.

(reporting a past event) 

 e.g. It won´t be the first time she has voted against the

af ter It / T his / T hat is / will be the f irst time
government. (talking about a f uture event)

 e.g. It was the first time I´d talked to Dimitra outside the
Note: af ter It / T his / T hat was the f irst time, we generally use PAST
of f ice.
PERFECT

 e.g. Have you been working in the garden all day? You look

exhausted.
(until recently or until
the time of speaking)
 e.g. She´s been writing the book since she was in her
twenties and at last it´s f inished.

Note: time expressions say how long the activity has been in progress

 e.g. Have you known each other long? (not Have you been

f or ONGOING ACT IVIT IES knowing ...)
Belong, know,
we don´t use it with verbs which describe UNCHANGING ST AT ES,
(dis)like, and
such as
understand
 e.g. I haven´t liked ice cream since I ate too much and was
sick (not I haven´t been liking ...)

 e.g. T he workers have been calling f or the chairman´s

the PRESENT PERFEC CONT INUOUS emphasises that an
activity is ongoing and repeated, while the PRESENT
PERFECT suggests the activity happened only once or on a
specif ic number of occasions
 e.g. Miguel has been kicking a f ootball against the wall all resignation. (= emphasises a number of times, probably
day. (more likely than ... has kicked ...) over an extended perior) and
Compare:
 e.g. He has played f or the national team in 65 matches so  e.g. Workers have called f or management to begin
f ar. (not He has been playing ...) negotiations on pay. (= maybe a number of times or only
once)

when we talk about situations

f or CURRENT SIT UAT IONS
(general characteristic or
 e.g. We´ve been looking f orward to this holiday f or ages (or
circumstances) that exist until the
We´ve looked f orward to ...)
present we can of ten use either the
PRESENT PERFECT  or the PRESENT
PERFECT CONT INUOUS

 e.g. He´s broken his f inger and is in a lot of pain. (not He´s

been breaking ...) and
Compare:
Present Perfect Continuous
 e.g. I´ve been playing squash and need a shower! (more
we of ten use the PRESENT
likely than I´ve played ...)
PERFECT  or the PRESENT PERFECT
f or RECENT LY FINISHED EVENT S CONT INUOUS to talk about sth that
has recently f inished if we can still see
its results.  e.g. He´s broken his f inger and is in a lot of pain. (not He´s
we of ten use the PRESENT
been breaking ...) and
PERFECT  or the PRESENT PERFECT
CONT INUOUS to talk about sth that Compare:
has recently f inished if we can still see
 e.g. I´ve been playing squash and need a shower! (more
its results.
likely than I´ve played ...)

 e.g. Who´s been messing around with my papers? T hey´re

(f rom what we can see, all over the place.
hear, etc.). We of ten use
to draw CONCLUSIONS
this f orm to complain or
criticise.  e.g. You´ve been eating chocolate, haven´t you? T here´s
Tenses some on your shirt.

 e.g. Prices have decreased by 7%. (not Prices have been

decreasing by 7%) and

when we talk about the result of
an activity, we use the PRESENT
PERFECT ; but when we f ocus on
to talk about the RESULT OF CIRCUMST ANCES
the process we of ten use either
the PRESENT PERFECT or the
PRESENT PERFECT
CONT INUOUS
 e.g. Prices have been decreasing recently. (or Prices have
decreased ...)
Compare:
 e.g. I´ve used three tins of paint on the kitchen walls.
(not I've been using ...) and

 e.g. I´ve been using a new kind of paint on the kitchen

walls. (or I´ve used ...)

e.g. We went to Spain three times last year.

e.g. Did you drive past her house every day?

to describe REPIT ED PAST ACT IONS e.g. When Kata was in hospital, we were visting her twice a
day. (or ... we visited ...)

e.g. T o lose weight bef ore the race, I wasn´t eating any

we can use the PAST CONT INUOUS (particularly in spoken
English) when we want to emphasise that repeated actions
went on f or a limited and temporary period of past time; or
to talk about sth that happened surprisingly of ten
biscuits for weeks. (or ... I didn´t eat ...)
e.g. Last week I was having to bring work home every night
to get it all done. (or ... I had ...)

e.g. When the builders were here I was making them cups of

Past Simple tea all the time. (or ... I made ...)

(e.g. a report story) to talk about a single  e.g. Erika dropped her bag while she was getting into her car.
complete past event. Here we use the
in NARRAT IVE
PAST CONT INUOUS to describe the
situation that existed at the time.  e.g. She was shaking with anger as she lef t the hotel.

e.g. I was thinking of  going to China next year, but it

these verbs (with the exception of mean and expect) and depends how much money I´ve got (less definitie than I´m
f or things we Note: to talk about this, we can use either wonder about can also be used with the PRESENT and PAST thinking of  going ...)
 e.g. We were meaning (or meant / had meant) to call and Also: consider + -ing, expect to, hope to, intend to,
INT ENDED T O DO the PAST SIMPLE, PAST CONT INUOUS to report what we might do in the f uture.       
BUT DIDN´T CONT INUOUS, PAST PERFECT or PAST
see you, but Marc wasn´t f eeling well. plan to / on + -ing, think about / of + -ing, want to Note: the past continious is less def inite than the present
PERFECT CONT INUOUS. continuous. e.g. We were wondering about inviting Eva over tomorrow.
(less definite than We are wondering about ...)

when we talk about two events that went on over the

e.g. Mia was reading (or read) to the children while Ben was
same period of past time, we can of ten use the PAST
washing up (or washed up).
CONT INUOUS or the PAST SIMPLE f or both

 e.g. When I was learning to drive I was living with my

parents (= 'I had lessons during this time').
Note: using the PAST CONT INUOUS emphasises that the
Past Continuous to talk about PAST EVENT S
event was in progress during the past period of time
Compare:
 e.g. When I learned to drive I was living with my parents (= 'I
passed my test during this time').

Note: when we talk about two or more past completed

events, that f ollowed one another, we use the PAST e.g. She got up when the alarm clock went of f .
SIMPLE f or both

it´s usef ul to put past events in chronological order.
We use the PAST SIMPLE to give an acount of a
sequence of those events; but if we want to ref er to
to talk about OUT -OF-ORDER
an event out of order - that is, an event which
EVENT S
happened bef ore the last event in the sequence we
have written or spoken about - we can use the PAST
PERFECT .  4. had made mistake (out of order)
1. gave present  2. wrote email        3.
Order of events:
e.g. I wrote Clara an email to thank her f or the present she made mistake  4. realised mistake
had given me f or my birthday last week. But as soon as I
Studying this:
pressed the 'send' button, I realised that I had made a
1. wrote email  2. had given present
mistake and send it to her sister instead.
Order events are mentioned: (out of order)       3. realised mistake 

e.g. We bought a new car last month. We´d driven my

Note: when we understand that we are talking about parents´old car f or ages, but it started (or had started) to
events before another past event, we don´t have to f all apart. We put (or had put) a new engine in it, but that
continue using the past perf ect. didn´t solve (or hadn´t solved) the problems we were
having.

to talk about SEVERAL PAST EVENT S

e.g. After Ivan had f inished reading, he put out the light (or ...
Ivan f inished ...)
if the order of past events is clear f rom the context (f or
example, if time expressions make the order clear) we can
of ten use either the PAST PERFECT  or the PAST SIMPLE. e.g. T he two leaders agreed to meet, even though
earlier talks had f ailed to reach an agreement. (or ... talks
f ailed ...)
Past Perfect Simple
a) 'I have met him bef ore'       
b) 'T he village hasn´t
changed much'                          c)
T alking about past events
'225 people drowned in the
recent f loods'                              d)
'I stole the watch'
it is used in reporting what was originally said or thought in
in REPORT ED SPEECH
the present perf ect or past simple
a) I was sure that I had met him bef ore. (not ... I met him ...)   
b) I f ound that the village hadn´t changed much. (not ... the
village didn´t change ...)                                                                  c)
Reporting these past events
Police said that 225 people had drowned in the recent
f loods. (or ... drowned ...)                                                              d) She
admitted that she had stolen the watch. (or ... stole ...)

 e.g. I had hoped to visit the gallery bef ore I lef t Florence,
but it´s closed on Mondays. (or I hoped ..., I was hoping ..., I
had been hoping ...)
f or things we
INT ENDED T O DO
BUT DIDN´T
 e.g. Aron planned to retire at 60, but we have persuaded
him to stay f or a f ew more years. (or Aron had planned ...,
Aron was playing ..., Aron had been playing ...)

 e.g. I´d been f inishing some work in the garden when  Lea

we use the PAST PERFECT CONT INUOUS to talk about sth arrived, so I didn´t hear her come in.
that was in progress recently bef ore or up to a past point in
time, and the PAST PERFECT SIMPLE when we talk about a
f inished activity bef ore a past time.  e.g. I´d f inished all the ironing so I started cleaning the
windows. (not I´d been f inishing ...)

Note: we can of ten use either the PAST PERFECT

 e.g. I´d been working / I´d worked hard all year, so I f elt
CONT INUOUS or the PAST PERFECT SIMPLE with a similar
that I deserved a holiday.
meaning

 e.g. How many times had you met him bef ore yesterday?

(not How many times had you been meeting ...)
if we talk about how many times sth happened in a period
up to a particular past time, we use the PAST PERFECT
SIMPLE, not the PAST PERFECT CONT INUOUS.
 e.g. I had stayed in the hotel twice in the 1990s. (not I had
been staying ...)

 (i) e.g. We´d been driving f or about an hour when the

engine suddenly stopped. 

(i) f inished at that time       

 (ii) e.g. She f elt terrible during the interview because she
(ii) continued beyond it     
had been suf f ering f rom f lu since the previous day. 
(iii) f inished shortly bef ore it
f or ONGOING PAST ACT IVIT IES
(iii) e.g. When I last saw Omar, he´d been running and was
out of breath. 

it can be used to talk about a situation or activity

 e.g. When the merger was announced it became apparent
that went on bef ore a particular past time and
that the two companies had been discussing the possibility
since last year. and

 e.g. A f riend told me about a conversation she´d recently

overheard. T wo women were discussing their holiday plans ...
Note: if we are not interested in how long the activity went
on, we can use the PAST CONT INUOUS instead of the PAST Compare:
PERFECT CONT INUOUS  e.g. I f irst met Mateo and Lucia when they had been going
Past Perfect Continuous out together for five years, and they didn´t get married f or
another three years af ter that . and

 e.g. Karin met Lars when she was going out with his best
f riend.

we don´t describe states with continuous tenses, and we

use the PAST PERFECT SIMPLE, not the PAST PERFECT  e.g. We had only owned the car f or six weeks when the
CONT INUOUS, even when we f ocus on the lenght of a clutch broke. (not We had been owning ...)
situation up to a particular past time.

 e.g. T he body of a climber who went missing in the Alps

in WRIT T EN ENGLISH
it is here where it´s mainly
was f inally f ound yesterday. Carl Sims had been
used, such in newspaper
climbing alone near the Harz Waterf all, which has claimed
(and less common in
many lives in the past.
speech)

 e.g. When I worked as a postman I got up at three o´clock

every morning.

 e.g. Miguel doesn´t play golf very well.

to talk about GENERAL SIT UAT IONS,
HABIT S, and things that are or were always
true  e.g. T hese birds build their nests on the ground.

 e.g. T he earthquake struck the area at midday yesterday.

Simple f orms (PAST SIMPLE f or completed events)

 e.g. She intends to work hard at school and go to university.

to describe UNCHANGING ST AT ES (that say the same)
 e.g. Did you understand the instructions we were given?

Continuous and simple  e.g. Ingrid can´t come to the phone. She´s washing her
hair.

 e.g. As you´re not using your car at the moment, can I borrow it?
f or ONGOING ACT IVIT IES
 e.g. T his time yesterday I was f lying over the Pacif ic.

 e.g. Was she wearing that red dress when you saw her?

Continuous f orms

 e.g. She was intending to talk to T ony about the idea, but

she didn´t get the opportunity.
with verbs which describe SOMET HING HAPPENING
or CHANGING
 e.g. I´m understanding physics much better now that Mr
Davies is teaching us.

 e.g. I´ve f inished that book you wanted, so you can borrow it now.

suggest a connection between sth that
Review happened in the past and the present
time; although this situation does not have to  e.g. Have you turned the heating of f ? I don´t like it to be on when
the PRESENT PERFECT
continue until the time of speaking, only to I´m not at home.
have some connection or relevance to the
present time.
to describe one event or state FROM  e.g. Your nose is bleeding. Has somebody hit you?
Perf ect
T HE POINT OF VIEW OF A LAT ER T IME

 e.g. I invited him out to dinner, but he said he had already eaten. 

the PAST PERFECT used to locate a past event bef ore another past event
 e.g. By the time I picked up the phone, they had rung of f .

we combine the perf ect and continuous

f orms in the PRESENT PERFECT
 e.g. I have been f ollowing the discussion on the f orum with great
CONT INUOUS to describe an activity in
interest.
progress either at or recently bef ore the
time of speaking, and possibly beyond it.
the PRESENT PERFECT CONT INUOUS

to talk about activities that have recently f inished with  e.g. Look at the dirt on your clothes! Have you been digging in the
some result that can be seen, heard, etc. garden again?
Combinations of perf ect and continuous

it has a similar meaning. However, the  e.g. When we met Lena and Marko, they had been riding.
point of ref erence is not 'now' (as it is
the PAST PERFECT CONT INUOUS
with the PRESENT PERFECT
CONT INUOUS) but a point in the past  e.g. It had been snowing heavily f or hours and when I went to the
door I couldn´t open it.