PRESENT TENSE SIMPLE

I. TO BE

I am I am not Am I
You are You are not (aren’t) Are you
He/she/it is He/she/it is not (isn’t) Is he/she/it?
We are We are not (aren’t) Are we?
You are You are not (aren’t) Are you?
They are They are not (aren’t) Are they?

II. REGULAR VERBS

S + P (1st form) + “s” in 3rd sg S + do/does (3rd sg) + not + P Do/does (3rd sg) + S + P (1st
(1st form) form)

Ex. I work/He works I don’t work/He doesn’t work Do I work?/Does he work?

Uses:
- general actions: I live in Iasi.
- repeated actions: I have coffee every morning
- general truths: The Earth revolves around the Sun.

PRESENT TENSE CONTINUOUS

S + to be (present) + P (1st S + to be (present) + not + P To be (present) + S + P (1st

form) + ING (1st form) + ING form) + ING

Ex. I am working I am not working Am I working?

Uses:
- actions in progress at the moment of speaking (around the moment of speaking): I am reading
an interesting book this week.
- a limited action (as opposed to a general one): I am taking my daughter to school this week.
- future action, without clear specification of time: I am visiting my parents this weekend.

PAST TENSE SIMPLE

I. TO BE

I was I was not (wasn’t) Was I?

 You were You were not (weren’t) Were you?
He/she/it was He/she/it was not (wasn’t) Was he/she/it?
We were We were not (weren’t) Were we?
You were You were not (weren’t) Were you?
They were They were not (weren’t) Were they?
II. REGULAR VERBS

S + 2nd form S + did + not + 1st form Did + S + 1st form

I saw / He worked I didn’t see/He didn’t work Did I see?/Did he work?

Uses:
- Past, completed actions. Past events/facts: I visited many countries last year. I didn’t learn
German in college.

PAST TENSE CONTINUOUS

S + to be (past) + P (1st form) S + to be (past) + not + P (1st To be (past) + S + P (1st form)

+ ING form) + ING + ING

Ex. I was working I was not working Was I working?

Uses:
- an action in progress in the past: When I arrived home, my wife was sleeping.

PRESENT PERFECT

S + have/has (3rd sg) + 3rd S + have/has (3rd sg) + not + Have/has (3rd sg) + S + 3rd
form 3rd form form

I have worked/He has seen I haven’t worked/He hasn’t Have I worked?/ has he seen?
seen

Uses:
- past – present – future (for/since): I have worked here since 2010/for 8 years.
- past – present (until now): Where have you been?/ I have never visited Paris.
- past, with present consequences (news, generally): I’ll be late, my car has broken down/The
rain has destroyed two bridges in a village from Iasi.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

S + have/has (3rd sg) + been + S + have/has (3rd sg) + not + Have/has (3rd sg) + S + been
 P (1st form) + ing been + P (1st form) + P (1st form)

I have been working/He has I haven’ been working/He Have I been working?/ has he
been driving hasn’t been driving been driving?

Uses:
A perfect action that also has a progressive, continuous nature:
I have been living in Iasi since 2003/I have been watching TV for the last 30 minutes.

PAST PERFECT

S + had + 3rd form S + had + not + 3rd form Had + S + 3rd form

I had worked/He had seen I hadn’t worked/He hadn’t Had I worked?/ had he seen?
seen

Uses:
- a past action that precedes another past action / past moment:

He had already left when I arrived.

Before college, I had never been abroad.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

S + had + been + P (1st form)
+ ing
I had been working/He had
been driving
S + had + not + been + P (1st
form)
I hadn’t been working/He
hadn’t been driving
Had + S + been + P (1st form)
Had I been working?/ had he
been driving?

Uses: a past perfect action that is also continuous:

He told me it had been raining for one hour.

When I entered the office, he had been waiting for me for only 10 minutes.

FUTURE

We can express future with:

Present tense simple: with a fix indication of time/schedule: The meeting starts at 12.00/The
bank opens at 9.
Present tense continuous: when no fix indication is given: I am inviting some friends over
tonight.
To be going to: for an immediate, foreseeable future: It’s going to (gonna) rain.
Simple future:

S + will + P (1st form) S + won’t + P (1st form) Will + S + P (1st form)

I will go/He will be here I won’t go/He won’t be here Will I go? / Will he be here?