Present tense

Continuous

Simple

For general actions witch include truths.

Ex: IT people use the computer every day.

For the continuous actions going on at

particular time in the present.

Ex. You cant use the laptop now. I'm

working on my PowerPoint project for
English course.

Temporary actions.

Ex. Im working as a tutor at an IT

company.

Permanent actions

Ex: I work as a university teacher.

For habits.

Ex: I read tabloids every day.

2
Simple

Ex: I pronounce you man and wife.

With the verbs: promise,pronounce,name,declare.

Continuous

With the verbs which have some kind of

progression or the idea of change such as:
become,get,grow,increase,decrease.

Ex: Its getting colder and colder.

With punctual verbs only when the action is

repeated quickly without notice about
operation at the time.

With verbs which describe an action that

refers to a trend.

Ex: We are imploying more and more

people given the fact that IT market is
developing.

With the punctual verbs: kick,click,press,smash,jump

Ex: Every time he jumps over the barrier from the painpoint.

3
Simple

Continuous

For instantaneous present:

T.V. and sports commentaries.

Ex: Mutu enters the field,is running towards the ball,kicks it

and scores.
For duration present:
o

In stage directions.

T.V. and sports commentaries when we

want to stress the duration of an action.

Ex: He enters the stage,stirs the fire,then he is arranging

theinstructions.
books on the fireplace and settles down to road .
In demonstations and
o

In stage directions.

4
Simple

Continuous

In stories of any kind,instead of past simple,for actions that

come,one after another,

Ex: While her husband is screaming and crying,the wife tries to calm
him down and tells him that should take care of everything.Then she
picks up the phone,calls the police and starts explaining how everything
has happened:When I arrived home,my husband was crying,the house
is a mess,computer missing and God knows what else.
For duration present:

5
Simple

Continuous

In newspaper headlines.

Ex: police women shots her husband and goes insane.

Rarely,in newspaper headlines: to point out

that a certain activity is repeated very
often,and it has become annoying.

Ex: Politicians are stealing our money.

Verbs not used in the

continuous aspect

Verbs of existence: be,exist.

Exception: The verb be when it refers to an unusual state

Ex: He is being annoying.I wonder why.

Verbs of feeling: (dis)like,love,hate.

Exception: All the verbs of feeling when we

want to stress the intensity of the feeling.

Ex: Im lovin it.

Verbs of possession:
have,own,belong,posses.

Exception: The verb have,when it doesnt

have the meaning of possession(have
fun,have a bath,have lunch).

Ex: He is having his tea with his best friend.

Verbs of thinking: think,believe,understand,know,consider.

Exception: The verb think,when it means to ponder over,that is

analyze something before performing an action.
Ex: I am thinking of buying a new computer.

Verbs not used in the

continuous aspect

Verbs of appearence: look,appear,seem.

Exception: look when it refers to something else(look at,look for)

Verbs of perception: smell,taste,hear,see,touch(feel).

Exception: The verb think,when it means to ponder over,that is

analyze something before performing an action.

Ex: I am thinking of buying a new computer.

The verb weigh

Exception: When we want to show that the

action is done with a special purpose in
mind.

Ex: I am weighing my suitcase to see that

its over the limit.

Past tense
Continuous

Simple

For completed actions in the past;the moment of actions must be

specified with the help of an adverb,adverbial phrase,numeral,a
description about a particular past moment or context.

Sometimes is enough to mention some kind of detail about particular

time in the past.This detail can be the place of action,the moment of
action a.s.o.

Ex: I called my friend to ask him about my homework yesterday

Ex:What did you do last week?

For an action going at a particular moment

in the past

Ex: I was telling him about my problems at

the moment.

9
Continuous

Simple

Past habits.

Used to+ verb or would+ verb can also appear in utterances

about past habits.

Ex: I read a lot of books a long time ago.

to eat a lot of chocolate.

Ex: I used

An action going on and interrupted suddenly by another action at a given

moment in the past.For the first action we use past continuous,and for the
second we use present simple.

Ex: When they were working on the project,they

discovered
that they
were
Unusual
and annoying
habits
in the past
heading in the wrong direction.

Ex: She was always talking too much about

himself.

10
Continuous

Simple

A sequence of actions in the past.The focus is on the fact that certain

actions happened.

Ex: How did you spend your time during the weekend?

Ex: I watched a movie, I had fun with my friends and I slept.

Actions going on in the same time

Ex: What were you doing entire weekend

that you couldnt talk to me?

I was cooking and cleaning the house with

my parents.

An interrupted action which took place over

a long period of time.

He was making cookies all day long

yesterday to make his wife happy.

A repeated action which took place over a long period of time

Brad Pitt made his best movies before married Angelina Jolie

11
Simple

Continuous

In narratives and stories of any kind,we use past simple in action come one after another and past continuous for the background actions.

Last summer,on a bright sunny day I was strolling trough my neighborhood and suddenly I heard a noise.When I look back I saw the car of my
colegue,which had hit the back of another car.The drivers were too concerned with the scratches on their cars to know that the cat was lying in
between.The people were screaming and trying to draw their attention.

Past perfect
Continuous

Simple

For a past action which happened before another past

action.Sometimes even if the action was longer we use the simple
aspect to stress the idea of its existence leaving aside its duration.

Past action which went on over a period of

time before another past
action.Obiously,the duration is important
here.

Ex: He had been cleaning the house for

three hours when she arrived.

After the structure it was + an ordinal

numeral.

It was the third time she had been talking

about him for hours.

Ex: I had completed level 3 when he told me that him himself had
reached level 3.

12

After the structure it was + an ordinal numeral(we use

subject+past participle).

Ex: It was the second time she had forgiven him.

13
Continuous

Simple

Ex: After they had read the courses they realized they didnt know
anything.

In temporal clauses beginning with after ,which describe past

actions happening before other past actions.

With before", but the action in the past tense happened first or it
prevented later from happening.
Ex: She came before they had left.

In temporal clauses beginning with after

and describing a past action in progress
before another past action.

Ex: After he had been discussing long hours

we decided to stop working and go out.

Present perfect
Continuous

Simple

Recent actions which have relevance or validity in the present.The

time of action is not mentioned and we have no details about the
action.

Ongoing actions which started in the past

and continue until the present time or
finished just before he present time.

Ex: I have been looking for them, but I

havent found them.

Completed action in the past whose

duration is important in the present.The
result is less important than the duration of
the action.

Ex: Ive been working on the project.It is

complicated.

Ex: Have you found my files?

Completed actions in the past,whose result is important in the

present.

14

Ex: I have finished the project.Here is it.

15
Continuous

Simple

N.B: If we draw a conclusion from a past action in the present we use present perfect simple,but if we draw a conclusion in the present action we use
present perfect continuous.
Ex: Oh my god! Who has been messing up my files.They arent placed in the right order anymore.

With the adverbs: already,just,yet.

Already and just are placed between the auxiliary and the verb,and yet
is placed at the end of an interrogative and positive sentence.

Ex: Have you eaten yet?

Yes I have already had lunch.

Ex: What have you been doing lately?

With the adverbs: lately,recently.

16
Continuous

Simple

The idea is that for describes a period of time which most definitely includes the past and the
present,and since describes the point of departure of an action,which unfold up until the
present.Clearly,the
focus is on duration here,but as we know,not all verbs can be used in the

With for and since when the action is expressed trough verbs
that cant be used in the continuous actions.
continuous aspect.

Ex: I have known him for 10 years.

Ex: Ive been working with him since

2000.
With for an since when the action is
expressed trough verbs which are used in
the continuous actions.

17
Continuous

Simple

To offer information about time,with how

long.

Ex: For how long have you been reading?

To offer the information about quantity,with how many.

Ex: How many pages have you read?

After the structure it is + ordinal numeral with the subject

followed by present perfect simple or continuous,depending on the
focus.

Ive been reading for 2 hours.

After the structure it is + ordinal numeral

with the subject followed by present
perfect simple or continuous,depending on
the focus.

Ex: It is the first time I have been reading a

book.

Ex: It is the first time I have written a poem.