Mid-Term

Presentation
by Kamala Sarayeva
 Present Simple tense

● We can use the present simple:

• To talk about things in general, and to say that something happens all the time.
Nurses look after patients in hospital.

● To talk about things that are usually true.

Most children learn habits from their parents.

● To talk about habits and routines, and to say how often we do things.
She meets with her friends every weekend.
I get up at 7 o’clock every morning.
 Present Continuous tense

● We can use the present continuous:

● Actions in progress at the same time the individual is speaking or writing.
I am writing a poem about nature.

● Sometimes the action is not happening at the time of speaking.

She wants to work in Spain, so she is learning Spanish.

● To talk about actions we have already decided and arranged to do in the future.
- What are you doing on Saturday evening?
- I’m going to the cinema.
 Narrative tenses
We use narrative tenses to talk about the past. We can use them to tell a story or to describe past events.
The four narrative tenses are the past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous
and one or more of these can be used in a sentence.

Bond opened the door very slowly, looked carefully around the room and walked in. The window was
open and the curtains were blowing in the wind. Clearly someone had left in a hurry.

Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 after Germany had attacked Poland two days
earlier. Britain had been trying to negotiate a peaceful settlement.

Past simple
opened, looked, walked, was, declared
Past continuous
were blowing
Past perfect
had left, had attacked
Past perfect continuous
had been trying
 Present Perfect tense

● We can use the present perfect:

● When we say ‘something has happened’, this is usually new information

The road is closed. There has been an accident.

● When we use the present perfect, there is a connection with now, the action in the past has a
result now.
I can’t find my bag, Have you seen it?

● With time adverbials just, already and yet, since, lately, recently.
I’ve just had lunch. I’ve already paid it. I’ve written the email, but I haven’t sent it yet.
 Past Simple tense
We use the past simple to describe an action that started in the past and ended in the past. It could be
something that happened twenty years ago or something that happened two minutes ago. It started.
It stopped. It’s over.

● Very often the past simple ends in -ed (regular verbs)

I passed my exam because I studied very hard.

● But many verbs are irregular. For instance: see - saw, go - went
I saw my friends last week.
She went to the cinema with her family last month.

● The past of be (am, is, are) is was, were

She was annoyed because her friends were late.
 Gradable and extreme adjectives

Gradable adjectives can have different degrees or levels of that quality. For instance, a bit cold, very
cold and extremely cold.
Extreme adjectives or non-gradable adjectives are words that mean extremely+adjectives. For
instance, very hot - boiling, very cold - freezing, very funny - hilarious.

Very clean spotless

Very bad Awful, terrible, horrible

Very good Brilliant, amazing, excellent

Very angry furious

Very dirty filthy

Very big huge, enormous

 Present Perfect Continuous tense

● We use the present perfect continuous for an activity that has recently stopped or just stopped.
She is very tired. She’s been working hard.

● We can use the present perfect continuous for repeated actions.

I’m a very good tennis player. I’ve been playing since I was eleven.

● We use the continuous to say how long (for something that is still happening)
How long have you been learning English?
How long have you been reading that book?
 Ability modals
Can - we use can to say that something is possible or allowed, or that somebody has the ability to do something. We
use can + infinitive. We use can in future tense.
I can see the lake from our hotel.
I can play the guitar.
I can come tomorrow.

To be able to - we can say that somebody is able to do something. We can also use to be able to in present perfect
tense but we can’t use can in this tense.
I haven’t been able to sleep recently.

Could - sometimes could is the past of can. We can also use could in suggestions sentences.
I could play the guitar when I was child.
Could we meet at downtown this weekend?

Managed to - to succeed in doing something, especially something that needs a lot of effort or skill.
I managed to stop the car even though the brake did not work.
 Modals of deduction

Must - we use must to say that we believe something is certain.

You’ve been travelling all day. You must be tired.

Can’t - we use can’t to say that we believe something is not possible.

They haven’t lived here for very long. They can’t know many people.

May, might - we use may or might to say that something is possible or to ask for permission.
Could is similar to may and might.

Look! There are clouds on the sky. It might rain tonight.

It is 10 o’clock. We may be late for the train.
If I had studied harder, I could pass the exam.
May I come in?
 Used to and would

We can use - used to permanent actions and states in the past.

I used to live in Baku 2 years ago.

I used to study a lot in my first year at university.
I used to like ice-cream as a kid.

We can use - would temporary states in the past.

I would sometimes feel lonely in that place.

I would often see her near our house.
Thanks for listening