Tenses Flashcards
present simple
Use:
1. facts/ things that are always/usually true
e.g. The road leads to Oxford.
2. routines and habits (timetable events)
e.g. I go to Italy every Summer.
3. to describe scientific and natural laws
e.g. Water boils at 100°C.
4. explanations and instructions
e.g. You seperate the eggs, then whip the whites
until they’re stiff.
5. headlines in newspapers and plots of films, stories and plays
e.g. Fisherman finds treasure trove
At the party, Romeo sees Juliet and falls in love
with her.
present continuous
be verb+ing
e.g. I am walking
Use:
1. refer to what is happening now (key words: at the moment, at present, now, currently, today, this week)
e.g. Sorry I am busy at the moment, I’m doing my
homework.
2. repeated actions with annoyance (key word: always)
e.g. She’s always criticising other people!
3. temporary habits (continuing, unfinished actions, which are not actually happening at the moment)
e.g. He’s smoking a lot these days
4. to give a running commentary on an event
e.g.Look, the door’s opening….
5. for future arrangements with a time reference
e.g. We’re leaving tomorrow
note:
1. there are certain verbs which do not take the continuous form (e.g. dislike, like, hate, love, wish, prefer, want, hear, sound, understand, suppose, remember etc.)
2. There are verbs which can be used in simple or continuous tenses, with different meanings.
(look, see, smell, taste, feel, think, measure, weigh)
compare: I see the boy wearing the red shirt vs. I’m
seeing the boy wearing the red shirt.
present perfect
have/has past participle
e.g. I have decided
Use:
1. to describe an event in the recent past without a definite time (keywords: just, recently)
e.g. Someone has broken a window in our classroom.
2. actions in the recent past with an effect on the present (including how many things someone has done up untill now/ describe someone’s experiences, what he/she/they has done in life) (keywords: already, yet, so far, up to now (for a period of time), since (a fixed point in time), ever before)
e.g. I’ve travelled by plane, but I haven’t flown in a
helicopter.
Scientists have found more than 30 unkown
insects.
3. habitual actions which started in the past and are still going on
e.g. She has worn the same clothes for a week.
present perfect continuous
have/has been verb+ing
e.g. I have been reading
Use:
1. to talk about recent continuing activities (including ‘how-long’-questions)
e.g. I’ve been revising for my exams
How long have you been studying French?
2. to talk about recent continuing activities which will probably continue in the future (stress that a present perfect action is continuing)
e.g. The diagram shows how the climate has been
changing.
3. to explain how recent continuing activities have caused the present situation
e.g. My eyes ache. I’ve been reading all day.
4. with time words like ‘lately’, ‘recently’, ‘all (day)’, ‘every (morning)’, ‘for’, ‘since’
past simple
verb+ed (note: there are many irregular forms)
Use:
1. to talk about completed past actions at a known time (time can be stated or understood through context)
e.g. He brought his car last month.
She worked there as a teacher.
2. to describe events in a story
e.g. Oliver heard the sound of a bell. Soon
afterwards, the door softly opened.
3. to describe habits and routines in the past (usually with a time word or phrase e.g. every day)
e.g. She always wanted to be loved.
Leonardo panted in his studio every day.
4. for a definit period of past time
e.g. They spent five years in York.
5. with when, enquiring about past time
e.g. When did you last see her?
past continuous
was verb+ing
e.g. I was reading
Use:
1.simultaneous past actions
e.g. She was ironing while he was bathing the baby.
2. repeated past actions
e.g.I was always trying to save my pocket money.
3. continuous past actions sometimes interrupted by the past simple
e.g. He was just getting into bed when the phone
rang.
4. setting a scene for a story
e.g. The sun was shining and the birds were singing
as he walked down the lane.
5. past intentions, often not carried out
e.g. She was planning to ring her friend, but she
forgot.
note:
1. there are certain verbs which do not take the continuous form (e.g. dislike, like, hate, love, wish, prefer, want, hear, sound, understand, suppose, remember etc.)
2. There are verbs which can be used in simple or continuous tenses, with different meanings.
(look, see, smell, taste, feel, think, measure, weigh)
compare: I see the boy wearing the red shirt vs. I’m
seeing the boy wearing the red shirt.
past perfect
had past participle
e.g. I had left
Use:
1. a past action that happened before a past simple action (note: when the past actions are close in time or closely connected, we often avoid the use of the past perfect)
e.g. She had worked in Bonn before she moved to
Stuttgart.
2. an action that happened before a stated time
e.g. He had completed the work by tea-time
past perfect continuous
had been verb+ing
e.g. I had been waiting
Use:
1. to stress that a past perfect action (= an action that happened before a stated time) was continuous or repeated
2. to explain a past situation, by describing the events happening before.
e.g. Both boys were wet and muddy. They had been
playing football in the rain.
future simple
will/ shall verb
e. g. I will/shall go
note: shall is only used in formal speech/writing with I/we and to make offers.
Use:
1. with predictions (keywords: think, expect, wonder, hope, probably, perhaps, definitely, certainly, probably, possibly)
e.g. I think it’ll stay fine for the race.
2. for instant decisions or spontaneous reactions
e.g. I’ll just answer the phone.
3. for offers of help
e.g. I’ll give you a hand, if you like.
4. for promises, warnings, threats
e.g. Believe me, I’ll never do it again.
Careful! You’ll fall.
I’ll deal with you later!
5. for invitations and polite request
e.g. Will you come to the theartre with me?
going to future
be going to verb
e.g. I am going to sleep
Use:
1. to talk about a personal plan or intention
e.g. We’re going to try and recycle more of our
household rubbish.
2. predictions based on something in the present
e.g. Look! He’s going to fall!
future continuous
will be verb+ing
e.g. I will be starting
Use:
continuous action which will be happening at a definit future point in time
e.g. I’ll be playing football on Saturday afternoon.
future perfect
will have past participle
e.g. He’ll have finished his exam by Friday week
Use:
talk about an action which will have happened by a certain point of the future (keyword: by)
e.g. He’ll have finished his exams by Friday week.
future perfect continuous
will have been verb+ing
Use:
stress that a future perfect action is continuous
eg. By the end of May we’ll have been living here for three years.
