Tenses in english

Present
Present simple
Present continuous

Present simple
FORM
He works
Question:
Does he work?
Negative:
He does not (doesn’t) work

Present Simple
Functions:
To talk about things in general:
Nurses look after patients in hospitals
To say how often we do things:
I get up at 7 o’clock every morning
In summer John plays tennis once a week.

Present simple:
Verbs not normally used in continuous tenses: like, love, hate, want, need, prefer, realise, suppose, mean, understand, believe, remember, belong, contain, consist, depend, seem
Do you understand what I mean?

Present continuous
FORM
Present of the verb to be + -ing
He is reading
Question
Is he reading?
Negative
He is not reading

Present continuous:
FUNCTIONS
Action happening at the time of speaking:
Let’s go now. It isn’t raining any more.
Action happening in a period around the time of speaking:
Is Susan working this week?
Is your English getting better?

Past
Past simple
Past continuous

Past simple
FORMS
I went out yesterday.
Question:
Did you go out yesterday?
Negative:
I did not (didn’t) go out yesterday.

Past simple
FUNCTIONS
Action completed in the past:
Mozart wrote more than 600 pieces of music

Past continuous
Was/were + ing
She was reading
Question
Was she reading?
Negative
She was not (wasn’t) reading.

Past continuous
FUNCTIONS
Limited duration
This time last year I was living in Brazil
Action which was interrupted by another action in the past
I was watching TV when the phone rang.

Present perfect
FORM
Have + -ed
I have finished.
Question:
Have you finished?
Negative
I have not (haven’t) finished.

Present perfect
FUNCTION
Action in the past has a result now:
I’ve lost my key.
Action started in the past and continued until now:
I have lived here for 15 years.

Present perfect
Just, already:
I have just arrived. He’s already gone.
Yet (questions, negatives)
Has it stopped raining yet?
I haven’t posted it yet.

Present perfect
Today; This morning/afternoon/evening (year, month, week)
I’ve seen him today
Have you been there this year?

Present perfect continuous
FORM
Have + been + -ing
He has been waiting
Question
Has he been waiting?
Negative
He has not (hasn’t) been waiting

Present perfect continuous
Activity that has recently stopped or just stopped
It has been raining. (The ground is wet)
Activity is still happening
It has been raining for two hours.

Present perfect continuous vs. Present perfect simple
Present perfect continuous: focus on activity
My hands are very dirty. I’ve been repairing the car.
Present perfect simple: focus on result.
My car is o.k. now. I’ve repaired it.

Past perfect
FORM:
HAD + -ED (Past participle)
I didn’t know who she was. I had never seen her before.

Past perfect
FUNCTION
Action which happened before another action in the past
When Sarah arrived, Paul wasn’t there. He had gone home.

A great deal of care____(need, passive) to get insight into one’s real needs and ensure that the second spouse____(not choose, passive) on the basis of needs which_____(repeat, future) the difficulties of the first.

EXERCISE
Use the past tense forms to complete the sentences
Accuse, acquit, arrest, award, confess, charge, drop, engage, fine, grant, imprison, plead, release, seize, serve

Accuse, acquit, arrest, award, confess, charge, drop, engage, fine, grant, imprison, plead, release, seize, serve
1. After six hours of questioning the accused man _____.
2. The government____an amnesty to all political prisoners.
3. Her boss ____her of stealing $250.
4. The secret police_____him for six months in a high security jail.

Accuse, acquit, arrest, award, confess, charge, drop, engage, fine, grant, imprison, plead, release, seize, serve
5. We ___the best commercial lawyer we could find to represent us but we still lost the case.
6. The prisoner ___guilty to all charges.
7. On 12 August they ___with murder.
8. The policeman stopped the car and___the driver.

Accuse, acquit, arrest, award, confess, charge, drop, engage, fine, grant, imprison, plead, release, seize, serve
9. The president ___ the opposition leader from prison.
10. The court ___him $2,500 for obtaining money by false pretences.
11. After consideration, the palintiff ____the case against his neighbour.
12. The customs____the shipment of books.

Accuse, acquit, arrest, award, confess, charge, drop, engage, fine, grant, imprison, plead, release, seize, serve
13. He ____ six months in a local prison.
14. The court ___the plaintiff $75 in damage plus costs.
15. Two of the men were sent to prison, but the judge____the third.

Key
1. confessed 2 granted, 3 accused, 4. imprisoned, 5 engaged, 6 pleaded, 7 charged, 8 arrested, 9 released, 10 fined, 11 dropped, 12 seized, 13 served, 14. awarded, 15 acquitted

Advise, appeal, commit, disclaim, disclose, embezzle, establish, follow, impose, legislate, manipulate, offer, preclude, prevent, value
1. He___all knowledge of the robbery until $250,000 in cash was found in his house.
2- He is___us $100,000 for the house, which is $10,000 less than we wanted.
3. He says he’s innocent and he’s going to_____to the supreme court against the decision.
4. He was sent to prison for six months for___his clients’ money.

Advise, appeal, commit, disclaim, disclose, embezzle, establish, follow, impose, legislate, manipulate, offer, preclude, prevent, value
5. I believe that they are ___the accounts to make the company look more profitable.
6. In my opinion they’ll ___the business at about $2m
7. Our solicitor has___to take the documents to the police.
8. Parliament has___against the sale of drugs.
9. The bank has no right to____details of my account to the tax office.

Advise, appeal, commit, disclaim, disclose, embezzle, establish, follow, impose, legislate, manipulate, offer, preclude, prevent, value
10. The business was___in 1881.
11.The court has___the precedent set in the 1972 case.
12. The magistrate____a fine of $150.
13. The gang had___six robberies before they were caught.

Advise, appeal, commit, disclaim, disclose, embezzle, establish, follow, impose, legislate, manipulate, offer, preclude, prevent, value
14. They have changed the locks on the building to____the former managing director from going in.
15. This agreement does not____further agreements between these parties in the future.

Key
. Disclaimed 2. offering 3. appeal 4. embezzling 5 manipulating 6. value 7. advised 8. legislated 9. disclose 10. established 11. followed 12. imposed 13. committed 14. prevent 15. preclude

Arrange, blackmail, convict, corroborate, exonerate, find, forfeit, infringe, overturn,prohibit, promise, recover, refrain, sentence, sue
1. He was asked to give an undertaking to___from political activity.
2. My client intends to appeal and I am sure that a higher court will___this sentence.
3. I can___Mr Waterman’s alibi. At the time of the theft I saw him in Brighton.
4. The judge ___him to three years’imprisonment.

Arrange, blackmail, convict, corroborate, exonerate, find, forfeit, infringe, overturn,prohibit, promise, recover, refrain, sentence, sue
5. After the accident he___the company for $50,000 in damages.
6. She was____of manslaughter and sent to prison for eight years.
7. If you decide not to buy you will___your 25% deposit.
8. The court has____him guilty on all charges.

Arrange, blackmail, convict, corroborate, exonerate, find, forfeit, infringe, overturn,prohibit, promise, recover, refrain, sentence, sue
9. We believe that this production____our copyright as detailed below.
10. The company went out of business and the original investment was never___.
11. We discovered that his secretary was___him with certain details about his private life.
12. You___to pay by August and it’s now September. What’s your explanation?

Arrange, blackmail, convict, corroborate, exonerate, find, forfeit, infringe, overturn,prohibit, promise, recover, refrain, sentence, sue
13. The law ___the sale of alcohol to minors.
14. All the files are___in alphabetical order, so it’s very easy to find.
15. The judge____the driver from all responsibility for the accident.