PRESENT TENSES

A

Permanent or regular actions and situations:                             PRESENT SIMPLE

            I always have to cups of coffee for breakfast.

            Where do you live? (=What is your permanent address?)

            After lunch I sometimes have a cup of coffee.

            I never …………………………………                             

            Every evening I ……………………………                       

Temporary, developing or changing actions and situations:     PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

I am trying to concentrate, so please don’t interrupt.

            Where are you living? (=What is your temporary address?)

            At the moment I …………………………………………               (write this exercise)

            I ……………………….. my first private English course.               (take)

Actions or situations begun in the past and still true now or continuing now:

                                                                                                          PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

            Someone has eaten all the cakes.

            I’ve never smoked a cigar in my life.

            We ………………………. hours on this unit so far.                                   (spend, two)

            We’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.                               PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

            What have you been doing since we last met?

            I ……………….. English for ………..years.                                               (learn, five)

G Remember that FOR is used with a period of time and SINCE is used with a point of time: for two years, for a long time, for a few minutes, for the last three days, since 1988, since yesterday, since lunchtime

B

Some verbs (STATIVE VERBS) are not normally used in the progressive form, because they usually refer to permanent states or situations:

How much does it costs?  �                    NOT: How much is costing? N

She has owned a car for two years.            �         NOT: She has been owning a car…N

!Write a sentence using each of these stative verbs in NEGATIVE sentences.

believe, contain, cost, deserve, fit, know, like, look like, love, matter, owe, realise, remember, seem, smell, suit, understand

Example:         I used to believe that shopping was fun, but now I don’t believe that anymore.

                        This yoghurt doesn’t contain any sugar.

C

Decide which adverbs from the list below fit into the gaps in these sentences.

1                    She’s looking for a new summer outfit in Harrods ……………

2                    He ……….. buys his clothes at Harrods.

3                    He goes shopping……………….. .

4                    She has been feeling unwell ………………

all day                         always                         once in a while                                   usually

at the moment            generally                     today                                      frequently

from time to time        often                           for a week                               now

occasionally                this morning                never                                      since Tuesday

sometimes                   for a long time            every week                             hardly ever

rarely

D

Six of these sentences contain errors and two are correct. Find the errors and correct them.

1                    This packet is containing 500 grams of coffee. ð contains.

2                     At the moment I read a fascinating book.

3                    I’m sometimes buying clothes in the market.

4                    I’ve been waiting for them to arrive since 12 o’clock.

5                    My mother prefer to buy clothes in the market.

6                    I am waiting since 9 o’clock.

7                    This CD is costing 2900 Ft.-

8                    How are you feeling today? Better I hope!

THE PAST

A

The SIMPLE PAST is the tense most commonly used to refer to events that happened in the past:

            The Second World War started in 1939.

I went to the cinema last week.                                                        GO

            I …….. a film about animals on TV last Wednesday evening.          SEE

            In 1988 I …………….. my summer holiday in ………………..      SPEND

The PAST PROGRESSIVE is used to refer to simultaneous events or activities that continued or were interrupted:

            We were lying in the sun while she was revising for her exams.

            At 7.45 last night it was still raining.

            We ………….cards when the light went out.                                               PLAY

            As the sun ………………… we decided to go for a drive.              SHINE

            While you …………….. the bus, we walked all the way here.         WAIT

USED TO emphasises that the activity no longer takes place:

            He used to smoke twenty cigarettes a day (but not now).

            Before the war, more people ……………. on the land                    WORK

            When I was a child, we ………………. a dog.                                 HAVE

The PAST PEFECT is normally used to emphasise that one past event happened before another:

            Before we got our car, we had never had a pet in our family.

            It rained all day but I ………….. to pack my umbrella.                               FORGOT

            After I ……………the book, I made some notes on it.                               READ

            They were still friends even though they ………… apart for ten yeas.        BE

The PRESENT PERFECT is only used to refer to the past:

            - when no definite time in the past is given or known, or

- when the activity began in the past and has not yet finished.

It is often used with: just, already, never, yet

            He has seen that film three times. Have you done your homework?

            We …..already ………. two units in this book.                                            STUDY

            She …………five phone calls since lunchtime.                                           MAKE

            …..you ……..Britain?                                                                                              VISIT

G Remember that PRESENT PERFECT is NOT used to refer to a definite time in the past and is NOT normally used after When..?

It is not used with: last week, in July, on Wednesday, a few minutes ago, etc.

I saw that film last week.�                NOT: I have seen that film last week. N

We did this exercise on Monday. �   NOT: We have done this exercise on Monday. N

When did you go there? �                 NOT: When have you gone there? N

B

Find and correct the mistakes in these sentences.

The weather were lovely yesterday. ð was

I have gone to the zoo last weekend.

When have you left school?

Where you went on holiday last summer?

She has been born in 1975.

Our family is used to live in a  smaller flat when I am younger.

Our broken window wasn’t mended yet.

The rain started during they played tennis.

THE FUTURE

A

PREDICTIONS + GENERAL FUTURE                 will/will be doing/will have done

            In the future the Earth will be hotter- I expect it will rail tomorrow.

            By the end of this year I’ll have taken my exam.

While I’m studying, my younger sister will be enjoying herself.

            I’m sure the weather ……………………towards the end of the week.       BE SUNNY

            She is very clever, so I expect that she ………….her exams next summer.  PASS

            If you don’t hurry up, the bus ……………before we get to the bus stop.    GO

G Remember that will and ‘ll are NOT normally used in a clause following a time conjunction: when, if, until, before, after, while, by the time

            If you do your work tonight, you’ll be able to go out tomorrow.

            We’ll tidy up our rooms before she arrives.

            After he has done the housework, he’ll have to start cooking the dinner.

            If you write down, you’ll find it easier to remember the new words.

            When my friend arrives, I’ll tell her all about my plans.

            By the time our guests arrive, all the food will have been eaten.

The short form ‘ll is normally used after pronouns:

            I’ll do it.          It’ll rain tomorrow.

But in writing, or for emphasis, the full form is often used:

            I WILL do it.     It WILL rain tomorrow.