07th April 2011

Present Tenses

1)    Simple Present Tense

  
  Ø  How do we make the Simple Present Tense? 

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		do		base

Ø  There are three important exceptions:

§   For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.

§   For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.

§   For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

Ø  Examples with the main verb like :

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I, you, we, they			like	coffee.
	He, she, it			likes	coffee.
-	I, you, we, they	do	not	like	coffee.
	He, she, it	does	not	like	coffee.
?	Do	I, you, we, they		like	coffee?
	Does	he, she, it		like	coffee?

Øexamples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary :

	subject	main verb
+	I	am		French.
	You, we, they	are		French.
	He, she, it	is		French.
-	I	am	not	old.
	You, we, they	are	not	old.
	He, she, it	is	not	old.
?	Am	I		late?
	Are	you, we, they		late?
	Is	he, she, it		late?

Ø  How do we use the Simple Present Tense?
  o    We use the simple present tense when :

·         the action is general

·         the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future

·         the action is not only happening now

·         the statement is always true

Ø  Examples:

·       I live in New York.

·       The Moon goes round the Earth.

·       John drives a taxi.

·       He does not drive a bus.

·       We meet every Thursday.

·       We do not work at night.

·       Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that are not general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. 

2)    Present Continuous Tense

Ø  Used for situations, activities, or actions happening over a period of time in the present.

Ø  These happenings are true at the moment of speaking. 

Ø  Present continuous use

Uses	Examples
Actions that are happening now	What are you doing? We are watching a horror film
Actions that are happening at present, but not necessarily  at this moment	I'm studying French at the Escuela de Idiomas this year.
Future arrangements	Sarah and I are having  a birthday party together next weekend
Habitual actions with a negative sense	My little brother is always crying

Past Tenses

1)    Simple Past Tense

Ø  Used to describe situations, activities, or actions which happened and ended in the past.

Ø  Most verb end with either ‘-d’, ‘-ed’, or ‘-ied’ but irregular ones either do not changes forms or have different forms altogether.

Ø  Simple past form

ü Regular verbs: base + ed

·         Examples: walked, showed, watched, played, smiled, stopped

ü Irregular verbs

Ø  Simple Past: be, have, do:

Subject	Verb
	Be	Have	Do
I	was	had	did
You	were	had	did
He, she, it	was	had	did
We	were	had	did
You	were	had	did
They	were	had	did

2) Past Continuous Tenses

Ø  Shows situations, activities, or actions that happened over a period of time in the past.

Ø  Past continuous use

Uses	Examples
Actions in the past that take place at a particular time	What were you doing last evening at 8:45?
With the Past Simple to refer to a long action that is interrupted by a shorter one. ("When" or "While" are the habitual conjunctions)	We were talking about our last holidays when the boss came into the office and got angry
Two actions developing at the same time in the past ("While" is the habitual conjunction)	While my boss was talking to me, I was dreaming of my last holidays in Paris.