Thursday, 23 May 2013

EF 2/3 Most Common Verb Tenses


VERB TENSES

simple present- habitual action, usually do, regularly, normally
HIGH FREQUENCY
“We go to school every morning.”
“He drinks coffee.”
“She skis.”
“She lives in Vancouver.”

present progressive- action happening right now
HIGH FREQUENCY
“I am answering a question.”
needs helping verb, auxiliary verb

simple past- one event in past, finished
HIGH FREQUENCY
“We did/ wrote a test.”
“I played soccer with my son.”

past progressive-  action happening in the past
HIGH FREQUENCY
“I was answering a question.”
“She was watching a movie last night.”
needs helping verb, auxiliary verb

simple future- one event in the future
HIGH FREQUENCY
“will”- modal
“He will eat lunch after school.”
“She will pick up the kids at 3.”

future progressive- action happening in the future
LOWER FREQUENCY
“I will be driving to Burnaby tonight.”
needs helping verb, auxiliary verb
REPLACE “I will drive to Burnaby tonight.”

present perfect- started in the past until now
HIGH FREQUENCY
“I have lived in Vancouver for 10 years.”

present perfect progressive- action started in the past until now
HIGH FREQUENCY
“I have been living in Vancouver for 10 years.”
“She has been training for a 5k race.”

past perfect- event started in the past, finished in the past
LOW FREQUENCY
“She had lived in Japan for six years.”
REPLACE with simple past “She lived in Japan for six years.”

past perfect progressive- action started in the past, finished in the past
VERY LOW FREQUENCY
“She had been living in Japan for six years.”


future perfect- event will start in the future, will finish in the future
VERY VERY LOW FREQUENCY
“She will have finished making supper by 6 o’clock.”

future perfect progressive - action will start in the future, will finish in the future
VERY VERY VERY LOW FREQUENCY
“She will have been making supper for 40 minutes by 6 o’clock.”

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