EF5/6 Verb tenses

Verb tenses- 12, not all useful

Figure out most important ones, high frequency

low frequency- forget them

SIMPLE TENSES ARE ALL HIGH FREQUENCY:

SIMPLE PRESENT
XXXXXXXXXX
everyday, always, usually, never changes, habitual action, habit, routine
"She drinks coffee."

We use simple present all the time.

"I take a bath every night."
fact, truth
"He lives on Fraser Street."
"His sister comes from Korea."

"The sun rises in the east."

"She likes to go skiing."

Important!!!

SIMPLE PAST
one action already finished
"She watched a movie last night."
"John was go went to Japan for a vacation."
"Sarah drived drove to school at 8am."

SIMPLE FUTURE
one action in the future
"will" "be going to" - modals
will + to call
"She will call her sister later today."

"I/You/He/We/They will walk the dog."

modals never change

"I will walk with my son."


PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
CONTINUOUS
"ing"
"We are studying English."
"We studying English." XXX

PAST PROGRESSIVE
"I was working last night."
"Her son was playing computer games until 9PM."
A time indicator helps to make your sentence more meaningful.


FUTURE PROGRESSIVE
"She will be working tomorrow night."
"She will work tomorrow night."

working- more action, focus on the verb, very active, focussing on the action

"I will drive to Surrey tonight."

"I will be driving to Surrey tonight."

"I will help my son do his math homework."

"I will be helping my son do his math homework."

"Sarah will call her sister tonight."

"Sarah will be calling her sister tonight."

"Sarah will talk to her sister tonight."

"Sarah will be talking to her sister tonight."

PRESENT PERFECT

very important, little confusing

started in the past- continues to now

"May has lived in Vancouver for three years."

"Joe has studied French since he was a teenager."

"Sarah and Joan have known each other for ten years."

Very important!!!

 

PAST PERFECT

Nobody uses it!

"She had lived in Vancouver for five years."

"May had studied French for three months when she was a teenager."

"She had lived in Vancouver for five years."

English speakers use simple past as a substitute + a time indicator

"I had visited Hawaii for three weeks."

"I visited Hawaii for three weeks."

"I had visited Hawaii last July for three weeks."

Past perfect- forget about it! Not important.

Use simple past instead- much more natural sounding

FUTURE PERFECT

XXXXX

"He will have finished his work at 7 o'clock."

"He will finish his work at 7 o'clock."

Use simple future.

"Her plane will have arrived by midnight."

"Her plane will arrive by midnight."

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

"She has lived in Vancouver for three years."

"She has been living in Vancouver for three years."

"ing"- focusses on the action of the verb

"He has been speaking to the manager for 30 minutes."

"She has been waiting for the bus for 25 minutes."

"I have been texting my teenager since 11 o'clock."

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

XXXX NONO NO

"She had been living in Vancouver for ten years."

"She was living in Vancouver for ten years."

Use past progressive instead.

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

"He will have been driving for six hours by the time he gets to Phoenix." XXXXXXXX NO NO

"It will take him six hours to drive to Phoenix."