EF3/4 Verb Tenses

SIMPLE PRESENT
usual actions, everyday actions, habitual actions
"Sarah drinks coffee first thing in the morning."
"I ride my bicycle to work as often as I can."
"I take the bus to school."
"Michelle lives in Burnaby."
"The Earth is a sphere." sphere=ball
"The sun rises in the East."
"The summer is hot."

SIMPLE PAST
an action from the past, finished
"Micheal watched a movie about dogs last night."
"I did homework yesterday."
"I went to sleep at midnight."
"I went to work yesterday."
"Michelle visited her grandmother in the hospital last week."

SIMPLE FUTURE
an action that will happen "will"
"I will go shopping after school."
"I will meet my friend in the afternoon."
"Jon will go to a dance party that starts at midnight."

"shall" - very formal, not used often
"Shall we take our break?"
"Shall we ....?"
"Shall we leave?"
"I shall ..." XXX

"I will be ADJ." ADJECTIVE
"I will be late."
"She will be tired."
"The new phone will be expensive."

"I will go to the party." VERB
"She will call her sister tonight."

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
               PRESENT CONTINUOUS
'ing' verb
"She is talking to her mother."
"We are studying English in the class."
two verbs - is talking, are studying
"My dog is sleeping on the floor."
"The water is boiling."
"It is raining."
"We are playing football today."
"We play football every week."

PAST PROGRESSIVE

past tense 'ing' verb

"Last night, I was watching a movie. Then a man started shouting out on the sidewalk."

"Last night, I watched a movie."

"Sarah was driving to Surrey. She ran out of gas on the highway." -in the middle of the action

DIFFERENT THAN "Sarah drove to Surrey."

-finished, completed action

"I ran was running around the park last night. I saw a pack of coyotes." -in the middle of the action

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE

will be VERBing

"Sarah will be working tonight."

"I will be driving to Surrey tomorrow."

NOT AS COMMON

"I will drive to Surrey tomorrow." USUAL

"Michelle will be cooking supper for her family." NOT COMMON

"Michelle will cook supper for her family." MORE USUAL

PRESENT PERFECT

started in past, continues until now

"Gladys has lived in BC for 10 years."

"Gladys has lived in BC since 2009."

"Joan has studied karate since 1997."

present     past      participle 

go            went     gone-participle

study       studied  studied

live          lived     lived

"The kids have eaten all of the ice cream."

eat             ate              eaten

"Maria has driven cars/ a car for 20 years."

"Sheila has taught Grade 1 for two years."

teach      taught      taught

"I have lived in New Westminster for three years."

"Connie has been married for 48 years."

PAST PERFECT

started in the past, finished in the past

"Connie had lived in Japan from 1994 to 1996."

NOT USEFUL- substitute simple past

"Connie lived in Japan from 1994 to 1996." NATURAL ENGLISH

FUTURE PERFECT

Sarah will have lived in Vancouver for 20 years by the time she retires." NEVER USE IT

VERY UNCOMMON, NOT USEFUL

SUBSTITUTE simple future

Sarah will have lived will live in Vancouver for 20 years by the time she retires."

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

progressive 'ing' verb

"Maria has been living in New Westminster for three years."

VERY SIMILAR

present perfect

lived -participle

"Maria has lived in New Westminster for three years."

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

"Michelle had been living in Japan."

SUBSTITUTE past progressive

"Michelle was living in Japan."

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

"Dave will have been working for 30 years by the time his kids graduate from high school."

SUBSTITUTE future progressive

"Dave will be working for 30 years by the time his kids graduate from high school."