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English tenses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9S70oJAivI

Overview

  • Simple
    • Present Simple: I work
    • Past Simple: I worked
    • Future Simple: I will work
  • Continuous
    • Present Continuous: I am working
    • Past Continuous: I was working
    • Future Continuous: I will be working
  • Perfect
    • Present Perfect: I have worked
    • Past Perfect: I had worked
    • Future Perfet: I will have worked
  • Pefect Continuous
    • Present Perfect Continuous: I have been working
    • Past Perfect Continuous: I had been working
    • Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been working

All 12 refer to a reference time in the Present, Past or Future.

Present simple

  • Happens en general o permanent way
  • Use cases:
    • Permanent: I live in Barcelona
    • Facts: Sun raises in the east
    • Routines: I wake at 9 o'clock
    • Schedules: The train leaves at noon
    • Frequency: I always do that. (never, rarely, sometimes, often, always)

Construction:

  • Positive:
    • I/You/We/They work
    • He/She/It works
  • Stressed Positive:
    • I/You/We/They do work
    • He/She/It does work
  • Negative:
    • I/You/We/They do/don't not work
    • He/She/It does not/doesn't work
  • Question:
    • Do I/you/we/they work?
    • Does he/she/it work?
  • W questions?
    • Just put the W word before the question formula
    • What..., where..., why..., when..., How..., How often..., How much...

Singular third person inflection:

  • Most verbs just add an 's'
  • Verbs ending with 's', 'sh', 'ch', 'x' add 'es'
    • kisses, washes, teaches, fixes
  • Verbs ending with consonant + 'y' substitute it by 'ies'
    • fry -> fries
    • try -> tries
    • study -> studies
    • but if there no is a consonant:
      • enjoys, not enjoies
      • destroys, not destroies
      • plays -> plaies
  • Special:
    • go -> goes
    • do -> does
    • have -> has

Short answers to yes/no questions

  • Yes, I/you/we/they do
  • Yes, she/he/it does
  • No, I/you/we/they don't
  • No, she/he/it doesn't

Negative short answer always contracted.

Common mistakes:

  • Confusing Present Continuous with Present Simple
    • I live in Tokio (permanently) vs I am living in Tokio (for a short time)
    • I play football (usually) vs I am playing football (right now)
  • Missuse third person inflection
    • They likes apples (using it when it should not be used)
    • He like apples (not using it when it should be used)
  • Spelling third person inflection
    • He trys -> He tries
    • It caths -> It catches
  • Skipping auxiliar in questions:
    • What time you finish work? -> What time do you finish work

Present Continuous

Used for things that happen temporary or

Use cases:

  • Now: The baby is sleeping
  • Arround now: I am writting a book
  • Temporary: We are staying at a hotel
  • Trend: Prices are rising
  • Repeated bad: They are always making noise
  • Future plan: She is flying to Mexico next week

Anti-use cases:

  • Permanent: I am living in Canada (if I always live in Canada)
  • Stative verbs: Not actions but a condition/state
    • need, want, understand, know, like....
    • I am understanding -> I understand
    • She is liking the show -> She likes
    • They are having a card -> They have a card
    • I am hating sprawns -> I hate sprawns

Construction: Subject + to be + gerund (ing)

  • Positive:
    • I am working
    • You/We/They are working
    • She/He/It is working
  • Negative
    • I am not working
    • You/We/They are not working
    • She/He/It is not working
  • Questions:
    • Am I working?
    • Are you/we/they working?
    • Is she/he/it working?
  • W words, just prepend to the question form
    • Where is she working?
    • How much are you working?
    • Why am I working?

Contracted forms:

  • Positive
    • I'm working
    • You/We/They're working
    • She/He/It's working
  • Negative
    • I'm not working
    • You/We/They aren't working
    • You/We/They're not working
    • She/He/It isn't working
    • She/He/It's not working

Spelling for the gerund

  • For most just add "-ing"
  • Verbs ending in mute '-e', just drop the 'e'
    • take -> taking, use -> using, cope -> coping
  • Verbs ending in -ie, drop -ie -> -ying
    • lie -> lying, tie -> tying
  • Verbs ending in consonant-vowel-consonant, double the last consonant
    • clap -> clapping
    • sit -> sitting
    • begin -> beginning
    • get -> getting
    • control -> controlling
    • hug -> hugging
    • Not always apply

Short answers:

  • Yes, I am (no contraction!)
  • Yes, you/we/they are (no contraction!)
  • Yes, she/he/it is (no contraction!)
  • No, I'm not
  • No, you/we/they aren't
  • No, she/he/it isn't

Common mistakes:

  • Missing 'to be' verb
    • My brother watching TV -> My brother is watching TV
    • John not helping -> John is not helping
    • She going? -> Is she going?
  • Incorrect form of to be
    • Bob and Maria is driving home -> Bob and Maria are driving home
    • He ain't studying (ain't is slang) -> He isn't studying
  • Not inflecting gerunds
    • He is study in his room -> He is studying in his room
  • Gerund spelling
    • lieing -> lying
    • siting -> sitting
    • writeing -> writing
  • Stative verbs
    • I am needing some water -> I need some water
  • Permanent situations
    • The company is manifacturing cars -> The company manufactures cars

Contrast phrases between simple and continuous

  • I live in this building (permanent) vs I am staying at this hotel (temporary)
  • He plays the guitar (general/stative) vs He is playing the guitar (now)
  • We watch news at 9:00pm (routine) vs We are watching the news (now)
  • The sun sets on the west (fact) vs The sun is setting (now)
  • The price rises every year (general) vs The price is rising this year (trend)
  • She always takes the bus (habit) vs She is always complaining about the bus (negative habit)
  • The flight leaves at 7:00 tomorro (future) vs The flight is leaving at 7:00 tomorrow (future) (Both are correct and mean the same!)
  • What are you doing? (right now) vs What do you do? (what your profession is)

Past Simple

General form: Subject + participle (verb+ed)

Use case: Something that started and ended in the past

  • Positive
    • (I/You/She/He/It/We/They) worked
  • Negative
    • (I/You/She/He/It/We/They) did not work
    • (I/You/She/He/It/We/They) didn't work
  • Questions:
    • (When/Where/Why...) Did I/you/she/he/it/we/they work?
  • The participle goes to the auxiliary: do -> did

Combining many verbs with a single subject

  • I played games, ran a lot, and enjoyed so much.

The e in -ed is not pronunced just the 'd'

Regular verbs:

  • Most just -ed
  • Mute e at the end just removed
    • bake -> baked
    • use -> used
  • Ending in -y -> -ied
    • study -> studied
  • consonant - vowel - consonant -> double the last consonant
    • stop -> stopped
    • plan -> planned

Pronounciation:

  • After unvoiced consonants ed is pronounced |t|, like in cooked, hoped, missed...
  • After voiced consonants ed is pronounced |d|, like in learned, charged, played...
  • After t and d: the e is pronunced |it| like in wanted, needed, invited, started, ended... (entre i i e)

Irregular verbs

Common mistakes:

  • Not changing the verb
    • I come back yesterday -> I came back yesterday
  • Apply the past form to the verb in negative and questions
    • Did you cooked that? -> Did you cook that?
    • I didn't came yesterday -> I didn't come yesterday
  • Spelling
    • Then it stoped raining -> Then it stopped raining
  • Missing auxiliary
    • You wake up early? -> Did you wake up early?

Past Continuous

Use: When an action in the past went on for some time

  • Continuous during a period of the past: Sarah was studying all day
  • Continuous during a moment of the past: I was sleeping at 11h
  • Continuous when interrupted: We were playing soccer when he arrived
  • Planned action in the past: I was planning to call John but lose the phone
  • Polite request: I was wondering if you could help me

Anti-use:

  • Not with stative verbs

Contrast with Past Simple

  • I went to work at 9pm (puntual) vs I was working the whole day (elonged time)

Construction:

  • Positive:
    • I/She/He/It was working
    • We/You/They were working
  • Negative:
    • I/She/He/It was not working
    • I/She/He/It wasn't working
    • We/You/They were not working
    • We/You/They weren't working
  • Questions:
    • (W) Was i/she/he/it working
    • (W) Were we/you/they working
  • Short Answers
    • Yes, i/she/he/it was
    • Yes, we/you/they were
    • No, i/she/he/it wasn't
    • No, we/you/they weren't
    • No, i/she/he/it was not ???
    • No, we/you/they were not ???

Common mistakes:

  • Wrong tense
    • I am studying when you called -> I was studying when your called
  • Wrong to-be form
    • We was relaxing -> We were relaxing
  • Spelling
    • She was bakeing -> She was baking
  • Auxiliary order
    • When you were going to call? -> When were you going to call?
  • Auxiliary missing
    • You waiting a long time? -> Were you waiting a long time?
  • Stative verbs:
    • I was believing you -> I believed you

Simple Future

  • Formal: will
  • Informal
    • Unplanned: will
      • Ok, then, I will meet him tomorrow
    • Planned: other forms
      • i am going to meet him tomorrow
      • i am meeting him tommorrow

Uses:

  • Formal: the ceremony will begin at 10pm
  • Planned: The doctor will see you at 3pm
  • Bussiness plans: Acme will open a new factory
  • Predictions: Earth will rise temperatures
  • Informal: I'll call you later (notice contraction)
  • Unplanned (unformally): I'll give you a ride
  • Ordering food: I'll have some human flesh with tomatoes
  • Promises: I'll return you book tomorrow
  • Offering: I'll help you nailing those
  • Possibility: Maybe I'll take a break and watch some episodes.

Construct

  • Postive:
    • I/You/She/He/It/We/They will work (formal)
    • I/You/She/He/It/We/They'll work (informal)
  • Negative
    • I/You/She/He/It/We/They will not work (formal)
    • I/You/She/He/It/We/They won't work (informal)
  • Question
    • (W) Will I/you/she/he/it/we/they work?
  • Short answers
    • Yes, I/you/she/he/it/we/they will (no contractions, never)
    • No, I/you/she/he/it/we/they won't (informal)
    • No, I/you/she/he/it/we/they will not (formal)

Common phrasal: I (don't) think/believe/suppose/imagine... + future tense

About shall:

  • Shall is the form of will for for plural and singular first person (I and we)
  • Is an English (metropoli) thing, and sounds too formal and old-fashioned most of the time.
  • Is used just for polite questions and metropoli (english) people.
    • Shall I order?
    • Shall we dance?

Common mistakes:

  • Missing auxiliary
    • They meet you at the hotel -> They will meet you at the hotel
  • Missing apostroph
    • Well be home soon -> We'll be home soon (Well is another word)
  • Spell mistake
    • The kids want go to sleep -> The kids won't go to sleep
  • Conditional sentences (the if part of the sentece cannot be future)
    • If I will visit Greece I will visit you -> If I visit Greece, i will visit you
    • I will visit you If I will visit Greece -> i will visit you, If I visit Greece
    • Not just with "If", any conditional word 'when', 'as soon as', 'before', 'after'
      • As soon as I will arrive Greece I will visit you -> As soon as I arrive Greece I will visit you

Other futures

Used when is a plan and informal.

Because they are informal forms, contracted form is always used.

  • Phrasal going to: I am going to visit my family on Sunday
  • Present Continuous + future time marker: I'm visiting my family on Sunday

Uses:

  • Arrangements: We're going to meet at the hall
  • Intentions: I'm going to exercise every day
  • Preditions: It's going to rain tomorrow
  • Planned events: We're flying to Lisbon on July. They're having a party on Saturday night

Construct

  • Positive:
    • I'm/You're/We're/They're/She's/He's/It's going to work
  • Negative
    • I'm/You're/We're/They're/She's/He's/It's not going to work
    • You/We/They're not going to work
    • You/We/They aren't going to work
    • She/He/It's not going to work
    • She/He/It isn't going to work
  • Question:
    • (W) Are you/they/we going to work?
    • (W) Am I going to work?
    • (W) Is she/he/it going to work? Short answers
    • Yes, I am (no contraction!)
    • Yes, you/we/they are (no contraction!)
    • Yes, she/he/it is (no contraction!)
    • No, I'm not
    • No, you/we/they aren't
    • No, you/we/they're not
    • No, she/he/it isn't
    • No, she/he/it's not

Present Continuous for future

  • Positive:
    • I'm/You're/We're/They're/She's/He's/It's working next week
  • Negative
    • I'm/You're/We're/They're/She's/He's/It's not working next week
    • You/We/They aren't working next week
    • She/He/It isn't working next week
  • Question:
    • (W) Are you/they/we working next week?
    • (W) Am I working next week?
    • (W) Is she/he/it working next week?
  • Short answers
    • Yes, I am (no contraction!)
    • Yes, you/we/they are (no contraction!)
    • Yes, she/he/it is (no contraction!)
    • No, I'm not
    • No, you/we/they aren't
    • No, you/we/they're not
    • No, she/he/it isn't
    • No, she/he/it's not

Common mistakes

  • Word order:
    • When they are arriving? -> When are they arriving?
  • Missing going to
    • They bring the drinks tomorrow -> They are going to bring the drinks tomorrow
  • Missing to-be
    • She going to be happy -> She is going to be happy
  • Spelling
    • Your going to be late -> You're going to be late
  • Slang
    • She's gonna call you later -> She's going to call you later
  • Missing time marker
    • Donna is driving to Florida -> Donna is driving to Florida tomorrow

Contrast: Will vs Going to

  • I'm going to call Jim at 9pm (Planned) vs Ok, I'll call him in 5 minutes (Unplanned)
  • We're going to visit Spain next month (Certain) vs We'll probably visit Spain next month (Uncertain)
  • I'm going to have lunch at noon (Already decided) vs I think i'll have lunch now (Just decided)
  • He's going to get the test results today (Certain) vs I believe he'll pass the test (Possible)
  • Forecast says it's going to snow tomorrow (Prediction) vs Forecast says it'll snow tomorrow (Prediction) (Both valid)

Future Continuous

Use: Something that happens in the future that continues for som time

Construction:

  • Positive
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It will be working
  • Negative
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It will not be working
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It won't be working
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It'll not be working ??? no lo menciona
  • Questions
    • (W) Will I/we/you/they/she/he/it be working?
  • Short answers
    • Yes, I/you/she/he/it/we/they will (no contractions, never)
    • No, I/you/she/he/it/we/they won't (always contracted)

Uses:

  • Continuous in the future:
    • Our team will be attending a conference from march 5th to 8th
  • Continue during a moment in the future:
    • At 2:30 i will be still taking my exam
  • Things happening at the same time
    • Tomorrow I will be teaching and he will be reading articles
  • Polite question
    • Will you be attending the dinner?

Time markers are often used.

Anti-uses:

  • stative verbs: Cannot be used with continuous

Common mistakes:

  • Tense
    • I can call at 8am as i will travel then -> ... as i will be travelling then
  • Contracted positive short answer
    • Yes, I'll -> Yes, I will
  • Question order
    • When they will fix be fixing the car? -> When will they be fixing the car?
  • stative verbs
  • Gerund inflexion spelling
    • swiming -> swimming, takeing -> taking

Present Perfect

Connects the present with the past: An action in the present affects the present

  • I lost my book (i might have it found later)
  • I have lost my book (it is still lost)

Construction:

  • Positive:
    • I/You/We/They have worked/gone
    • She/He/It has worked/gone
    • Contracted
      • I/You/We/They've worked/gone
      • She/He/It's worked/gone
  • Negative:
    • I/You/We/They have not worked/gone
    • She/He/It has not worked/gone
    • Contracted:
      • I/You/We/They haven't worked/gone
      • She/He/It hasn't worked/gone
  • Question
    • (W) Have I/you/we/they worked/gone?
    • (W) Has she/he/it worked/gone?
  • Short answers
    • Yes, I/we/you/they have (no contraction)
    • Yes, she/he/it has (no contraction)
    • No, I/we/you/they haven't (always contraction)
    • No, she/he/it hasn't (always contraction)

The contraction 's also is used with the verb to-be. We know from the context.

  • He's studying (gerund, so present continuous)
  • He's a doctor (predicate, so to be)
  • He's taken a taxi (past participle)

Uses:

  • Past true:
    • I have already seen the movie
  • Finished action
    • I have finished my homework
  • Ongoing past:
    • I have worked here for five yearsa
    • Have you ever beeing in Italy?
    • How long have you know each other
  • Recent past result
    • I have just eaten
    • I have just sent the email
  • Repeated past still ongoing:
    • I have shopped here for many years

Finished actions:

  • already
  • just

Acomplished until now:

  • yet (with negative)
  • never (with negative)
  • for period
  • since point in time

Anti-used:

  • Not with finished time periods (last week, on Monday)
    • You can use it with ongoing time periods (this week, your live, ever, since last week, for three months)
    • You can use it with no time expresion

Common mistakes:

  • Missing or bad irregular form
    • He have won the price -> He has won the price
    • She been to Paris -> She has been to Paris
  • Using past instead of participle
    • They have saw the movie -> the have seen the movie
  • Not inflecting verbs in question (past removed, perfect doesn't)
    • Have you ever fly in first class? -> Have you ever flown in first class?
  • Question for finished time
    • Did you ever eat there? -> Have you ever eaten there
    • When have you started you new job? -> Have you started your new job? When did you started your new job?
  • Finished time
    • We have visited them yesterday. -> We have visited them (without time marker) We visited them yesterday (in simple past)
  • Positive short answers with contractions
    • Yes I've -> Yes, I have
  • Negative short answers uncontracted ??? Esta me la he inventado
    • No, I have not -> No, I haven't

Contrast Present Perfect vs Past Simple

  • Connects past with present
    • I forgot (now i remember) vs I have forgotten (still forgot)
    • He lost his bag (no idea if he found later) vs He has lost his bag (still lost)
  • While the action is in the past, the focus is now (present perfect) or in the past (past simple)
    • she has eaten (so she is not eating again), she ate dinner (ok was in the past)
  • Definite time vs Indefinite time
    • I have visited NY (indefinite time) vs I visited NY in 2012 (concrete time)
  • Finished time vs unfinished time
    • She lived in London (from 2000 to 2010) vs She's lived in london since 2000/for 5 years
    • She didn't call me yesterday vs She haven't called me yet

  • When did you...? (puntual) vs How long have you...? (happening during a period)

    • get married vs been married
    • start this job vs had this job
    • move to Boston vs lived in Boston
    • meet Mary vs know Mary
    • join the university vs been in university

  • How long have you known John? vs When did you meet John?

Present Perfect Continuous

Connects the present with the past. An action started in the past and continuing in the pressent.

I have been working

Construction:

  • Positive:
    • I/You/We/They have been working
    • I/You/We/They've been working
    • She/He/It has been working
    • She/He/It's been working
  • Negative:
    • I/You/We/They have not been working
    • I/You/We/They haven't been working
    • She/He/It has not been working
    • She/He/It hasn't been working
  • Question:
    • (W) Have I/you/we/they been working?
    • Has she/he/it been working?
  • Short answers:
    • Yes, I/we/you/they have (no contraction)
    • Yes, she/he/it has (no contraction)
    • No, I/we/you/they haven't (always contraction)
    • No, she/he/it hasn't (always contraction)

Uses:

  • Started and continues
    • Sea levels have been rising
  • Started in the past but just finished
    • I have been calling you for hours
    • We have been waiting for you
  • Common expressions
    • I have been studying for three hours
    • I haeb been

Past Perfect

"The past of the past". Something happenend before some reference point also in the past.

  • The meeting started at 9:00
  • He arrived at 10:00
  • When he arrived, the meeting had started.

Construction

  • Positive:
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It had worked/gone
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It'd worked/gone
  • Negative
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It had not worked/gone
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It hadn't worked/gone
  • Question
    • (W) Had I/we/you/they/she/he/it worked/gone?
  • Short answers:
    • Yes, I/we/you/they/she/he/it had (always uncontracted)
    • No, I/we/you/they/she/he/it hadn't (usually contracted)
    • No, I/we/you/they/she/he/it had not (means you are serious)

The reference can be:

  • Another action in a past tense:
    • Before we moved
    • When i arrived
    • After we moved in
    • At the time i joined the company
  • A time marker in the past

Combining many verbs: we can optionally skip the subject and the auxiliary

  • By then, we had written a book, played tennis and ate appples

Common phrases

  • By then, we had already gone
  • By then, he had lived in NY since it was a child
  • By then, he had lived in NY for 8 years
  • By then, he hadn't heard about it yet
  • By then, he had never seen snow
  • By then, they had just had lunch (double had!)

The contraction 'd is shared with would. You can diferentiate them by the following tense.

  • I'd done -> I had done (the participle)
  • I'd do -> I would do (no participle)

Common mistakes

  • Using past instead participle
    • We had went to the mall -> We had gone to the mall
  • Participle spelling
    • How had planed the party -> Who had planned the party
  • Contractions
    • They had'nt been there before -> They hadn't been there before
  • Tense
    • When you arrived, he went out already -> When you arrived, he had already gone out

Past Perfect Continuous

Before a refference time in the past, something continuously hapenned

Uses:

  • Past activity
    • it had been snowing all last winter
  • Happening continuosly before an event
    • We had been playing golf, before it started rain
  • Long hapenning for a period of time in the past
    • The had been working for six month/since January
  • Happening in the past with a pattern (how often)
    • We had been going to gym regularly/seldomly
    • We had rarely been going to gym
  • Cause for a thing happening
    • She was tired because she had been studying all night

Antiuses:

  • Stative verbs (as with all continuous tenses)

Construct

  • Positive
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It had been working
  • Negative
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It had not been working
  • Question
    • (W) Had I/we/you/they/she/he/it been working?

Contractions

  • Positive
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It'd been working
  • Negative
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It hadn't been working

Short answers

  • Yes, I/we/you/they/she/he/it had
  • No, I/we/you/they/she/he/it hadn't

Contrast: Present Perfect Continuos vs Past Perfect Continuos

  • Present Perfect Continuos:
    • Links past and present
    • Started in the past, continues in the present
    • I has been working all day, so i am tired
  • Past Perfect Continuous
    • Lincs past to past
    • Started in the past, continues in the past
    • I had been working all day, so i was tired

Future perfect

Actions that will be completed before another action in the future or before a specific time in the future.

I will have finished fixing the roof next week.

Uses:

  • Action finished before a specific time in the future
    • By next July, they will have bought a new home
  • Action finished before another action
    • Before you arrive, we will have eaten dinner.

Construct:

  • Positive
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It will have worked/gone
  • Negatives
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It will not have worked/gone
  • Questions
    • (W) Will I/we/you/they/she/he/it have worked/gone?

Contractions - Positive - I/We/You/They/She/He/It'll have worked/gone - Negatives - I/We/You/They/She/He/It won't have worked/gone

By what time...?

Future perfect continuous

I will have been working

An action running continuously still at some point in the future.

It may extend even to the past

By next July, i will have been working here for 10 years.

Construct

  • Positive
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It will have been working
  • Negative
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It will not have been working
  • Questions
    • (W) Will I/we/you/they/she/he/it have been working?

Uses:

  • A specific time as reference in the future
    • Next November, we will have been living in this house for 15 years
  • Before another action in the future
    • By the time the guest will arrive, I will have been cooking all day

Antiuses:

  • Stative verbs as any other continuous tense

Companion expresions: Put the temporary context

  • by this Saturday/next month/2130
  • next year, next November,
  • for period

Contractionsa

Used just in informal contexts

  • Positive
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It'll have been working
  • Negative
    • I/We/You/They/She/He/It won't have been working

Common Mistakes

  • Stative verbs
  • No reference time or reference action given
  • All the errors in continuous tenses
  • All the contraction errors in futures with will

Appendix: stative verbs

  • Emotional:
    • feel, need, want, love, hate, prefer...
  • Mental:
    • believe, understand, know, realize...
  • Possesion:
    • have, own, belong...
  • other
    • cost...