Grammar - Tenses

For the first time, Sharon mau bagi-bagi ilmu tentang tenses.. Semoga bermanfaat bagi yang lagi belajar, dan yang mau belajar.. Semangat..!! \(^.^)/ Enjoy learning.. :)

A.      Present Tenses

1.       Simple Present

The Simple Present is used:

a)  to express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:

He drinks tea at breakfast (habit); Water freezes at zero degrees (general truth); I work in Melbourne (unchanging situation)

b)      to give instructions or directions:

You walk for two hundred metres, then you turn left.

c)       to express fixed arrangements, present or future:

Your exam starts at 09.00

d)      to express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:

He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.

ATTENTION! The simple present is not used to express actions happening now.

Form: S + V₁/Infinitive

Note:

a.       he, she, it: in the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:

he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.

b.  Negative and question forms use DOES (=the third person of the auxiliary'DO') +the infinitive of the verb:

He wants. Does he want? He does not want.

c.       Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:

Fly - flies, cry - cries

Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:

Play - plays, pray - prays

d.      Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:

he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes

2.       Present Continuous

The Present Continuous is used:

a)      to express the idea that something is happening now, at this very moment. It can also be used to show that something is not happening now:

You are learning English now; Are you sleeping?

b)   to say that we are in the process of doing a longer action which is in progress; however, we might not be doing it at this exact second:

 I am studying to become a lecturer; Aren't you teaching at the university now?

c)       to indicate that something will or will not happen in the near future:

I am meeting some friends after work; Is he visiting his parents next weekend?

d)      to repeat and irritate with “always” and “constantly”:

Indah is always coming to class late; He is constantly talking

Form: S + am/are/is + V_-ing/Present Participle

B.      Past Tenses

1.       Simple Past

The Simple Past is used to:

a)      focus on the completion of an action:

Rendy read a novel last night (He probably finished it).

b)   say when something happened, so it is associated with certain past time expressions:

frequency: often, sometimes, always; a definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago; an indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago etc.

Form: S + was/were/V₂

Note:

For the negative and interrogative simple past form of "do" as an ordinary verb, use the auxiliary "do", e.g. We didn't do our homework last night. The negative of "have" in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary "do", but sometimes by simply adding not or the contraction "n't".

The interrogative form of "have" in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary "do".

·         They weren't in Rio last summer.

·         We hadn't any money.

·         We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.

·         We didn't do our exercises this morning.

·         Were they in Iceland last January?

·         Did you have a bicycle when you were a boy?

·         Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use the auxiliary 'did'.

2.       Past Continuous

The Past Continuous is used to:

a)      Describe an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past:

My wife and I were eating at 6:00.

b)      Focus on the duration of an action, not its completion:

Paul was reading a book last night (We don’t know if he finished the book).

             Form: S + was/were + V_-ing

C.      Perfect Tenses

1.       Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is used to:

a)      say that something has been finished. We are interested in the result of the action, not in the action itself:

The ceiling was white. Now it’s blue. Sue has painted the ceiling.

b)      say how much we have done, how many things we have done, or how many times we have done something:

Ann has written ten letters today.

c)       emphasis on the permanence of an action or state:

They have always lived in Australia.

Form: S + have/has + V₃

Adverb that usually followed Present Perfect: ever, never, already, yet, for, since

2.       Present Perfect Continuous

The Present Perfect Continuous is used to:

a)      focus on the continuation of an action. We are interested in the action. It doesn’t matter whether something has been finished or not:

John’s clothes are covered in paint. She has been painting the ceiling.

b)      say how long something has been happening:

How long have you been reading that novel?

c)       emphasis on the temporary nature of action:

I have been living in Japan for two years, but I am returning to America next month.

Form: S + have/has + been + V_-ing

3.       Past Perfect

The Past Perfect is used to:

a)      Talk about a past situation or activity that took place before another past situation or activity, or before a particular time in the past:

Ben discovered that Leslie had lied to her.

b)      Say that something had already happened before this time:

When I arrived at the party, Jerry had already gone home.

c)       Refer to an event out of order – that is, it happened before the last event we have talked about:

Don Jose was wealthy Cuban landowner who immigrated to Mexico in 1959. The agricultural reforms had begun a few months earlier. He moved again in 1965 – and made his home in United States. He had made his fortune in growing sugar cane, and brought his expertise to his new home.

Form: S + had + V₃

4.       Past Perfect Continuous

5.       Future Perfect

6.       Future Perfect Continuous

D.      Future Tenses

1.       Simple Future

2.       Future Continuous