The Tense System

There are certain tenses to use in sentence formation in English.
The first and

simplest one is the present simple tense which is used to talk about facts, repeated
actions, and events or actions happen in the present time.
• Human body contains 206 bones.
• I play tennis every Sunday morning.
• The train stops for 30 minutes in this station every Sunday.
The present continuous tense is used to describe activities happening at the
moment of speaking ( i.e. actions in process).
• I am fixing my computer now.
Or it is used to express future arrangements.
• I’m going to the ball next Thursday.
The present perfect tense is used to describe actions or activities started in the past
and continue to the present time.
• We have been married for 4 years.
Or when we talk about our experience up to the present
• I have played piano since I was 10.
The past simple tense is used to talk about events happened in the past, when we
talk about the event as a whole or completed action.
• Sara went to the bank.
The past continuous tense shows the progress of the action or event at a specific
time in the past.
• It was raining when Sara went to the bank.
The past perfect tense is used to describe a completed action or activity in the past.
• They had eaten the cake before Sara arrived.
The future tense is used to describe events that will take place in the future time.
• I will go to college tomorrow.
The future continuous tense describes events that will happen in the future and lasts
for a predetermined amount of time.
• I’ll be leaving to London tomorrow at 6 O’clock.
The perfect future tense indicates an action that will take place at a future date and
time.
• I will have presented the project by Monday.
The main tenses one should focus on and know the difference between
them are the simple vs continuous and the simple vs perfect. The choice of the
appropriate tense depends on how do we describe the action; whether it is
described as a complete whole (simple tenses) or as an activity with duration
(continuous tenses). In case of the simple vs perfect, the major confusion is
between the simple past tense and present perfect tense. The simple past
tense describes an action that is completed in a specific time the past while
the present perfect describes an action that has started in the past but is still
related to the present or has connection to the present. See the examples
below:
Ex: Put the following verbs in their correct form:

1. Our baby Jack (walk)………….. He is one year old.
2. I need to take a rest. We (walk) ……………………. nonstop for hours now.
3. This shirt fits me. I (take) ………………………….. it.
4. My dog looked guilty. He (take) ……………………… some food from the kitchen.
5. We need a new car. We (have) ………………………… this one for ages now.
6. We (have) ……………………. A lovely picnic until my wife was stung by a bee.
7. Don’t phone at 8.00. We (have) ………………….. dinner then.
8. By the time I’m forty. I (make)………………. enough money to retire.
In spoken or colloquial English, the use of words, expressions, and sentence
structures differ from formal English. Sometimes, speakers omit the subject
pronoun (especially if it is referring to the speaker; i.e., the pronoun I). or they
omit a whole linguistic structure, for example: have you heard the rumors
about the queen’s death this morning? Becomes: heard the rumors about the
queen’s death this morning? I’m sorry for spilling the coffee ‫ ـ ـ ـ ـ‬sorry for spilling
the coffee. Also, they shorten the words by omitting some letters (contractions)
Like: ‘cose or cause: because, going to: gonna, want to: wanna.
We also have some colloquial words or expressions. See the two letters above,
they both have some colloquial expressions like:
Stuff: activities (or things)
hanging in there: not giving up, even though it is difficult.
missing you like crazy: missing you very much
Like it lots: like it very much
Oz: Australia
loads of wildlife: lots of wildlife
classy sounding: the name sounds fashionable and high quality (here used
ironically)
going OK: working alright
nice and slowly: at a relaxed pace
Ex: Give ten colloquial words or expressions in English language.
A compound word is a word or word group that consists of two or more parts
work together as a unit to express a specific concept. Compounds can be
formed by combining two or more words (as son-in-law, farmhouse, graphic
equalizers, park bench, around–the–clock, or son of a gun). ( Merriam-
Webster)
Home: homework*, home-made, homesick, home town*, homecoming,

homeless, home-grown, home page*
House: housewife *, house-proud, house plant, housebound, house-
warming, housework
The stark words are nouns and the others are adjectives.

The Tense System

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Tense System

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Tense System

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

There are certain tenses to use in sentence formation in English.

The first and

Ex: Put the following verbs in their correct form:

Home: homework, home-made, homesick, home town, homecoming,

You might also like