tenses

[standhaftigkeit]

The Simple Tenses
1. The Present Simple Tense
+ We form positive sentences with the 1-st form of the notional verb or the 1-st form of the main verb plus the ending –s in the 3d person singular.
? In questions we place the auxiliary verb Do or Does before the subject and the main verb after the subject.
- In negative sentences, we use the negative particle NOT after the auxiliary verb Do or Does (in the 3-d person singular).
Indicators: usually, often, sometimes, as a rule, every day, normally, frequently, seldom, rarely, generally.
Use:
We use the Present Simple tense to indicate:
1) Repeated actions and states.
2) Timetables.
3) Laws of nature or general truths

1. The Past Simple Tense
+ We form positive sentences with the 2-nd form of irregular verbs and the ending –ed with regular verbs.
? In questions we place the auxiliary verb did before the subject and the 1-st form of the main verb after the subject.
- In negative sentences, we use the negative particle NOT after the auxiliary verb did and the 1-st form of the main verb.
Indicators: yesterday, last, ago, in 1998.
Use
The Past Simple tense is used to express:
1) Finished actions in the past if we know their time (and place).
2) Repeated actions in the past.
Ex.: I went swimming every day last summer.
3) A succession of past actions.
Ex.: He woke up, washed his face, dressed and walked to university.

1. The Future Simple Tense
+ We form positive sentences with the auxiliary verb will and the main verb in the first form.
? In questions we place the auxiliary verb will before the subject and the 1-st form of the main verb after the subject.
- In negative sentences, we use the auxiliary verb will with the negative particle NOT (won’t) and the 1-st form of the main verb.
Use
The Future Simple tense is used to express:
1) Spontaneous intentions and decisions;
2) Promises, warnings, threats;
3) Predictions based on the speaker’s opinion;
4) Inevitable events in the future.

The Continuous Tenses
2. The Present Continuous Tense
+ We form positive sentences with the present tense of the verb «to be» (am, is, are) and Participle I (-ing form) of the main verb.
? In questions we place the auxiliary verb “to be” before the subject and Participle I (-ing form) of the main verb after the subject.
- In negative sentences, we use the negative particle NOT after the auxiliary verb “to be” and Participle I.
Indicators: now, at the moment, still.
Use
The Present Continuous tense is used to express:
1) Actions which are going on now;
2) Future personal arrangements;
3) Irritation and criticism (with “always” and “constantly”);
4) Sports commentaries.

2. The Past Continuous Tense
+ We form positive sentences with the auxiliary verb “to be” in the Past Simple (was/were) and Participle I (-ing form) of the main verb.
? In questions we place the auxiliary verb “to be” before the subject and Participle I (-ing form) of the main verb after the subject.
- In negative sentences, we use the negative particle NOT after the auxiliary verb “to be” and Participle I of the main verb.
Indicators: at 5 o’clock yesterday, from 5 to 7, the whole, while, still, [The Present Continuous], (when The Past Simple).
Use
The Past Continuous tense is used to express:
1) An action going on at a definite moment in the past;
2) When there are 2 actions: one is long (PC), and the other is short (PS);
3) When there are two long simultaneous actions in the past.

2. The Future Continuous Tense
+ We form positive sentences with the auxiliary verbs will be and Participle I (-ing form) of the main verb.
? In questions we place the auxiliary verb will before the subject, the auxiliary verb be and Participle I (-ing form) of the main verb.
- In negative sentences, we use the auxiliary verb will with the negative particle NOT (won’t), the auxiliary verb be and Participle I (-ing form) of the main verb.
Indicators: at noon, at 5 o’clock, at that moment, at 3 o’clock tomorrow.
Use
The Future Continuous tense is used to express:
1) Activities that will be in progress at a definite point of time. The action will start before that point of time and will continue after it. The point in time can be expressed with time phrases or by another action in the Present Simple.
2) Actions which will happen in the normal course of events. It refers to routine activities, not intentions, decisions or plans.

The Perfect Tenses
3. The Present Perfect Tense
+ We form positive sentences in the Present Perfect tense with the auxiliary verb “have” (has in the 3d person singular) and the 3d form of the main verb ( = Participle II of the notional verb)
? In questions we place “have”/ “has” before the subject.
- In negative sentences we place “not” after “have”/ “has”.
Indicators:
Ever, never, just, already, yet, lately, recently, for, since, today, this week, always, how long.
Use: We use the Present Perfect to express:
A completed action, a result. Its time is not known and is not important.
Experience, knowledge acquired.
An action within a period of time which is not over yet.
An action which began in the past, has continued up to the present and is still going on (! With state verb only). “For” is used to show how long the action has lasted and since indicates the starling point of the action.

3. The Past Perfect Tense
+ We form positive sentences in the Past Perfect tense with the auxiliary verb “had” and the 3d form of the main verb (Participle II of the notional verb)
? In questions we place “had” before the subject.
- In negative sentences we place “not” after “had”.
Use:
The Past Perfect Tense expresses an action completed before a certain moment in the past, this certain moment is expressed:
By an adverbial modifier of time with the preposition “by” ;
By a time clause in the Past Simple Tense (by the time, before, as soon as).
The Past Perfect is not used to denote a succession of actions. In this case the Past Indefinite is used.
The Past Perfect in used with the conjunctions:
[█(Hardy…@ Scarcely…@Nearly…@ Barely… ) + Past Perfect…] (when+Past Indefinite( Simple))
No sooner + Past Perfect… than + Past Indefinite.
□ He had hardly done it when they came.
(Hardly had he done it when they came.)
□ No sooner they had arrived than it started to rain.
(No sooner had they arrived than it started to rain).

3. The Future Perfect Tense
+ We form positive sentences with the auxiliary verbs “will have” and the 3d form of the main verb (Participle II of the notional verb)
? In questions we place “will” before the subject.
- In negative sentences “not” is placed after “will”, and the short form is read like “won’t”.
Use:
The Future Perfect tense expresses an action completed before a definite moment in the future. This definite moment in the future is expressed by an adverbial modifier of time with the preposition “by”. But this tense cannot be used in time clauses with expressions such as when, while, before, after, as soon as, if, unless, etc.

The Perfect Continuous Tenses
4. The Present Perfect Continuous Tense
+ We use the auxiliary verbs HAVE BEEN or HAS BEEN and the main verb with -ING to form positive sentences in the Present Perfect Continuous tense.
? In questions we place the 1-st auxiliary verb HAVE or HAS before the subject.
- In negative sentences we place the negative particle NOT after the 1-st auxiliary verb HAVE or HAS.
Indicators: since, for, already.
Use:
1) We use the Present Perfect Continuous tense to indicate the duration of the action which begun in the past, has been going on up to the present and is still going on.
Ex: We`ve been studying English – for 2 years at University or – since our third year at Uni.
2) To express an action, which has been in progress lately but is not going on now.
The result is pointed out in this case.
Ex: The man has been piloting the plane.

4. The Past Perfect Continuous Tense
+ We use the auxiliary verbs HAD BEEN and the main verb with -ING to form positive sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous tense.
? In questions we place the 1-st auxiliary verb HAD before the subject.
- In negative sentences we place the negative particle NOT after the 1-st auxiliary verb HAD.

Indicators: since, for, already.

Use:
1. We use the Past Perfect Continuous tense to indicate the duration of a past action which continued up to a certain moment in the past and was still going on at that moment: They had been skating together for five years before they entered the competition.
2. We use the Past Perfect Continuous tense to indicate the duration of a past action which continued up to a certain moment in the past, completed before that moment but its result was visible in the past: She had been working hard that day, so she was tired.

4. The Future Perfect Continuous Tense
+ We use the auxiliary verbs WILL HAVE BEEN and the main verb with -ING to form positive sentences in the Future Perfect Continuous tense.
? In questions we place the 1-st auxiliary verb WILL before the subject.
- In negative sentences we place the negative particle NOT after the 1-st auxiliary verb WILL.

Indicators: since, for, already.

Use: We use the Future Perfect Continuous tense to indicate an action which will be going on until a certain moment in the future and will probably still be going on at this moment: They will have been redecorating their flat for eight months by September. – В сентябре будет 8 месяцев, как они ремонтируют свою квартиру.