- •Contents
- •The Future-In-The-Past Tense……………………………………………………………..45 the present indefinite (simple) tense
- •I. The formation of the Present Indefinite.
- •1. The Present Indefinite is formed from the infinitive without the particle to.
- •9. To denote future actions in adverbial clauses of time after conjunctions when
- •10. To denote future actions in adverbial clauses of condition after conjunctions if
- •In case
- •11. To denote future actions in adverbial clauses of concession after conjunctions
- •What do we do next?
- •The present continuous tense
- •III. The Present Continuous Tense is used to denote:
- •Actions or events which are in progress at the moment of speaking. To emphasize this, we often use adverbials like now, at the moment, just, etc.:
- •6. For a frequently repeated action, usually when the frequency annoys the speaker or
- •7. For an action which appears to be continuous:
- •8. To describe current trends:
- •Verbs not normally used in the continuous tenses
- •VII. Verbs denoting effect or influence: astonish, impress, please, satisfy, surprise. Feel, look, smell and taste used in the continuous forms
- •2. Look
- •3. Smell
- •4.Taste
- •See and hear used in the continuous forms
- •Think, assume and expect used in the continuous forms
- •The past indefinite (simple) tense
- •I. The formation of the Past Indefinite.
- •Verbs ending in -e add -d only:
- •3. The contracted negative forms are:
- •4. The negative-interrogative forms are:
- •Irregular verbs: form
- •If the period is over or reference is made to a particular past point of time within that
- •2. In narrations to express a succession of action of past actions.
- •3. To express recurrent actions. It is generally supported by the use of adverbial modifiers
- •4. To express the immediate past. We can sometimes use the simple past without a time
- •6. To express permanent actions which indicate continuous, uninterrupted processes in the past, giving a general characteristic of the person or thing denoted by the subject.
- •The past continuous tense
- •2. The Past Continuous is used to express an action going on at a given period of time in the past.
- •The future indefinite (simple) tense
- •I. The formation of the Future Indefinite Tense
- •1. The Future Indefinite is formed by means of the auxiliary verbs shall/will
- •3. To denote future habitual actions which we assume will take place.
- •4. In sentences containing clauses of condition, time and sometimes purpose
- •The future continuous tense
- •The present perfect tense
- •III. The use of the Present Perfect
- •Have you been to Denmark?
- •Is this the first time you’ve been in hospital?
- •The present perfect continuous tense
- •I. The formation of the Present Perfect Continuous Tense
- •The past perfect tense
- •Had he not worked?
- •Hadn’t you worked?
- •The Squire was purple with anger before his son had done speaking.
- •With verbs not admitting of the Continuous form:
- •In negative sentences:
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •Had he not been working?
- •Hadn’t you been working?
- •III. The use of the Past Perfect Continuous
- •The future perfect tense
- •I. The formation of thePerfect Continuous Tense
- •Will he not have worked?
- •Shan’t we have worked?
- •III. The use of the Future Perfect
- •The future perfect continuous tense
- •I. The formation of the Future Perfect Continuous Tense
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •The Future Perfect Continuous denotes an action begun before a definite moment in the future and continued into that future moment;
- •The future-indefinite-in-the-past
- •I. The formation of the Future-Indefinite-in-the-Past
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •Shouldn’t I work/
- •III. The use of the Future-Indefinite-in-the-Past.
- •The future-continuous-in-the-past
- •I. The formation of the Future-Continuous-in-the-Past
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •I. The formation of the Future-Continuous-in-the-Past
- •I. The formation of the Future-Perfect-in-the-Past
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •Should I not have been working?
- •Wouldn’t he have been working?
- •III. The use of the Future-Perfect-Continuous-in-the-Past
- •List of irregular verbs
- •Appendix
- •I. Some spelling rules
- •I. Doubling the final consonant.
- •II. Mute Final e.
- •III. Final -y and Its Modifications.
The Squire was purple with anger before his son had done speaking.
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The Past Indefinite is sometimes used instead of the Past Perfect in clauses introduced by before and after owing to the lexical meaning of these conjunctions.
After he left (had left) the house, he recollected that he hadn’t locked the door.
He stood motionless after she disappeared.
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With verbs which have terminative meaning as to arrive, to enter, to look in, to open, etc. the Past Indefinite is used when two actions closely follow each other. Verbs of motion and sense perception such as to come, to arrive, to return, to see, to hear, in adverbial clauses of time are generally used in the Past Indefinite and not in the Past Perfect. The actions are practically simultaneous.
When he heard the first line of the poem, he recognized it at once.
When I entered the room, I noticed that somebody was sitting at the table.
When the completion of the action is emphasized the Past Perfect is used.
He knew the poem by heart when he had heard it several times.
I noticed that somebody was sitting at the table only when I had already entered
the room.
◆ Notice the use of the Past Perfect and the Past indefinite in the following examples:
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he had closed the window and was sitting in his armchair reading a newspaper.
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He closed the window, sat down in the armchair and began reading his newspaper.
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The rain had stopped and the sun was shining brightly.
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The rain stopped and the sun came out again.
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He had turned on the light and was sitting at his desk writing letters.
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He turned on the light, sat down at his desk and began writing letters.
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The Past Perfect is used to denote the action which began before a definite moment in the past, continued up to that moment and was still going on at that moment. The starting point or the whole period of duration of the action is indicated. To indicate the starting point the preposition since is used, to indicate the whole period of duration for is used.
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With verbs not admitting of the Continuous form:
Examination convinced him that the deacon was dead – had been dead for some time.
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In negative sentences:
Those two had not spoken to each other for three days and were in a state of rage.
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with non-terminative verbs such as to work, to live, to study, to teach, to travel, to last, etc.:
The ride had lasted about ten minutes, when the truck suddenly swerved to a halt.
THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
I. The formation of the Perfect Continuous Tense
The Past Perfect Continuous is formed by means of the Past Perfect of the auxiliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb.
In the interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.
In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb.
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Affirmative |
Negative |
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I had been working |
I had not been working |
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You had been working |
You had not been working |
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He/she/it had been working |
He/she/it had not been working |
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We had been working |
We had not been working |
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They had been working |
They had not been working |
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Interrogative |
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Had I been working? |
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Had you been working? |
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Had he/she/it been working? |
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Had we been working? |
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Had they been working? |
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