TENSES

VERB TENSES

TENSES ARE THE RULES FOR CHANGING (CONJUGATING) VERBS SO THAT THEY GIVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ACTIONS AND SITUATIONS.

 

BY CHANGING THE VERBS YOU CAN COMMUNICATE THINGS LIKE WHEN IN TIME SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED, IF YOU KNOW THAT IT HAPPENED AND FOR HOW LONG IT HAPPENED.

 

THERE ARE TWO TENSES IN ENGLISH: THE PAST AND THE PRESENT

 

THERE ARE FOUR ASPECTS OF THESE TENSES:

 

 

SIMPLE

 

TALKING ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE CONSTANT, HAPPEN ALL THE TIME OR IN A SINGLE ACTION

 

CONTINUOUS

 

TALKING ABOUT A SINGLE POINT IN TIME OR IN A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME

 

PERFECT

 

THE PERFECT WAY TO TALK ABOUT AN ACTION OR A STATE

 

FUTURE

 

TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE YOU USING THE PRESENT TENSES AND HELPING VERBS.

 

THE SIMPLE ASPECT WORKS IN ALL THREE TIME PERIODS:

 

PRESENT (TODAY, THIS YEAR, NOW)

YOU LEARN ENGLISH NOW = THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

 

PAST (YESTERDAY, LAST YEAR, TWO YEARS AGO)

YOU LEARNED ENGLISH BEFORE = THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

 

FUTURE (TOMORROW, NEXT YEAR, TWO YEARS FROM NOW)

YOU WILL LEARN ENGLISH SOON = THE SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

 

 

ALL TENSES CAN BE CONDITIONAL. CONDITIONAL IS WHEN WE ARE NOT SURE IF SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED, IS HAPPENING OR HAS HAPPENED. FOR THIS WE USE THE WORDS LIKE: IF, MIGHT, COULD, WOULD, SHOULD.

 

THEY ALSO COMMUNICATE IF SOMETHING THAT STARTED IN THE PAST IS STILL HAPPENING NOW.

 

THE PRESENT PERFECT USES THE WORD HAVE BEFORE THE VERB = YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE. HAVE IS PRESENT, BEEN IS THE PAST, WILL IS FUTURE. THINK OF IT AS THE PERFECT WAY TO TALK IN THE PRESENT.

 

IF YOU SAY, I WILL HAVE BEEN LEARNING AT SCHOOL FOR ONE YEAR BY NEXT WEEK. YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT STARTED IN THE PAST AND IS STILL GOING ON NOW AND WILL CONTINUE TO GO ON UNTIL A TIME IN THE FUTURE.

 

THE PAST PARTICIBLE IS USED WITH THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT STARTED IN THE PAST BUT CONTINUES UNTIL NOW OR INTO THE FUTURE.

 

HAVE (NOT) + PAST PARTICIBLE (?)

 

  PAST PRESENT FUTURE CONDITIONAL
SIMPLE

I LEARNED

IT LAST YEAR

I LEARN A LOT AT SCHOOL I WILL LEARN A LOT NEXT WEEK I WOULD LEARN A LOT IF...
CONTINUOUS I WAS LEARNING ALL OF LAST YEAR I AM LEARNING NOW I WILL BE LEARNING TOMOROW

I MIGHT BE LEARNING AT SCHOOL IF...

PERFECT I HAD LEARNED IT BEFORE I HAVE LEARNED A LOT TODAY I WILL HAVE LEARNED IT BY NEXT YEAR I COULD HAVE LEARNED A LOT IF...

PERFECT -

SIMPLE

I WAS LEARNING I AM LEARNING    

PERFECT -

CONTINUOUS

I HAD BEEN LEARNING UNTIL YESTERDAY I HAVE BEEN LEARNING FOR TWO HOURS TODAY I WILL HAVE BEEN LEARNING FOR ONE WEEK BY TOMORROW I WOULD HAVE BEEN LEARNING A LOT BUT...

THE CONDITIONAL TENSE IS WHEN YOU ARE NOT SURE: YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN HERE IN THE PAST, YOU MIGHT BE HERE IN THE PRESENT OR YOU MIGHT BE HERE IN THE FUTURE.

 

 

THE CONDITIONAL TENSE IS COMBINED WITH WORDS THAT ARE NOT DEFINITE, LIKE: IF, MAY, CAN, COULD, WOULD, MIGHT, SHALL.

 

IF I HAD READ THE BOOK LAST WEEK, I COULD HAVE STARTED WRITING ABOUT IT YESTERDAY

 

 

 

IF I HAD GOTTEN THE BOOK, I COULD START LEARNING TODAY OR TOMORROW.

 

 

 

IF I WOULD GET THE BOOK TODAY OR TOMORROW, I COULD START LEARNING FOR THE EXAM WE WILL HAVE NEXT WEEK.

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