THE TENSES I. PRESENT TENSE SIMPLE 1.

repeated habitual actions adverbs of frequency : always, usually, often, sometimes, occasionally, seldom, rarely, hardly ever, never, generally, every day/week/month/year, once, twice, 3 times a day 2. natural, scientific, eternal truths e.g. Birds fly. 3. after HERE and THERE e.g. Here he comes. 4. by radio commentators e.g. Jones passes the ball to Hunter he shoots its a goal! 5. expresses a future action as part of an official plan, of a fixed timetable or programme e.g. The train leaves at 5:30. We come back on the 6th of June. 6. expresses future in the constructions: a) TO BE ABOUT TO = tre en train de/a fi pe punctul de a e.g. I am about to leave for Paris. b) TO BE TO = devoir (instruction, order) e.g. You are to go and see him now! c) TO BE DUE TO = to be supposed to (see 5) e.g. The holidays are due to begin on the 15th of June. 7. it has a future meaning in a time clause and if clause e.g. Ill be there when you arrive. Ill buy that car if you want me to. I. PRESENT TENSE CONTINUOUS 1.action in progress at present adverbs: now, just, at the moment 2. temporary habits which include the present adverbs of indefinite time: this year, tonight, today, these days e.g. He is writing another novel this year. 3. an action often repeated that it becomes irritable causing a strong feeling in the speaker adverbs of frequency: always, continually, constantly, perpetually, for ever e.g. They are always complaining. 4. Pre-arranged future actions (less personal intention) adverbs expressing future: tomorrow, this week, in May. e.g. He is taking his exam tomorrow. 5. expresses refusal e.g. 1st person: I am not doing it again. (=I refuse to) 2ne and 3rd person: Youre not using my pen again. (=I wont allow you to) 6. TO BE GOING TO a) personal intention, usually premeditated e.g. I am going to buy a house. (=I intend to) b) probability based on present evidence e.g. Its cloudy. Its going to rain. adverbs: soon, right away, in just a minute 7. verbs that cannot be used in the continuous aspect a) verbs of perception: notice, observe, recognise, b) non-conclusive verbs: know, forget, suppose, care, seem, own, belong,

understand, wish, want 8. verbs which can be used both in the continuous and simple aspect but assuming different meanings SMELL, TASTE, FEEL e.g. The flower smells good. e.g. Im smelling the flower. (= Object) SEE e.g. I see you very well. e.g. Im seeing my dentist tomorrow. (=meet, visit) THINK e.g. I think youre right. (=opinion) e.g. Im thinking about my childhood. (=meditate) EXPECT e.g. She expects you to help her. e.g. Shes expecting a baby. (=to wait) BE e.g. He is a good person. e.g. Hes being silly today. (=temporary behaviour) HEAR e.g. She hears our conversation. e.g. The jury is hearing the witness. HAVE e.g. I have 2 brothers. (to possess) IDIOMS: have fun/a party/trouble/lunch/a good or a bad time

II. PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE 1. Past finished action with no time definition or: adverbs indefinite: already, just, yet, recently, lately, so far, this week, today adverbs of frequency: ever, never, often, seldom, every day e.g. Ive never seen such a beauty. 2. action begun in the past and continued up to the present

II. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS 1. action begun in the past and still continuing in the present (since & for) e.g. Ive been playing tennis for 2 hours. 2. a past action whose duration is stressed. e.g. Ive been cooking all morning today.

SINCE: the point of time the action began: Since when? FOR: the whole period of duration: How long? e.g. Ive known him for 2 years. He has been ill since Monday. 3. past action with result in the present e.g. I cannot see well because Ive broken my glasses. 4. an action which took place in the past but can be repeated in the present (see III,5) e.g. He has written many poems. (He still writes) Ive met him twice. (I could meet him again) 5. to open a conversation e.g. Have you seen the film? 6. future perfect meaning in a time clause e.g. Shell tell me the news after Ive finished dinner. 7. BE/ STAY/ LIVE + Present Perfect after SINCE: e.g. Its 2 years since Ive been married. III. PAST TENSE SIMPLE 1. past finished action adverbs definite: yesterday morning, last night, long ago, then, at that time, the day before yesterday, just now, on/before/after the 1st of March, at noon, in spring 2. expresses consecutive past actions (tense of narration) e.g. He went in and sat down next to me. 3. events that happen quickly one after the other adverbs (order of actions): first, second, almost immediately, before, after, then, next, finally e.g. First he climbed the stairs then he opened the door.

3. + Past Tense Simple Present Perfect Simple in the subordinate clause after SINCE e.g. We have been working hard since we came here. (punctual verb) we have been here. (durative verb)

III. PAST TENSE CONTINUOUS 1. an action in progress at a given past moment e.g. She was watching TV at 4 oclock/ at this time yesterday. 2. an action going on at a time when something else happened e.g. She was sleeping when I entered the room. 3. parallel actions (going on at the same time) e.g. While I was crying she was laughing. 4. an action in progress filling up a whole period of time in the past e.g. It was raining during the meeting./ all day yesterday. 5. (see I,3)

4. expresses a period of time in the past, which began and ended in the past (from to/ for) e.g. It rained from Monday to Wednesday last week./ for three days last week. 5. an action which took place in the past but cannot be repeated (see II,4) e.g. He wrote many poems. (he doesnt write any more) I met him twice this morning. (I couldnt meet him again) 6. a past habitual action: USED TO + durative verbs, WOULD + punctual verbs (in a succession of actions, a recurrent habit) e.g. He used to play tennis when he was 10. He would spend his holidays in the mountains, he would swim, climb the trees and sing. IV. PAST PERFECT SIMPLE 1. a past action which took place before another past action e.g. I was angry because she had left without a word. adverbs indefinite: already, by that time, before e.g. I read the book last week. I hadnt read it before. Another action + : a) BY THE TIME e.g. By the time mother arrived we had finished our homework. b) AFTER/ AS SOON AS e.g. After I had finished lunch I went out. I went out as soon as I had finished lunch. c) WHEN e.g. When they had arrived we sat down to lunch. (after completion of the action) When they arrived we had sat down to lunch. (already)

e.g. She was always biting her nails as a child. 6. it is used in descriptions (=imparfait) e.g. The snow was falling over the city.

IV. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS 1. an action begun before a past moment and continuing in that past moment adverbs and time clauses: by, for/since, how long, when, before, after e.g. By the time I entered the classroom, she had been teaching for half an hour. 2. a habitual action within a time period adverbs of frequency: every 10 minutes, regularly e.g. She had been praying every 5 minutes until I arrived.

d) BEFORE e.g. They arrived before we had sat down to lunch. e) UNTIL e.g. She didnt understand until I had explained. f) HARDLY, SCARCELY, BARELY, NO SOONER, NOT UNTIL, ONLY WHEN + inversion; ONCE e.g. Once he had left her, he came to me. 2. an action begun before a past moment and: a)still continuing at that moment e.g. He had been home for 2 hours when I entered. b) continuing up to that moment e.g. I had waited for her for 2 hours before she came. 3. indicates that an action has been prevented before it as completed e.g. They returned before they had found the child. 4. when the narrator looks back on earlier actions from a certain point in the past

V. FUTURE TENSE SIMPLE 1. future fact or prediction e.g. Youll make a very good teacher. adverbs definite: tomorrow morning, the day after tomorrow, next week, then, soon, in a few minutes/2days time 2. sudden decision e.g. Mary is leaving now. So am I. Ill give her a lift home. 3. offer or request for action (see FTC,V,3) e.g. Will you bring your boyfriend to the party? Shall I give you a hand? 4. threat or promise e.g. Next time you come here Ill set my dog on you! Ill keep in touch with you. 5. opinion, speculation, assumption about the future (THINK, SUPPOSE, EXPECT, PROBABLY) e.g. I doubt if youll be able to read this book. 6. strong probability (modal) e.g. Have you seen him? Hell be home now. (= He must be home now) 7. habitual actions, universal truths e.g. Ill go to the library twice a week. A flower will die without water.

V. FUTURE TENSE CONTINUOUS 1. an action in progress at a particular moment in the future adverbs: at this time tomorrow/next week, in a month, at 10 oclock e.g. This time next week Ill be lying on the beach in Italy. 2. an action filling up a whole period of time in the future e.g. Well be sleeping all day tomorrow because were tired. 3. request for information (polite) (see FTS,V,3) e.g. Will you be bringing your boyfriend to the party? 4. an anticipated action which will happen as a matter of course e.g. The BBC will be showing highlights from the match this evening. 5. strong probability (modal) e.g. What is she doing? Shell be doing her homework. (= She must be doing it)

VI. FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE 1. an action already completed at a given future moment, it can be limited by: a) adverbs indefinite: by this time tomorrow, by then, a year from now e.g. Youll have known the results by next month. b) another action: when, before, by the time e.g. Youll have finished your homework when Im back./before Im back. Ill have been home for 3 hours by the time youre back.

VI. FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS 1. an action begun before a future moment and still continuing into that future moment 2 time markers: for (duration) by (end point) e.g. By next year Ill have been working here for three years.