Past Simple
Construction:
(the verbs "to be" and "to have" do not follow these rules)
Regular Verbs
AFFIRMATIVE
1) The Past Simple is built using the 2nd verb form. In regular verbs, the 2nd verb form is formed by adding "ed" to the infinitive:
- Infinitive: to work
- Past Simple: worked
The same form is used for all persons:
Example: to work, -ed, -ed
- I worked
- You worked
- He worked
- We worked
- You worked
- They worked
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2) Verbs ending in "e" add "d" only:
- Infinitive: to love
- Past Simple: loved
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3) When a verb of one syllable has one vowel and ends in a single consonant, this consonant is doubled before "ed"
Example: to stop
- I stopped the car.
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4) Verbs of two or more syllables whose last syllable contains only one vowel and ends in a single consonant double this consonant if the stress falls on the last syllable
Example: to admit
- They admitted the error.
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5) Verbs ending in "y" following a consonant change the "y" into "i" before adding "ed":
Examples:
- to carry: - She carried the bag.
- to try: - I tried the machine.
NOTE: But "y" following a vowel does not change:
- to obey: - They obeyed the order.
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Irregular Verbs
1) The Past Simple is built using the 2nd verb form. In irregular verbs, the 2nd verb forms vary considerably:
Examples:
- to eat, ate, eaten: - I ate the cake.
- to go, went, gone: - We went home.
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NEGATIVE
(Regular and Irregular)
1) The negative of regular and irregular verbs is formed with did not (didn't) + infinitive (1st form):
Examples:
The plan worked. -->(NEG) - The plan did not (didn't) work.
I went home. -->(NEG) - I did not (didn't) go home.
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INTERROGATIVE
1) The interrogative of regular and irregular verbs is formed with did + subject + infinitive:
Example:
The plan worked. -->(INT) - Did the plan work?
He went home. -->(INT) - Did he go home?
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When to use:
The past simple tense is often used with time expressions like:
- Yesterday
- Last Monday (Tuesday, Wednesday, ...)
- Last week (weekend, year, month, ...)
- In 1985...
It can also be used with frequency adverbs for habitual actions in the past:
- always
- often
- usually
- sometimes
- rarely
- seldom
- never
- etc...
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1) For actions completed in the past:
a) when the time is given
Examples:
- I saw Paul yesterday.
- Last year, I went to London.
- Pasteur died in 1895.
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b) when the time is asked about
Example:
- When did you meet him?
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c) when the action clearly took place at a definite time even though this time is not mentioned
Examples:
- The train was ten minutes late.
- I bought this car in Toronto.
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2) Duration in the past
a) for an action which occupied a period of time now terminated
Examples:
- He worked in that company for ten years. (but he does not work there now)
- She lived in Madrid for a long time. (but she is not living there now)
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b) for an action which occurred at a moment in a period of time now terminated
Examples:
- My grandmother once saw Queen Victoria.
- Did you ever hear Elvis Presley sing?
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3) For a past habit
Examples:
- He always carried an umbrella.
- They never drank wine.
- He played the piano.
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4) In conditional sentences, type 2
Examples:
- If I had a map I would lend it to you.
- If he came into my house I would call the police.
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Friday, January 29, 2016
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Present Simple
Present Simple
Construction:
(the verbs "to be" and "to have" do not follow these rules)AFFIRMATIVE
1) The Present Simple is built using the 1st verb form.
Example: to play, -ed, -ed
- I play tennis.
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2) In the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), an "s" must be added to the verb.
- He plays football.
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a) Verbs ending in "o", "x", "ss", "sh", "ch" add "es" in the 3rd person singular.
Examples:
- to go --> He goes home late.
- to mix --> She mixes the eggs.
- to miss --> She misses her friends.
- to wash --> He washes the car.
- to watch --> He watches television.
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b) Verbs ending in consonant and "y", the "y" changes into "i" and then add "es" in the 3rd person singular.
Example: to study, -ed, -ed
- She studies hard every day.
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NEGATIVE
IMPORTANT
In the negative form, the main verb is in the bare infinitive: 1st form (without "s" or "es").
1) The negative form is built using an auxiliary verb + not. The auxiliary verb is the verb "to do".
Example:
- I do not play volleyball.
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a) For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), the auxiliary verb ends in "es": does. Notice that the "s" or "es" is not used in the main verb, but in the auxiliary verb.
Example:
- She does not play tennis.
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b) You may use contracted forms:
do + not = don't
does + not = doesn't
Examples:
- They don't live in London.
- She doesn't live in New York.
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INTERROGATIVE
IMPORTANT
In the interrogative form, the main verb is in the bare infinitive: 1st form (without "s" or "es").
1) The interrogative form is built using an auxiliary verb: "do" (I, you, we, they) or "does" (he, she, it). The auxiliary verb ("do" or "does") comes before the subject.
Examples:
- Do you play football?
- Does he like sports?
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When to use:
This tense does not tell us whether or not the action is being performed at the moment of speaking. (To talk about actions that are happening at the moment of speaking - see the Present Continuous tense.)--------------------
The simple present tense is often used with adverbs or adverb phrases such as:
- always
- frequently
- often
- usually
- sometimes
- occasionally
- rarely
- never
- every week (day, month, etc...)
- on Mondays (Tuesdays, etc...)
- twice a year
- etc.
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1) To express habitual or repeated action
The main use of the simple present tense is to express habitual actions. Use it to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. It can be a habit, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens.
Examples:
- He smokes.
- Ronaldo plays football.
- Classes start every morning at 8 o'clock.
- She doesn't eat meat.
- Do they like chocolate?
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2) To talk about facts and generalizations
It is used when we believe a fact is true (it is not important if the fact is true). It is also used to make generalizations about people and things.
Examples:
- Dogs bark.
- Cats drink milk.
- Paris is in France.
- It rains in winter.
- London is a small city. (True? Not important)
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3) For a planned future action, scheduled events or series of actions
The simple present tense is also used to talk about scheduled or planned events in the near future, usually when talking about public transportation or actions that refer to a journey.
Examples:
- We leave London at 8 o'clock tomorrow and arrive in Paris at 11.
- The bus leaves in 2 hours.
- What time does the plane depart tonight?
- The train doesn't arrive at 10 a.m., it arrives at 10 p.m.
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4) With non-continuous verbs: to express the idea that an action is happening or not happening now.
Examples of non-continuous verbs:
to be, to want, to cost, to seem, to need, to care, to owe, to exist...
to own, to belong...
to like, to love, to hate, to dislike, to fear, to enjoy...
Examples:
- I need your help now.
- I am home right now.
- She wants this cake.
- Do you have your books with you?
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5) Other situations:
a) when we are asking about or quoting from books.
b) it can be used in newspaper headlines.
c) it can be used for dramatic narrative.
d) it is used in conditional sentences, type 1.
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The importance of "to be" and "to have"
The importance of
"to be" and "to have"
Why are these 2 verbs so important in English tenses?
The verbs "to be" and "to have" are probably the most important verbs you should know if you are learning English. These verbs are important not only in English language, but also in almost every other language - well, at least in all the other languages I know something about: Portuguese (ser/estar), German (sein/haben), French (être/avoir), etc...
To be and to have are irregular verbs, very irregular verbs!!!
To start, you should learn the Simple Present and the Simple Past of these 2 verbs:
TO BE
Present Simple
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I am I am not Am I ?
You are You are not (aren't) Are you ?
He is He is not (isn't) Is he ?
We are We are not (aren't) Are we ?
You are You are not (aren't) Are you ?
They are They are not (aren't) Are they ?
Past Simple
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I was I was not (wasn't) Was I ?
You were You were not (weren't) Were you ?
He was He was not (wasn't) Was he ?
We were We were not (weren't) Were we ?
You were You were not (weren't) Were you ?
They were They were not (weren't) Were they ?
TO HAVE
Present Simple
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I have I have not (haven't) Have I ?
You have You have not (haven't) Have you ?
He has He has not (hasn't) Has he ?
We have We have not (haven't) Have we ?
You have You have not (haven't) Have you ?
They have They have not (haven't) Have they ?
Past Simple
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I had I had not (hadn't) Had I ?
You had You had not (hadn't) Had you ?
He had He had not (hadn't) Had he ?
We had We had not (hadn't) Had we ?
You had You had not (hadn't) Had you ?
They had They had not (hadn't) Had they ?
They are used as auxiliary verbs in the "construction" of some tenses.
See these examples:
- to be:
Auxiliary ("to be" in the Present) + Present Participle (verb + ing)
Ex: (to write, wrote, written) - I am writing a text.
Past Continuous:
Auxiliary ("to be" in the Past) + Present Participle (verb + ing)
Ex: (to go, went, gone) - He was going home.
- to have:
Auxiliary ("to have" in the Present) + Past Participle (3rd form of the verb)
Ex: (to eat, ate, eaten) - Paul has eaten the cake.
Past Perfect:
Auxiliary ("to have" in the Past) + Past Participle (3rd form of the verb)
Ex: (to make, made, made) - We had made the best choice.
- to be and to have:
Past Perfect Continuous: I had been making some changes.
And we could continue... Now, you know: They are really very important!!! Learn the Present Simple and Past Simple of TO BE and TO HAVE and then go to the next step: The Present Simple Tense (ordinary verbs)
The beginning of the verbs odyssey
The beginning of the verbs odyssey!!!
Classes of verbs
There are two classes of verbs in English:
- The auxiliary verbs (auxiliaries): to be, to have, to do; can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, would; to need, to dare and used.
- All other verbs, which we may call ordinary verbs:
to
work to sing to play
- be, have, do, need and dare have infinitives and participles like ordinary verbs, but can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will and would have neither infinitives nor participles and therefore have only a restricted number of forms.
But before studying auxiliaries it may be helpful to consider ordinary verbs, most of whose tenses are formed with auxiliaries.
The 3 verb forms
The first thing to consider when you study English verbs is that there are 3 verb forms you should know. You may find many lists of English verbs on the Internet (usually lists of irregular verbs...) which mention these 3 verb forms. You may also click here to see MY REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS LIST.
Why are they so useful?
Well,... these 3 verb forms are all you need to know to "build" all verb tenses. So, let's see:
Example: to go, went, gone (Irregular verb)
- to go is the infinitive form.
- (1st form) go is the form of the Present Simple. (It is also the bare infinitive, which means the verb "to go" without the "to": it is used for the Future Simple and Conditional Simple)
- (2nd form) went is the form of the Past Simple.
- (3rd form) gone is the Past Participle. (It is not used by itself. It is used in Perfect tenses like the Present Perfect and the Past Perfect)
- It is also important that you know that REGULAR VERBS have 3 verb forms too, but the 2nd and 3rd verb forms are just the verb with a regular ending: -ed
- Example: to work, -ed, -ed (which means: to work, worked, worked)
- Example: to decide, -d, -d (which means: to decide, decided, decided)
If you know these 3 verb forms, you are ready to go to the next step and see the importance of the verbs to be and to have.
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