Tenses in English

Describes actions or situations that began in the past, are happening now and will finish in the future.. * The difference between present simple and present continuous tense is that the

REVIEW OF TENSES IN ENGLISH

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• a Describes actions or situations that began in the past, are happening now and will

finish in the future

• Signal words:

• now, at the moment, at this moment, at present, presently, today etc

• Example:

• We are studying how to use 7 English verb tenses at the moment.

• b Describes actions or situations that are not exactly happening now but are

temporarily happening around now, not always or usually

• The Present Continuous Tense of the verbs like come, leave, arrive, return, and go

is often used to describe future actions which have already been planned

• Signal words:

• tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next week / month / year, in + length of time.

• Example: Our parents and sister are coming to see us tomorrow

* The difference between present simple and present continuous tense is that the

actions (happen all the time) while present

ones (in progress at or around now only)

Example:

We are Vietnamese so we speak Vietnamese but now we are speaking English to Mr Bob because he doesn’t

know Vietnamese

a Describes actions or situations that finished or unfinished before now ( time

I have already been to Hanoi but I have not seen Sword lake yet

b Describes actions or situations that began in the past and have continued up to present.

* Note:

- The similarity between present perfect and past simple is that both tenses describe action in the past (happened before now) but the difference is that past simple mentions or implies an exact time of the action whilm present perfect doesn’t

- The present perfect continuous tense describes actions or situations that began in the past and have continued up to present (Signal words: for, since) In many cases, it

can interchangeably be used with the

present perfect tense.

Describes actions or situations that happened at one particular time in the past It began and ended in the past.

Signal words:

ago, clause of time in the past like “when I was young, …), yesterday, at/on/in + point of time in the past ( at the beginning of this semester; on Jan 1st, 2000; in June, 2000), last

night/week/month/year/Saturday/June/

Christmas etc.

Example:

It rained yesterday ;

I watched TV last night ;

Our school was built 5 years ago

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a Describes an action or situation that was happening at a particular time in the past.

Signal words: when, as, at + point of time etc.

Example:

At 8 last night, we were studying in our room.

b Describes an action or situation that was happening when another action occurred

Signal words: when, as, while etc.

Example: She was taking a shower when the light went out.

c Describes actions or situations in progress simultaneously

Signal words:

while, when, asExample:

I was doing my homework in my room when my roommates

were having a party in the other room.

a Describes an action or situation that finished before another past action.

Signal words:

when, before, after, by, as, up to then, by then, by that time, not … yet, already, ever, never, quantifier + times ( several / three / many times) etc.

Example:

When we came, she was not there She had already gone

b Describes an action or situation that finished before a particular time in the past

- Describes actions or situations that will happen

at one particular time in the future

I will go to America next year ; The match

will continue in 15 minutes I will not be here

until next Friday

Verbs of mental state: know, realize, understand, recognize,

believe, feel, suppose, think, imagine, doubt, remember, forget, want, need, prefer, mean.

Verbs of emotional state: love, like, appreciate, hate, dislike,

fear, envy, mind, care.

Verbs of possession: belong, possess, have, own.

Verbs of sense perception: taste, smell, hear, feel, see

Verbs of other existing state: be, seem, look, appear, cost,

weigh, exist, consist of, contain, include.

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1 Action that was happening when another action

occurred : use Past Continuous and Past Simple (She

was taking a shower when the light went out)

2 Actions in progress simultaneously : use Past

Continuous ( We were listening to the teacher when

he was explaining the lesson).

3 Action that finished before another past action : use

Past Perfect and Past Simple (I hadn’t had breakfast when I went to school this morning).

4 Actions that happened consecutively : use Past

Simple (When she heard a strange noise, she stood

up and walked to the window to investigate).

The clock (strike) ……… four as

she …… …(2 reach) her flat She

……(3 light) a final cigarette and ……

(4 sit) at her dressing–table thinking of

the party she …………(5 leave) an

hour before She would have been

home much earlier but she …(6

have) difficulty in finding a taxi at that

late hour Reflecting that if she didn’t

go to bed quickly, she would feel

dreadful at work the next day, she

……(7 put) down her cigarette, …….

… (8 undress) quickly, and …….(9

get) into bed She …….(10 fall) asleep

at once.

WAS STRIKING REACHED

1 The moon (move) around the earth

and the earth (do) the same around

the sun.

2 She said she (see) that film before.

3 The meeting (end) two hours ago.

4 I (meet) Mary while I (go) to the

bookshop yesterday I (ask) her to

go with me She with I (want) to find

a good English dictionary At last

both of us (buy) the same ones after

we (look) for and (read) many kinds

of dictionary carefully.

MOVES

DOES HAD SEEN

MET, WAS GOING

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1 Last week I (go) to an

exhibition of paintings at the Town

Gallery in HCMC I (be)

not really a great art lover but I

(read) a lot of good

reviews about that exhibition so I

(be) keen to see it When

I (arrive) , there were

already some people outside who

(wait) for the door to

open I (join) the queue

and in the end, the door

(open) and we (go)

inside to see the show.

2 John (work)………… hard every day.

3 He (speak) ……… to the teacher now.

A flight to London DEPARTED three

airline personnel (try) to locate a cat

attendants (prepare) for takeoff, several

passengers (hear) the sound of a cat

coming from under their seats Crew

members (search) the plane for over an

(hide) under the floor of the first class

(remove) a section of the cabin floor, the

cat (escape) through the door of the

garbage compartment and (jump) from

the aircraft into the arms of its owner, an

airline employee, who (stand) nearby at

STANDING

WAS TRYING

OCCURRED

WAS HIDING

1 Every morning, the sun (shine) in my

bedroom and (wake) me up.

2 Water (consist) ……….of hydrogen and

oxygen.

3 I need an umbrella because it (rain)

4 What you ( do) this weekend?

5 When she (hear) a strange noise, she got up

to investigate.

6 I (write) some letters at nine o’clock last

night.

7 While we were cleaning the windows, our mother

(polish) the forks and spoons.

8 the children (go) to school yet?

9 Everything (be) successful so far

10.You (study) for five hours, why don’t you take a break?

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11.If my cheque comes, I (buy) us all a meal 12.I would fix your bicycle if I (have) a

screwdriver of the proper size.

13.If I (have) my camera with me yesterday, I would have taken a picture of Alex standing on his head.

14.If I were you, I (tell) him the truth as soon as possible.

15.15 I (meet) …… Mary while I (go) …… to the

bookshop yesterday.

16.16 At last both of us (buy) …… the same

ones after we (look) …… for and (read) …… many kinds of dictionary carefully.

17.By the time we (arrive) , the party

(finish)

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18.Last night, the thief (break) into the room

easily because someone (forget) to lock the door Fortunately, I (watch) TV

upstairs I (turn on) the light The thief (run) away.

19.His mother (interrupt) him as

he (make up) a wonderful story about why he was so late

20.Casilas is Spanish He (live) in Madrid , where he (play) for Real Madrid He

(work) as a footballer there for several years now At the moment, he (be) in

Portugal She (arrive) there last

Saturday She (stay) there for a month, and he (return) to Spain next January.

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21.Last week, I (walk) home after I

(play) some tennis when it

(start) to rain heavily Just then, a friend of mine who (drive) home from work

(see) me take shelter from the rain and he (offer) me a lift home.

22 Several people (walk) along when suddenly tons of earth came crashing down the hillside and (block) the road in front of them.

23.Here I am in Nhatrang! I (1 be) here for 3 days now and it (2 be) very interesting

My friend, Nhung, who I (3 meet) in

Nhatrang in 1999 (4 live) in Nhatrang for 5 years, so she (5 know) all about it

Yesterday we (6 go) to Tam island and (7 eat) seafood there We (8

visit) the White Statue of Buddha this

Sunday Back on 31st

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24 Yesterday while I (read) in my study Tim

(appear) in and (tell) me to lend him a dictionary "I (prepare) tomorrow's English lesson." he (say) "and I find several words that I (not / know) "

25 Last Saturday when I (arrive) at the station,

Natalie (wait) for me She (wear) a blue dress She (look) very pretty As soon as she (see) me, she (wave) and shouted something but I (not, hear) what she

(say) because it was too noisy there.

26 Thank you for your letter which I received this morning You

asked me what I (do) when the landslide occurred I ( not

remember) things too clearly now but I think I

(watch) TV and my sister (do) her homework at the time Suddently, all the lights (go

out) and I (frighten) I

(remember) calling out to my parents who

(talk) quietly in the next room The next minute

we (hear) a loud noise and the whole building

(begin) to shake.

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27 What you (do) since you come here? How many friends you

(make) ?

28 Libraries today (be) different from those in

1800s For example, the content of the libraries

(change) greatly through the years In 1800s, libraries (be) simply collections of books

However, today, most libraries are multimedia centers that

contain tapes, computers, disks, films, magazines, music, and paintings The role of the library in society (also,

change) In 1800s, libraries (be) open to a certain people, such as scholars or the wealthy

Today libraries (serve) everyone.

29 Last month John (read) two novels Right now

he (read) A Farewell to Arms, and he

(think) he (finish) reading it next week In his lifetime, he (read) many novels but this is the first Hemingway novel he (ever, read)

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