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Advisory
on
Tense Situations
Making sense of tense |
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| Page
Contents |
| Present
Simple |
Present
Continuous |
Present
Perfect |
Present
Perfect Continuous |
| Past
Simple |
Past
Continuous |
Past
Perfect |
Past
Perfect Continuous |
| Future
Simple |
Future
Continuous |
Future
Perfect |
Future
Perfect Continuous |
|
Present
Simple Tense |
|
The present simple is
used for established
facts and things in general. |
'A banana is never quite
straight.'
'Malaysia exports rubber.' |
|
It is also used for habitual
activities or routines. |
The President gets up at
five and starts work at seven. |
| The
simple tenses are generally used with verbs of perception: sound, seem, appear, smell,
taste, look and
feel (note that look and feel can also be used with the continuous
tenses). |
Going
to Fiji sounds just great because the beaches
appear less crowded and the prices
seem reasonable.
This French bread smells
quite fresh, tastes delicious,
feels very soft and looks just great.
COMPARE: 'I am not feeling very well today' and 'You are
looking wonderful
in that new dress, my dear, but what happened to the curtains?' |
The
present simple is used with hear, and with see (except when it means 'to meet'). |
'I hear footsteps. Quick,
someone's coming!'
'I see you don't understand what I mean.'
COMPARE: 'She is seeing the dentist tomorrow.' |
|
The simple tenses are
always used with so called state (or stative) verbs, such as agree, approve
of, believe, belong to, consider
(hold
an opinion), consist of, contain, cost, depend, disagree, gather
(understand), hate, have (own), know, like, loathe, love, mean, own,
need, possess, prefer, realize, regret, remember, resemble, suppose,
think (hold an opinion), understand, want, wish, etc. |
'Some
people believe in UFOs, but I think they're misguided.'
'Henry regrets what he did and
wishes to make amends.'
'Although, of course, I don't normally approve of gossip, I
do like
her new autobiography. It contains a number of sensational revelations
about the world of showbiz!'
|
The present simple is
usually used with
so called performative verbs (i.e. utterances that actually constitute
an action), such as accept, acknowledge, admit, advise,
apologize, assume, deny, guarantee, hope, inform, predict, promise,
recommend,
suggest, warn, etc. |
'He
admits he made a big mistake, acknowledges full
responsibility, accepts the consequences,
apologizes from the bottom of his
heart and promises not to do it again.' |
|
It is used for schedules drawn
up by others. |
'His
ship sails at dawn.'
'The next train leaves
at half-past six.' |
|
It is often employed when telling jokes or funny
stories. |
'A man
wanders into a restaurant and says he
can eat a horse. The waiter
tells
him he's come to the wrong place.' |
The
present simple is favored by live sports commentators for word economy
and to convey a sense of excitement and directness. |
'Agassi
leads four games to one in the first
set.'
'The crowd roars
as Tyson takes a huge bite out of Holyfield's ear.' |
The
present simple is also preferred in newspaper headlines for succinctness
where space is at a premium. |
'Iraq
Invades Kuwait'
'Man Steals Clock,
Faces Time'
'Fake Cardiologist Breaks Woman's Heart' |
 |
Present
Continuous Tense |
|
The present continuous is
used
for temporary actions or
events going on at or around the time of speaking. |
'The electrician is
mending a fuse.'
'It's snowing.'
'In London John is staying at the Savoy.'
|
It
is used
for self-made schedules, generally for the not too distant future. |
'Lucia's
leaving for Milan after lunch.'
'Dan and Crystal are getting married in June.' |
It
is also used for
longer-term enterprises. |
'He's studying
hard to become a doctor.'
'Joe Liebermann's running for President.' |
Used
with adverbs of (high) frequency to express disproval
of annoying habits. |
'He
is always complaining.'
'She's forever losing her keys.' |
The present
continuous also used to set the scene for jokes or funny stories told in
the present simple. |
'This
guy is sitting all by himself in a bar
looking pretty inebriated, so the
barman refuses to serve him another drink.' |
The
present continuous of to be
is used
to react to behavior perceived as uncharacteristic for someone. |
'He really
is being
stupid' (meaning this person is normally more sensible).
COMPARE: 'He really is stupid' (meaning he is stupid the whole
time). |
The present continuous must
be used with have when it is an action verb. |
'She
is having another baby / filet steak
for dinner / a shower / a
heart attack / etc.' |
Remember that so called
state verbs cannot be used
in continuous tense forms. |
'She
is having
has a lot of money.'
'She
is knowing
knows how to fly a plane'
'He is preferring
prefers coffee to tea.' |
|
Present
Perfect Tense |
| The
present perfect is used
to emphasize the results in the present of a recently completed past activity. |
'Someone
has eaten
my sandwiches' (which explains why the plate is empty and I'll have to go
hungry). |
| It
is used
to emphasize the results in the present of a recent event. |
'I've lost
my passport' (hence I can't leave the country). |
| American
English prefers the simple past tense to convey personal news. It
thereby loses the subtlety of British English to clearly distinguish
between recent and not so recent events. |
'I
lost my passport.' (Today? Last week? Last year?) |
| It
is used for breaking news headlines or when wishing to emphasize that
something has occurred rather than exactly when it occurred. |
'Two
lions have escaped from Chessington Zoo.'
'Powerful tornadoes have hit
Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas' |
| The
present perfect is used with already, just and
yet. |
'Samantha
has already left, but Cindy
has just arrived, so
I guess the
party hasn't finished yet.' |
| Note
that American English often uses the simple past tense with already,
just and yet. |
'Samantha
already left, but Cindy just arrived, so I guess the party didn't finish
yet.' |
| It
is used to refer to a person's entire life
experience since they were born. |
'Dan
has traveled a great
deal, but he has never been to Greenland.' |
| It
is used with ever
to question a person's entire life experience of something in
particular. |
'Have
you
ever seen a straight banana?'
'Has Chuck ever
done an honest day's
work in his life?' |
| American
English, on the other hand, prefers the simple past tense with ever. |
'Did
you ever see a straight banana?'
'Did Chuck ever do an honest day's work in his life?' |
| The
present perfect is also used to quantify
something done or progress made so far. |
'Harry
has driven 200 miles since
breakfast.'
"Meg has saved $8,000 toward her new
BMW.' |
|
Present
Perfect Continuous Tense |
| Used
to emphasize activities that were in progress right up to or
shortly before the time of speaking and so have a direct
influence on the current situation. |
'She
has been using a computer all day'
(so her eyes are now bloodshot).
'Someone has been eating my
sandwiches' (so half of them are missing). |
| Used with for
or since to say how long an ongoing or continuing activity has been in
progress. |
'Harry
has been driving
for three hours.'
'Meg has been saving for
her BMW for ten months.' |
| In many other cases the present perfect continuous can be
exchanged for the present perfect simple, although when the latter is
chosen one tends to feel that change might be in the offing. |
'I've been living here for ten
years (in other words, I feel almost like a native).'
'I have lived here for ten years (so perhaps it's about time I moved on
to pastures greener).' |
| Remember that
so called state verbs cannot be used in continuous tense forms. |
'I
have been
knowing known Samantha for 19 years'. |
|
|
|
|
Past
Simple
Tense |
| The
past simple is used for activities or events
completed at a specific time in the past (which is either understood or
indicated by a time expression). |
Manchester
United
thrashed
Chelsea 4:1.
The ice sculptures attracted many visitors.
Many of the bars
closed at
midnight.
|
| It
is used for two or more completed past activities or
events that occurred in sequence rather than in parallel. |
I
went into town at ten, booked my summer holiday at the travel agent's,
ate lunch at Pizza Hut, saw the
new Bond film at the Odeon cinema,
did my shopping for the weekend and
arrived home in time for tea at four. |
The
past simple corresponds
to the foreground in a painting. It is used for the action in a
story
(the past continuous
sets the scene). |
The
rock group were performing when the earthquake struck. Nobody
noticed. |
| It
is used with adverbs of frequency to talk about
repeated actions or events in the past; would and used to
are also used to talk about past habits and routines. |
Former
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher often only slept four hours a night. She
would go to bed at one in
the morning and get up at five to read the morning papers. The first
thing she used to check was what they were saying about her. |
| It
is used
with verbs of perception: sound, seem, appear, smell, taste, look and
feel (note that look and feel can also be used with the continuous
tenses). |
The bread
smelt fresh, tasted delicious,
felt very soft and
looked just great.
COMPARE: 'Max wasn't feeling very well today. He really was looking
under the weather.' |
| The simple tenses are
always used for so called state verbs such as agree, approve of, believe, belong to, consider
(hold
an opinion), consist, contain, cost, depend, disagree, gather
(understand), hate, have (own), know, like, loathe, love, mean, own,
need, possess, prefer, realize, regret, remember, resemble, suppose,
think (hold an opinion), understand, want, wish, etc. |
'The
minister was agreeing agreed to resign even though he wasn't
thinking didn't think he was needing
needed
to.'
|
| Usually
preferred with so called performative verbs (i.e. utterances which actually
constitute an action) such as accept, acknowledge, admit, advise,
apologize, assume, bet, deny, guarantee, hope, inform, predict, promise,
recommend, suggest, warn, etc. |
'Although the rich oil sheik promised
(was promising) the Hollywood actress a million dollars in cash, a new
Mercedes and a house in Palm Beach, her lawyer advised her not to marry
him.' |
|
|
|
Past
Continuous
Tense |
| The
past continuous corresponds
to the background in a painting. It sets the scene for all the
action reported in the past simple. |
'I
was sitting
in my armchair
looking
up at the night sky. The moon
was beaming
brightly. All the stars
were twinkling.
Then it came to me: I had to get the roof fixed!'
|
| It is used for temporary actions or
events that were going on at or around a particular time in the past when
something of shorter duration occurred. |
'While
I
was waiting
for the ferry I ate lunch in a sushi bar."
'While I
was wolfing
down my sushi a small piece of fish started
moving.' |
| It
is also
used for two activities of similar duration that were going on in
parallel. |
'I
was washing the car while my wife
was cleaning the
house.' |
| Remember that so called state verbs cannot be used in
continuous tense forms. |
'I
was knowing
knew Samantha very
well'. |
|
Past
Perfect
Tense |
| This
tense is used to talk about the pre-past, i.e. activities or events completed before
(but relevant to) subsequent activities or events referred to in the past
simple. |
'I
had just
prepared a
candlelight dinner for two when the Jehovah's Witnesses called.'
'Jacky, who was quite breathless, had
climbed ten
flights of stairs.'
'Mandy had studied Finnish for 3 years before
she emigrated to Finland.' |
| If,
however, the second action is a direct result of the first, then the past
simple is used for both. |
'When the artist
had finally
appeared on stage,
everyone applauded'. |
| The
past perfect tense is used to report on past intentions that were sadly never
realized. |
'The boss
had hoped to slip off to the golf course
for the rest of the afternoon but head office wanted to speak to him
about disappointing sales figures.' |
|
Past
Perfect Continuous Tense |
| The
past perfect continuous is used to report
on an activity of interest or direct relevance that was still in progress up until or
immediately prior to a subsequent event in the
past. |
'When the
chemistry teacher returned to the lab, he sniffed and stopped smiling. Someone
had
been making a stink bomb.'
'Police arrested the chief executive whose company had been cooking the
books.' |
| Remember that so called state verbs cannot be used in continuous tense
forms. |
'In 1994 I
had already been knowing
known Samantha for 10
years'. |
|
|
|
|
|
Future
Simple
Tense |
WILL:
used to express pure futurity
(i.e. without any element of willpower). |
'The sun
will rise
tomorrow morning.' |
| WILL:
used when making predictions
based upon one's knowledge of a person's character. |
'Linda
will help you, I'm sure.' |
| WILL:
used for plain, informal
requests, as well as orders given to subordinates. |
'Darling,
will you post this letter
for me?'
'Sally, will you show Mr. Anderson to the accounts department, please?' |
| Stressed
WILL:
used with stress to express irritation over the bad habits of others. |
'My
husband will always invite his friends round for a drink just as
I'm putting the kids to bed!' |
| WILL/SHALL: used for spontaneous
offers or plans made at the time of speaking, or to agree to something. |
'If
you do decide to buy this car model, sir, we'll include a satellite
navigation system.'
'Okay, I'll ask my bank manager for a loan.' |
| WILL/SHALL: used for
promises. |
'Don't
worry, I won't/shan't tell a soul!' |
| SHALL:
sometimes used instead of WILL in the first person singular and plural
in more formal style to express futurity, especially in cases where the
element of willpower is
involved. |
'I
shall
(will) be late this evening.'
'We shan't (won't) go
that nightclub anymore; the prices are exorbitant.'
'We shall overcome!'
'I shall succeed!' |
|
SHALL: used when seeking others' approval of offers or
suggestions. |
'Shall I buy
you a watch for your birthday?'
'Shall we all go out to dinner?' |
| SHALL:
used to elicit more information. |
'Which restaurant
shall we go to?' |
|
GOING TO: used to talk about plans already made before the time of speaking. |
'I'm
going
to buy a new digital camera. My old one doesn't
seem to produce sharp enough
pictures.' |
| GOING
TO: used when forecasting what is
likely or inevitable because all the signs are there. |
'Look
over there. That crazy
driver's lost control. He's going to crash!'
'I feel awful after that
raw fish. I think I'm going
to throw up.' |
|
PRESENT CONTINUOUS: often used instead of GOING TO for self-made plans and voluntary schedules, especially for the not
too distant future. |
'We're
having a party on Friday
night.'
'She's
leaving home right after breakfast and
driving
all the way up to Tallahassee in her
grandma's old car.' |
|
PRESENT CONTINUOUS: usually preferred to the GOING TO future
with GO and COME. |
'He is
going to go to New
York after he leaves Washington.'
'The Smiths are going to come
coming home from Canada next spring'. |
PRESENT SIMPLE: used for schedules decided by others. |
'He
flies
to Cairo
on business at noon
tomorrow.' |
|
|
Future
Continuous Tense |
| Used
for actions
or events forecast to be in progress at or around a particular time in the
future. |
'The kids will be sleeping when I get home.'
'Some Japanese schoolboys will
no doubt still be donning
19th century black Prussian military uniforms in a hundred years' time.'
|
| Used for future
events that are the result of previous arrangements or decisions. |
'As
you know, I'll
be working overtime this evening.'
'Nancy will be staying at her parents'
home over Christmas (she always does).'
|
| The future continuous tense can be used instead
of the present continuous with future meaning. |
'She'll be leaving home
after breakfast.' |
| It
is also used to make
extra polite enquiries about
someone's future plans. |
'Will you
be needing your laptop at work
today?'
'Is
IBM going to be recruiting any new
personnel in the
near future?' |
| Remember that so called state verbs cannot be used in
the continuous tense forms. |
'The museum is well sign-posted, so you
will be knowing
know which way to go.' |
|
|
Future
Perfect
Tense |
| Used
for activities
or events forecast to be completed by a particular time in the
future. |
'No matter what their academic performance, many students at Japan's
most prestigious universities
will have found
a job one whole year
before they graduate.' |
| Used
to quantify progress forecast to have been made at a given time in the
future. |
'He smokes 20 a day, so this time next year he
will
have happily puffed his way through another 584 meters of
cigarette.' |
|
Future
Perfect Continuous Tense |
Used
for activities forecast still to be
in progress at some time in
the future. |
'By the end of
2013 we
will have been flying in
planes
for 110 years.' |
| Remember that so
called state verbs cannot be used in continuous tense forms. |
'Next
summer I will have been knowing
known Samantha for 20
years.' |
|
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