VERB TENSES
Simple Present/Present continuous/Simple Past/Present perfect
Simple present – when to use
We use the simple present tense to talk about things that are generally
true or that usually happen.
Examples:
1. Me and my wife live in a house.
2. I work on the weekends.
3. Maria has two children.
Simple present – Auxiliar verb do
To make negative or interrogative sentences using the simple present tense we have to
use the auxiliar verb do.
Examples:
1. Do you work on the weekends?
2. Does he live in this neighborhood?
3. I don’t like the food here.
4. She doesn’t know Spanish.
Remember:
• Does is the third person form of the verb to do
• Don’t = do not / Doesn’t = does not
Simple present – Spelling rules
On the simple present tens the verbs only
change on the third person of the singular
For some verbs we have different rules:
The general spelling rule for the simple
present verbs is:
1.
O,S,X,SH,CH: +ES
2.
Consonant + Y: +IES
3.
Have: Has
Infinitive without to +S
Examples:
Verbs ending in:
Examples:
1.
1. To work → She works here.
2. To eat → He always eats lunch here.
To go → She goes to the gym everyday.
To teach → She teaches on this school.
2.
To cry → This baby cries a lot.
3.
To have → Elon Musk has a lot of money!
Present Continuous– when to use
There are three main uses for the present continuous:
1)
When talking about something that is happening now.
2)
To talk about temporary situations, even if the action is not happening at this moment
3)
To talk about definite future plans.
Examples:
1.
I’m having dinner right now.
2.
She is staying at my house during her vacation.
3.
We are going to the beach this weekend.
Present Continuous– Spelling rules
The general spelling rule for the present
continuous verbs is:
For some verbs we have different rules:
Infinitive without to add ing
1.
E: -E +ING
Examples:
2.
Vowel + consonant and it is the stressed
syllable: double consonant +ing
3.
L: double the L +ing
4.
IE: -ie +ying
1. To work → She is working right now.
2. To travel → I’m traveling today.
Verbs ending in:
Examples:
1.
To move → We are moving today.
2.
To rub → He is rubbing his belly.
3.
To control → I’m controlling the situation.
4.
Lie → They are lying to you.
Simple past – when to use
The simple past is used to talk about a completed action that happened
in the past.
Examples:
1. I lived in a different city for 10 years.
2. She read two books last week.
3. They were playing this morning.
Simple past – Auxiliar verb do
Like in the simple present, to make negative or interrogative sentences in the simple
past tense we also use the auxiliar verb do, but in this case we use the past tense did.
Examples:
1. Did you work last week?
2. Did he call you today?
3. I did not like the food here.
4. She did not go to the beach last month.
Remember:
• Did is the past tense of do
• When using the auxiliar verb did we use the
main verb in its base form.
Simple past – Spelling rules
The general spelling rule for the regular verbs
in the simple past is to add ed at the end.
For some verbs we have different rules:
Examples:
1.
Silent e: +D
1.
To work → She worked all night.
2.
Consonant + Y: -Y +IED
2.
To watch → I watched a lot of TV
yesterday.
1.
To close → He closed the door.
2.
To marry → They got married yesterday.
Special ed cases:
•
If there is a consonant after a stressed
vowel at the end of the word, double the
consonant:
1.
Stop → stopped
2.
Ban → banned
Verbs ending in:
Examples:
Note: If the verb ends in vowel +y, we just add ed:
Example: play → played
Present Perfect– when to use
The present perfect has many uses as follows:
1)
When talking about something that happened is the past but we do not know when or the
time is not important.
2)
To talk about an action thar happened in a very recent past.
3)
To talk about an action or situation that started in the past and continues in the present.
4)
An action performed during a period that has not yet finished.
Examples:
1.
She has read The Little Prince.
2.
Your parents have just arrived.
3.
I have lived in Belo Horizonte since 2015. / They haven't lived here for years.
4.
He has been to the beach twice this week. / We haven't seen her today.
Present Perfect– Spelling rules
•
In order to make the present perfect we use the auxiliar verb Have/Has + the past participle of
the main verb.
•
The spelling rules for the past participle of regular verbs are the same as the simple past.
Remember:
•
Haven’t = Have not / Hasn’t = has not
•
The contraction ’s mean has when using the present perfect, for example: She’s been living here
for 2 months.