1.10 Focus on form , meaning and pronunciation
Example
sentence
Use
Form
I’ve been to
We use the Present
Perfect to say that an
action happened at an
unspecified time
before now. The exact
time is not important.
have/has + past
participle
Italy three
times
I went to the
supermarket
yesterday.
John wishes
he was a
Is he not in Italy now
?
wish in the present
tense
the past tense verb
in the clause after
wish and it could be
were instead of was
(1) What does he want
to be?
am/is/are + present
participle]
“Am I talking about
the present, past or
future?”
[I’m] ˈmiːtɪŋ ˈmaɪ
ˈmænɪdʒər ət 4[pm]
təˈdeɪ
Will+ infinitive
Have the speaker
carried the bags ?
[I’ll] ˈkæriː [those]
ˈbægz fər ˈjuː
present continuous to
talk about the future,
my manager at in the case of
arrangements that are
4pm today
planned
bags for you.
[I've] ˈbɪn tə ˈɪtəliː
ˈθriː ˈtaɪmz
Is the action finished
and complete?
I’m meeting
I’ll carry those
Does the listener
know when it
happened?
Pronunciation
Use the Simple Past to Irregular Verb in the
express the idea that
past simple form
an action started and
finished at a specific
time in the past
you are talking about
something that you
want but probably will
not happen, or you
don't think will
happen.
footballer.
have +been
Concept Checking
Question
Will" often suggests
that a speaker will do
something voluntarily.
A voluntary action is
one the speaker offers
to do for someone
else
aɪ ˈwent tə ðə
[supermarket]
ˈjestərdeɪ
dʒɑn ˈwɪʃɪz ˈhiː
ˈwəz ə [footballer]
(2) Is he a footballer?
© The British Council, 2012 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.