Matute

12 tenses

1. Present and past of “to be”. We use the verb to be in the following cases…
a) Identity Hi. My name is Albert
b) Nationalities My bother is Mexican
c) Origin He’s from Mexico
d) Professions They’re teachers
e) Age I’m 35 years old
f) Location John is at home
g) Existence There are many people in the office
f)Time it’s 9:30
h) State of being adjectives Are you sad?
i) Descriptive adjectives She’s really tall

2. Simple present “do, does”. We use the simple present tense to talk about…
a) Habits I take a shower everyday
b) Routines I take a shower at 7 everyday
c) Facts I have a beautiful bathroom


3. Simple past “did”
We use thesimple past to describe an action that happened at a definite time in the past.

I went to the movies last weekend



4. Simple future “will or may”. The simple future is used, when we want to express an action that will happen in the future.

Mom will go to the U.S. next month.

She may travel by car.


5. Present continuous “to be + v+ing”. This tense is used toexpress an action, which is happening at the moment we’re speaking.
The stars are shining bright tonight.


6. Past continuous “to be + v+ing”. It’s used to indicate an action that was happening… when another interrupted. while another action was in progress, or at a specific time.
Tom was watching t.v. at nine p.m. yesterday.
Tom was watching t.v. while he was havingdinner.
Tom was watching t.v. when his mother arrived.
The past continuous is also used to express intention.
I was going to give it to you.


7. Idiomatic future. “going to + verb in simple form”. The idiomatic future is used to express a future plan. It can be used indistinctly with simple future.
We’re going to buy a new car next year.


8. Futurecontinuous. “will + v+ing”. To emphasize an action that will happen at a specific time in the future.
Sue will be taking her plane at 7 a.m.


9. Present perfect “have, has + v.p.p.”. we use the present perfect in various situations. When we speak about an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past. In this case ever and never are commonly used with it. Another use is alreadywhich is used to emphasize that an action has been completed at an indefinite time in the past. Yet is the word we use to talk about an action which hasn’t been done in the past, but we expect will be done in the future. We also use the present perfect to express an action that began in the future , continues now and may continue in the future. In this case we use the words for and since.
Haveyou already seen titanic? Yes, I have No, I haven’t seen it yet.
How long have you worked for IBM? For 4 years since 1995.
How many times have you gone to the U.S? I’ve never been there. I’ve gone there once.
10. Past perfect “had + v.p.p.”. the past perfect tense is generally used with the simple past tense to indicate a past action that was completed before another pastaction. The earlier action is expressed in past perfect and the late action is expressed in simple past. By the time is a time expression that is very often associated with the past perfect.
I had already finished my studies by the time I decided to get married.
By is another time expression that we use with the past perfect.
By 1990 I had already worked as a teacher for 2 differentschools.
In common English usage, the past perfect is not always necessary to express that one past action occurred before another. We can use expressions such as after, before and then to indicate the sequence of action. Only the use of when differs from the mentioned expressions.


11. Present perfect continuous. “have or has + been+v.p.p.”. we use the present perfect continuous...