Getting The Right Tense

The Simple Present

The tense of a verb tells us when the action was done. The action can be done in the past, present or future.

When do I use the present tense?
There are two types of present tense -

1. Simple Present

Use the present simple form of a verb when

• The action takes place now.
  e.g. I want you to help me now.
• The action is something that happens regularly.
  e.g. I walk the dog everyday.
• You are describing things that are generally true.
  e.g. Train travel is expensive.

NOTE! When it is 'he', 'she' or 'it' doing the action, remember to add 's', 'es' or change the 'y' to 'ies'.
e.g.

• I like football, we like football, he likes football.
• I always try hard, we always try hard, she always tries hard.
• I watch a lot of films, we watch a lot of films, he watches a lot of films.
• I seem OK, we seem OK, it seems OK.

The Present Continuous

The tense of a verb tells us when the action was done. The action can be done in the past, present or future.

When do I use the present tense?
There are two types of present tense -

2. Present continuous

Use the present continuous form of a verb when:

• The action isn't a single action, it is an action that carries on. It is good for describing what people are doing at a particular moment.
  e.g. I am kicking the ball.
  He is walking the dog.

The present continuous is made by having am, is or are + the verb + 'ing'.

I	am	working hard
you we they	are	working hard
he she it	is	working hard

NOTE! Sometimes you can use the present continuous to talk about the future.
e.g. I am going on holiday on Friday.
This is explained in factsheet 5.

Talking about the past (1)

The tense of a verb tells us when the action was done. The action can be done in the past, present or future.

When do I use the past tense?
There are many ways of talking about the past in English, but the two main ones are the simple past and the continuous past.

1. Simple past

Use the simple past form of a verb when you are talking about an action that took place at a specific point in the past and that is now finished.
e.g. I kicked the ball and scored a goal.
I walked the dog yesterday.
I went to Florida last year.

NOTE! The simple past is formed in different ways for regular and irregular verbs. For regular verbs there is a rule, but irregular verbs just have to be learned!

e.g. 'I live in London now, but I lived in France for five years' = regular simple past tense
'I normally go to work by bus, but yesterday I went in the car' = irregular simple past tense

Talking about the past (2)

The tense of a verb tells us when the action was done. The action can be done in the past, present or future.

When do I use the past tense?
There are many ways of talking about the past in English, but the two main ones are the simple past and the continuous past.

2. Past continuous

Use the past continuous form of a verb when you want to talk about a long action that carried on in the past. The continuous past is often used to describe what people were doing when something else happened.
e.g. I was kicking the ball when Dave broke his arm.
He was walking the dog when I saw George.

The past continuous is made by having was, or were + the verb + 'ing'.

I he she it	was	working hard
you we they	were	working hard

Talking about the future

The tense of a verb tells us when the action was done. The action can be done in the past, present or future.

When do I use the future tense?
There are three main ways of talking about the future. You can say:

• I will work late tomorrow. = future tense
• I am working late tomorrow. = present continuous tense
• I am going to work late tomorrow. = 'going to' + verb

1. Future tense
This is made by 'will' or 'shall' + the verb, as in the example above 'I will work late tomorrow.'
Note that 'will' and 'shall' are often shortened.
e.g.
Autumn will soon be here.
It'll break if you drop it.
What will you do? I don't know what I'll do

2. Present continuous
You can use the present continuous when you are making plans. It's useful to talk about definite arrangements in the near future, as in the example above 'I am working late tomorrow.'
e.g.
What time are you leaving tomorrow? I'm leaving at 8 O'clock.
I'm going out tomorrow.
I'm getting a new car next week.

3. Going to
'Going to' + the verb is also useful to talk about plans. It suggests that something is decided.
e.g.
What are you going to do this evening?
I'm going to watch a film on TV.
I think it's going to rain.
He's going to play football.