English Grammar Review: Verb Tenses and Usage
Present Continuous
Uses:
- To express something that we are doing or is happening now.
Example: We are studying English now. - To express something that we are doing or is happening for a period of time.
Example: We are staying at my grandparents’ house for a month. - To express a future arrangement (things that are planned in our diary).
Example: My class is going on a school trip on the 22nd.
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + VERB to be (am/is/are) + verb in -ing form + complements
- Negative: Subject + VERB to be (am/is/are) + not + verb in -ing form + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + VERB to be (am/is/are) + Subject + verb in -ing form + complements?
Special Points for -ing Form:
- -e ending: -e disappears and we add –ing. (dance / dancing)
- 1 syllable verb (c + v + c): we double the last consonant and we add –ing. (stop / stopping, clap / clapping)
- -y ending: -y never disappears and we add –ing. (play / playing, cry / crying)
- -l ending: we write double l and we add –ing. (travel / travelling)
- Two syllable verb, stressed at the end: We double the last consonant. (begin / beginning)
- –ie ending: we change –ie to y and we add –ing. (die / dying, lie / lying)
Examples:
Use 1:
- Affirmative: My father is reading a book now.
- Negative: My father isn’t reading a book at the moment.
- Interrogative: Is my father reading a book right now? Yes, he is / no, he isn’t.
Use 2:
- Affirmative: They are living with their grandparents for a month.
- Negative: They aren’t living with their grandparents for two weeks.
- Interrogative: Who are they living with for a week? They are living with their grandparents.
Use 3:
- Affirmative: They are buying a new bike next week.
- Negative: They aren’t buying a new bike next month.
- Interrogative: Are they buying a new bike next year? Yes, they are / no, they aren’t.
- Interrogative: What are they buying next week? They are buying a new bike.
Past Tense
Verb To Be:
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + WAS/WERE + complements
- Negative: Subject + WAS/WERE + NOT + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + WAS/WERE + Subject + complements?
There Was/Were:
Formulas:
- Affirmative: There was/were …
- Negative: There was not/wasn’t …
- Interrogative: Wh-word + was/were there …?
Past Simple
Use:
To express an action that we did or happened in the past.
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + VERB in PAST + complements
- Negative: Subject + DID + NOT + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + DID + Subject + verb in INFINITIVE + complements?
Special Points for Regular Verbs (Affirmative):
- –e ending, we only add –d. (dance / danced)
- 1 syllable verb, (c + v + c): we double the last consonant and we add –ed. (stop / stopped)
- Y ending:
- If there is a vowel before -y, -y never disappears and we add –ed. (play / played)
- If there is a consonant before -y, -y changes into –i and we add -ed. (cry / cried)
- -l ending: we write double l and we add –ed. (travel / travelled)
- Two syllable verb, stressed at the end: We double the last consonant. (prefer / preferred)
Time Expressions:
- Yesterday
- The day before yesterday
- Last week/month/year
- 2, 3, 4, … days ago
Position: We place these time expressions at the end of the sentence and, occasionally, at the beginning with a comma.
Past Continuous
Use:
To talk about an action in progress at a specific time in the past.
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + VERB to be in PAST (was/were) + verb in -ing form + complements
- Negative: Subject + VERB to be in PAST (was/were) + not + verb in -ing form + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + VERB to be in PAST (was/were) + Subject + verb in -ing form + complements?
Special Points for -ing Form:
(Same as Present Continuous)
Time Expressions:
- Yesterday morning/afternoon/evening
- At + time (at 6 am/pm)
- Last week/month/year
- 2, 3, 4, … days/weeks/months/years ago
Position: We place these time expressions at the end of the sentence and, occasionally, at the beginning with a comma.
Important:
We use while or as before Past Continuous.
Present Perfect Simple
Uses:
- To express an action that we did or happened in the past and we can see the effects in the present.
- To express an action that has happened recently (with just).
- An action that started in the past and carries on in the present.
- To express a past action without telling when it was done.
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + HAVE/HAS + VERB in PAST PARTICIPLE + complements
- Negative: Subject + HAVEN’T/HASN’T + VERB in PAST PARTICIPLE + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + HAVE/HAS + Subject + VERB in PAST PARTICIPLE + complements?
Special Points for Regular Verbs:
(Same as Past Simple)
Time Markers:
- Just: Position – before the past participle
- Already: Position – before the past participle
- Yet: Position – at the end of the sentence
- For: duration
- Since: starting point
- This morning/week/month/year: Position – at the end of the sentence
- Lately: Position – at the end of the sentence
- Recently: Position – at the end of the sentence
- Ever: Position – before the past participle
- Never: Position – before the past participle
- Always: Position – before the past participle
Countable & Uncountable Nouns
Determiners:
- A/an: countable nouns in singular
- Some/any: countable nouns in plural / uncountable in singular
- The: used to refer to a noun mentioned before
Quantifiers:
- A lot of: countable and uncountable nouns
- Many: countable nouns in plural
- Much: uncountable nouns
- How much/How many: used in questions
There Is/Are:
Formulas:
- Affirmative: There is/are …
- Negative: There is not/isn’t/There are not/aren’t …
- Interrogative: Wh-word + is/are there …?
Modal Verbs
Can:
Uses:
- To express ability
- Permission
- Request
- To express possibility
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + CAN + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Negative: Subject + CAN + NOT (CAN’T) + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + CAN + Subject + verb in INFINITIVE + complements?
Could:
Uses:
- To express ability in the past
- Request (ask for permission politely)
- To express possibility in the past
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + COULD + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Negative: Subject + COULD + NOT (COULDN’T) + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + COULD + Subject + verb in INFINITIVE + complements?
Should:
Use:
To give advice.
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + SHOULD + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Negative: Subject + SHOULD + NOT (SHOULDN’T) + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + SHOULD + Subject + verb in INFINITIVE + complements?
Must/Mustn’t:
Use:
- Must: To express obligation or necessity
- Mustn’t: To express something is forbidden
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + MUST + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Negative: Subject + MUST + NOT (MUSTN’T) + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + MUST + Subject + verb in INFINITIVE + complements?
Had To:
Past form of MUST
Formulas:
- Affirmative: Subject + HAD TO + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Negative: Subject + DID + NOT + HAVE TO + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
- Interrogative: Wh-word + DID + subject + HAVE TO + verb in INFINITIVE + complements?