Present simple

First lets look at the form, that is, how the tense is built.
Affirmative/Positiv
e

Negative

Interrogative/Question

I work
You work
He/she/it works
We work
They work

I dont work
You dont work
He/she/it
doesnt work
We dont work
They dont work

Do I work?
Do you work?
Does he/she/it work?
Do we work?
Do they work?

The form

Add 's' to the base form of the verb (sits, looks, hits,

fits)
Verbs ending in a consonant plus y, change y to i
and add 'es' (tries, fries, cries)
Verbs ending in o, s ,z, x, ch, and sh, add es (washes,
watches, does, buzzes)

Note in the negative form the auxiliary verb doesnt has the s so
the main verb does not need an s
Uses
Some uses of the present simple
Habits or routines (On Monday I play tennis, I
shower every morning)
Permanent situations, as opposed to temporary. (I
live in Scotland rather than I am living)
Facts (The sun rises in the East, Water boils at 100
degrees)
Imperatives, like directions and instructions
(Turn left, go straight on, walk over the bridge...)
Newspaper headlines (Joe jumps over the moon it is
actually reporting a past action, but uses the present simple)
Dramatic narrative (My mate goes into the room, the
piano stops and then... Here, we are using the present tense
to make a story more exciting by bringing it into the present)
Timetables and planned future events (The
plane leaves at 10 tomorrow, The show starts on Tuesday
evening.

Present continuous.
Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

I am playing (Im
playing)

I am not playing (Im

not playing)

Am I playing?

You are playing

(Youre playing)

You are not playing

(You arent playing
or Youre not
playing)

Are you playing?

He/she/it is playing
(Hes playing)

He is not playing (He

isnt playing or Hes
not playing)

Is he playing?

We are playing (Were

playing)

We are not playing

(Were not playing or
We arent playing)

Are we playing?

They are playing

(Theyre playing)

They are not playing

(They arent playing
or Theyre not
playing)

Are they playing?

Uses
Some uses of the present continuous
Action at time of speaking (I am writing at my
computer)
Temporary state or action (I am working in Milan this
week. If it was a permanent situation, we would be more
likely to use present simple)
Used with always for a regrettable habit (He is always
picking his nose! Students would expect to use present simple
to express habits, so this can be confusing.)
For future arrangements (I am playing tennis at 2pm
tomorrow. The future is arranged between two people and
the time set.)

Present perfect simple

This is a great tense and requires a lot of practice with

the students. Very basically, this tense links the past with the
present.
The form

Subject

Auxiliary verb

Past participle

I, you, we, they

have/havent

walked
drunk
broken

Uses
Some uses of the present perfect
An action that started in the past and continues to the
present (I have lived in Beauly for 3 years. I still live there
now.)
An action that has recently finished and the results are
still present (I have dropped the glass. There are still bits of
glass on the floor.)
An action that happened in the past, but with no time
frame (I have visited Japan, I have eaten Octopus. We dont
know when this happened. If we do talk about a time frame
then we would say I visited Japan in 2001 or I ate Octopus 2
years ago)
Used with words like yet, still, just, already (I have just
cleaned that! I have already started. These indicate different
attitudes of the speaker.)

Present perfect continuous

A few similarities with the previous tense, the present perfect
(simple), but tends to focus on the continuous or repeated activity.
The form
No need for tables now, you get the picture of the form, so heres a
brief version.
Subject + have/has + been + verb + ing
E.g. I have been shopping all afternoon.
Uses
Use of the present perfect continuous

A past activity with present results (Ive been baking all

afternoon. You can tell by all the flour. Using continuous
emphasises the length of time.)
Action that started in the past and is continuing (Ive
been living here all my life. Again the continuous emphasises
the duration of the action.)
Both of the examples above would work with the simple version of
the present perfect, so the continuous tense is generally used more
to emphasise the duration.

Past simple
The form
You put ed on the end of verb. (I visited, He shopped,
We travelled)
Unless the verb is irregular (I saw, He went, We broke)

Uses
Some uses of the past simple
For a past action with a time marker (I ate octopus
yesterday). Compare this to I have eaten octopus. Here there
is no time marker.
For past events that are discontinued (I rode a
skateboard when I was young. I dont anymore. Dinosaurs
roamed the Earth. They do not now. We can also use used
to for this)
For polite requests or suggestions (I wondered if I
might...)
For hypothetical present/future situations (If I won the
lottery, I would...)

Past continuous
The form
Like the present continuous, but we put the verb to be into the past.
was/were + verb + ing or wasnt/werent + verb + ing
E.g. I was walking, you were walking, etc.
Uses
Some uses for the past continuous
An action in progress at a specific time in the past (I
was eating octopus at 10 oclock yesterday evening. I was
eating octopus between 9.30 and 10.30 last night.)

An action in progress interrupted by another action (I

was eating octopus when the phone rang.)
Two simultaneous actions (I was eating octopus while
she was eating squid.)
Setting the scene (The sun was shining and the birds
were singing, Jack pulled out his gun.)

Past perfect simple

The form
Had + past participle
E.g. I had eaten half an octopus before the phone rang.
Uses
Some uses of the past perfect
To talk about an action that happened before another in
the past (By 10.30, Id eaten a whole octopus. I had eaten
half an octopus when the phone rang.)
To express regret (If only I hadnt eaten so much
octopus.)

Past perfect continuous

The form
Had + been + verb + ing
E.g. I had been eating octopus for 50 minutes.
Uses
Some uses of the past perfect continuous
This is similar to other uses of continuous in that we
talk about an action in progress. With past perfect continuous
you are simply looking at a past action that continues up to
another time in the past.
I had been eating for 2 hours before she came home.
(Emphasising the duration of the action)

Future 'going to'

The form
Subject + am/is/are + going to +verb

I am going to take the train to London.

Are you going to take a year out after university?
It isnt going to rain.

Uses
Some uses of future going to
I am going to take a year out next year. (Expressing an
intention, i.e. you have decided, but we do not know if you
have made arrangements yet. If you had, then we might
want to use present continuous to express that.)
Look at those clouds, its going to rain. (Prediction
based on evidence. Different from using will, this is more
certain because of evidence we have.)

Future simple
The form

Person

Affirmati
ve

Negati
ve

Interrogati
ve

Negative
interrogati
ve

I/We

I will go
Ill go

I will
not go
I wont
go

Will I go?

Will I not
go?
Wont I go?

You/They/He/Sh
e/It

You will go
Youll go

You will
not go
You
wont
go

Will you go?

Will you not

go?
Wont you
go?

Uses
Some uses of future simple
Ill be 21 next year. (To express certainty in the future.
Also, we could use present simple here, I am 21 next year.)
Ill have an octopus please. (Decision at time
of speaking, especially for volunteering, e.g. Ill do it! This is
different from going to where the decision was made well
before and is an intention.)
I think itll rain tomorrow. (Prediction. But less certain
than going to since it is not based on evidence, but
experience or knowledge.)

Ill do it if it kills me / Clean my car and Ill give you a

fiver/Touch my car and Ill smack you. (Expressing varying
levels of commitment and determination, here we have very
determined, a promise and a threat.)
Ah, thatll be the postman now. (We hear the letter box
and make a deduction. This is actually a present meaning!)

Future continuous
Form
Subject + will + be + verb + ing
Uses
Some uses of the future continuous
Shell be coming round the mountain at 12 oclock. (An
action in progress at a given time in the future)
Ill be arriving in town at 4pm. (Again, for a fixed
arrangement, but it gives more reassurance than Im arriving
in town at 6pm)
Hell be eating octopus now, I bet. (Speculating about a
present situation)

Future perfect simple

Form
Subject + will + have + past participle
E.g. I will have eaten 3 plates of octopus by the end of the evening.
Uses
Some uses of the future perfect
It is generally used for an action finishing before a
future time (I will have eaten 3 plates of octopus by the end
of the evening.)
Or when the future time is unstated or implied
(Whatever happens, we will have given them a good run for
their money.)
When we make a deduction about actions that have
already taken place (Hell have finished the octopus by now.)

Future perfect continuous

Form
Subject + will +have + been + verb + ing

E.g. I will have been eating Octopus for 3 hours.

Uses
Some uses of the future perfect continuous
The continuous form is used to emphasise the duration
of the action (He will have been eating for 3 hours)

Conditionals
These are statements using if and can refer to the past, present and
future.
Much easier to show you than explain! There are four types of
conditionals:
Zero conditional: If you boil water, it evaporates.
First conditional: If it rains, I will stay at home.
Second conditional: If I won the lottery, I would buy a big yacht.
Third conditional: If I had gone to Greece, I would have seen many
beautiful places.
You do not always need to use if, you can replace it with other words
or phrases like Provided, As long as, When etc.
Lets look at the detail:
Zero Conditional
If + present tense + present tense
This is used to express facts.
If/When you freeze water, it becomes ice.
First Conditional
If + present tense + future tense
This talks about something that is possible or probable in the future.
You can also use may, might, can etc.
If you come over tonight, we will have a party.
Second Conditional
If + past tense + would/could/might + infinitive verb
Used for when something is very unlikely in the present or future.
If you went into space, you would float about.
If it was snowing, would you build a snowman?
Third Conditional
If + past perfect + would/could/might + have + past participle of the

verb
This is used to talk about a past action and its result.
If I hadnt gone to the ceilidh, I would not have met my sweetheart.
Variations and Mixed conditionals
The conditionals are quite flexible in the form that they can take, so
dont be surprised to see forms such as:
If you dont go, Im going to call the police. (going
to instead of will)
This is the most common form of mixed conditional.

If I hadnt eaten that octopus (past), I wouldnt feel so

ill. (present)

Passive voice
Look at the differences below in the sentences and think
about why we use passive voice rather than active voice.

Active

Passive

>

The window was broken by

Harry.

Someone will find the answer

soon.

>

The answer will be found soon

(by someone).

People drink tea in China.

>

Tea is drunk in China.

>

Murder on the Orient

Express was written by Agatha
Christie.

Harry broke the window.

Agatha Christie wrote Murder

on the Orient Express.

We use the passive voice when we dont know who did

the action or do not really care, or when it is blindingly obvious
who did the action,

Passive voice
The form
To change from active voice to the passive voice, use the past
participle of the main verb. The object usually moves to the beginning
of the sentence. The tense is described by the verb to be.

For example
Active: They speak English in Scotland.
Passive: English is spoken in Scotland.

English is the object.

Is in the present simple (as was the active voice speak)
Spoken is the past participle of speak

Active: They will be speaking English all over the world in 2050.
Passive: English will be spoken all over the world in 2050.
English is the object
Will be is in the future simple tense since it cannot go
into the future continuous, it would have to be will be being
spoken, which is one instance of the verb to be too many!
Spoken is the past participle of speak