PRESENT TENSES

Present Simple Subject + bare infinitive + object

Present Subject + am/is/are + gerund +

Continuous object

Examples:
Karen and Peeta study together at the University College London.

Max plays football with his nephew every Saturday.

I am cooking a lemon cake for Johns birthday.

They are trying to find the best answer.

Remember that we use:

Present simple: When we talk about habits and routines, factual information and also
opinions. We also use the present simple to describe films and books.
Present continuous: When we talk about actions that are happening now.

Present simple examples:

I study German every Tuesday and Thursday.

Water boils at 100 C and freezes at 0 C.

A mayor plays an important role in the development of a city.

Most of the plot of the Harry Potter novels takes place in a Scottish castle called
Hogwarts.

Present continuous examples:

Ian is studying History of Spain, he has a test tomorrow.

I called Meredith, but I think shes driving right now.

 We are cooking some scones for the tea time.

David Cameron is giving a speech at Trafalgar Square, I can hear him from here.

Exploring Past tenses 1

PAST TENSES

Past Simple Subject + past simple + object

Past Continuous Subject + was/were + gerund + object

Present perfect Subject + have/has + participle + object

Past perfect Subject + had + participle + object

Examples:
Damon and William studied together at the University of Limerick.

Max was playing football with his nephew last Saturday at 12 pm.

I have prepared a poem for Jessicas wedding day.

Although Louise couldnt remember it, he had been there before.

Remember that we use:

Past simple: When we talk about past actions and also situations that were
completed in the past.
Past continuous: When we talk about a past action that was being developed at
a time in the past.
We use both tenses combined to express interrupted actions.
Present perfect: Although we call it present, it is a tense that refers to the past.
We use it when we talk about a past action that has a result in the present.
Past perfect: It is the past of the present perfect. We normally use it to show the
action that happened first.

Examples:
I wrote a book when I was twelve.

Mary was travelling by plane one year ago today.

I have bought some tickets for the concert.

That was the most beautiful city I had ever seen.

Exploring tenses III

Exploring Future tenses 1

FUTURE TENSES

Will Subject + will + bare infinitive + object

Going to Subject + am/is/are + going to + bare

infinitive + object

Present simple (future Traditional present simple structure

meaning)

Present continuous (future Traditional present continuous

meaning) structure

Examples:
I will call the police if you dont leave immediately.
 Im really tired, Im going to sleep now.

Its 8:00 am and the train arrives at 9:15 am.

I am watching a movie on Saturday at seven oclock.

Remember that we use:

Will: When we talk about predictions and hopes, we make spontaneous
decisions or when we make offers and promises.
Going to: When we talk about plans and intentions.
Present simple: When we describe timetables.
Present continuous: When we have already made an arrangement with a
specific moment in time.

Dont worry, Ill go to your party.

Im going to buy an e-reader as soon as I can.

The train leaves at ten oclock.

We are meeting him at five oclock.

Preference Part 3a
We have learnt how to use rather and prefer to in the conditional tense in the
affirmative form. In order to use the negative form, we need to add not. Have a look
to the structure.
Would rather:
Subject + would rather + not + infinitive.
Would Prefer:
Subject + would + prefer + not + to + infinitive.
Remember that we always use to with prefer but never after rather.

Examples:
I would rather not go by plane.

I would prefer not to go by plane.

 I would rather not go out tomorrow.

I would prefer not to go out tomorrow.

Here is the interrogative form of would rather and would prefer.

Would rather: Would + subject + rather + infinitive
Would prefer: Would + subject + prefer + to + infinitive

Examples:
Would you rather have pizza?

Would you prefer to have pizza?

Would you rather go to Newcastle upon Tyne?

Would you prefer to go to Newcastle upon Tyne?

Preference Part 4a
We can use another structure with would rather to say what we prefer or when we
want somebody to do something. We need to use object pronouns and the past
simple tense.
Affirmative:
Subject + would rather + object + past simple
Negative:
Subject + would rather + object + past simple negative
Questions:
Would + subject + rather + object + past simple

Examples:
Id rather we stayed at the hotel tonight.

Id rather you didnt tell anything to anyone.

Would you rather I visited you today or tomorrow?

Notice that we are using the past simple tense with a different meaning. Analyse
these two examples:
Examples:
Lucy went to London yesterday.

I would rather we went to London tomorrow.

In the first example, went and yesterday show that Lucy went to London in the past, it
is something that has already happened.
In the second case, we use a past tense (went) but the meaning is present or future.
Its what we call subjunctive.