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USAGES OF VERB TENSES

PRESENT SIMPLE
1. a present habit or routine e.g. She eats healthy food. (She always eats healthy.)
2. a general truth e.g. Water boils at 1oo0 C
3. a present situation (not temporary) e.g. He lives in Paris, he works there.
4. always with STATE VERBS:
a. verbs of the senses e.g. Do you hear anything?
b. verbs of opinion and understanding e.g. He doesn't understand English.
c. verbs of emotions and feelings e.g. She hates Japanese food.
5. in the first conditional
e.g. He will help you with the homework, if you ask him!

PRESENT CONTINUOUS OR PROGRESSIVE

1. a present and temporary activity e.g. Paul is studying a lot. (He doesn’t normally.)
2. an on-going activity of limited duration e.g. She is doing her homework now.
3. a future arrangement e.g. He is seeing his lawyer tomorrow. (an appointment)
4. repeated actions that irritate the speaker e.g. He is always screaming like that!.

PAST SIMPLE
1. you know precisely when the action took place in the past. e.g. I met her last week. (when? last week)
2. a past habit which is now finished e.g. She participated in tennis competitions. (not anymore now)
3. in the second conditional e.g. I would help you if I knew that you were in trouble.
4. a state or situation which started in the past and is now finished.
e.g. I worked in this company for 10 years. (I am working somewhere else now.)
5. a finished state or activity and the period of time in which it has taken place is finished.
e.g. I made lunch for my son this afternoon. (thelunch is finished and it is no longer afternoon)

PAST CONTINUOUS
1. a continuous action in the past which is interrupted by another action or a time:
e.g. I was sleeping when the phone rang.
2.background information, to give atmosphere to a story:
e.g. It was a great day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the children were playing on the
beach.
3. an annoying and repeated action in the past, usually with “always”:
e.g. He was always leaving the window opened.
4. for two actions which happened at the same time in the past:
e.g. I was cooking and my mother was washing the dishes.

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

1. you know that the action took place in the past, but you don't know when precisely.
e.g. I have seen this movie three times. (when? …you don’t know)
2. very recent past e.g. He has just left.
3. to announce news e.g. He has been elected President of the Company.
4. a state or situation which has started in the past and is continuing up to now.
e.g. I have learned in this school for 5 years.
5. a finished state or activity but the period of time in which it has taken place is not finished.
e.g. I have read a story this weekend. (the story is finished and it is still weekend)
6. a present result e.g. Paul has broken the window, we need to replace it.
 PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
1. unfinished actions which started in the past and continue to the present (we often use this
with for and since). e.g. I have been waiting for you for ten minutes.
2. actions which have just stopped (though the whole action can be unfinished) and have a result, which we
can often see, hear, or feel, in the present (focus on action).
e.g. I am so tired, I have been studying a lot lately.
3. to express irritation e.g. I have been waiting for hours and hours.

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

1. a completed action before something else in the past.
e.g. When we arrived, the film had started. (= first the film started, then later we arrived)
2. to explain or give a reason for something in the past. e.g. I had drunk a juice so I was not thirsty.
3. Stative verbs only: something that started in the past and continued up to another action in the past.
e.g. When he graduated, he had been in London for six years.
(= he arrived in London six years before he graduated and lived there continuously until he graduated, or
even longer)
4: As part of the third conditional. e.g. If I had known you were home, I would have called you.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. something that started in the past and continued up to another action or event (tells us 'how long')
e.g. She had been working at that company for a year when she met James.
2. cause of something in the past e.g. The pavement was wet, it had been raining.

FUTURE SIMPLE
1.a decision at the moment of speaking: e.g. A: 'I am hungry'. B: 'I'll prepare you a sandwich'.
2.prediction based on opinion: e.g. I think the Conservatives will win the next election.
3.a future fact: e.g. The sun will set at 21.00 o’clock.
4.promises / requests / refusal / willingness: e.g. I'll help you with your homework. Will you give me a
hand? I will give up smoking!
5.in the same way as the future continuous, but with state verbs: e.g. I'll be at the station when you arrive.

FUTURE CONTINUOUS
1. a complete action in the future that will happen in the normal course of events.
e.g.The Government will be making a statement later.
2. we often use this tense to ask politely about what someone is going to do:
e.g. Will you be taking your car to the meeting?
3. to make a guess about the present.
e.g. My mother will be working now (= I think she is working now, but I'm not completely certain)

FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE

1. With a future time word, (and often with 'by') to talk about an action that will finish before a certain time
in the future, but we don't know exactly when.
e.g. By 10 o'clock I will have finished my homework. (=I will finish my homework some time before 10, but
we don't know exactly when)
e.g. By the time I'm sixty, I will have retired. (= I will retire sometime before I'm sixty. We don't know
exactly when, but definitely before my sixtieth birthday)
2. as the future perfect continuous, but with stative verbs.
 FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS
1. with a time word, to talk about an action which starts before a time in the future and continues up to that
time.
e.g. In April 2009, I will have been teaching here for two years. (=I started in April 2007 and still
teach here now, probably I will continue after April 2009 but we are not sure).