Teacher Carlos

1

12 TENSES IN ENGLISH

Unlike most parts of speech, verbs change their form. These different forms, known as tenses, indicate the timing of an action, which is performed by the first, second, or third person.

Each verb must express a person (first, second, or third), a number (singular or plural), and a tense (past, present, or future).

It is very important to study all of the tenses, no matter what level you are in.

If you are in Level 1, youre required to perform in

simple present,

present progressive,

simple past,

and past progressive.

If you are in Level 2, youre required to perform in

simple present,

present progressive,

simple past,

past progressive,

and simple future.

If you are in Level 3, youre required to perform in

simple present,

present progressive,

simple past,

past progressive,

simple future,

future progressive

and present perfect.

Everyone must know all of the subject pronouns:

I

You

He

Third person

(singular)

She

It

We

You

They

Take a close look at the following 12-tense chart.

Past

Present

Future

Simple

I ate pizza yesterday.

To indicate a past habit or an action already completed.

Can be used with or without adverbs of time.

I eat pizza every day.

To express habits or general truth.

To indicate a future event on a designated date as part of a plan or arrangement.

I will eat pizza tomorrow.

To indicate an action, condition, or circumstance which hasnt taken place yet.

Progressive (continuous)

I was eating pizza when you arrived.

To indicate an uncompleted action of the past (with or without time reference).

To indicate persistence habits of the past with (always, continuously, forever, etc.)

I am eating pizza right now.

To indicate an action going on at the time of speaking.

To indicate a temporary action which may be happening at the time of speaking.

With a habitual action verb, especially to indicate a stubborn habit.

I will be eating pizza when you arrive.

To indicate what will be going on at some time in the future.

To indicate planned future events.

Perfect

I had eaten all of the pizza when you arrived.

To indicate a completed action of the past that happened before another event took place.

I have eaten all of the pizza.

To indicate a past action which is not defined by a time of occurrence.

To indicate an action which started in the past and has continued up until now.

I will have eaten all of the pizza by the time you arrive.

To indicate an action that will be completed before another event takes place.

Perfect progressive

(continuous)

I had been eating pizza for 2 hours when you arrived.

To indicate an action in the past that began before a certain point in the past and continued up until that time.

I have been eating pizza for 2 hours.

To indicate an action which started at some point in the past and may or may not be complete.

I will have been eating pizza for 2 hours when you arrive.

To indicate an action that will have happened for some time and will not be complete yet at a certain point in the future.

Before you get into the following charts, make sure you understand this first chart.

Simple form

Simple past

Past participle

WATCH OUT HERE!

Progressive form

play

played

played

playing

come

came

come

coming

stop

stopped

stopped

stopping

cut

Cut

cut

cutting

eat

Ate

eaten

eating

Lets use the verb COMER for all of the tenses.

Simple present

Conjugating the verb to be.

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + verb -to be + complement.

Subject pronoun + verb -to be + not + complement.

Verb -to be + subject pronoun + complement +?

I

Am

I

am

not

Am

I

?

You

Are

You

are

not

Are

you

?

He

Is

He

is

not

Is

he

?

She

Is

She

is

not

Is

she

?

It

Is

It

is

not

Is

It

?

We

are

We

are

not

Are

we

?

You

are

You

are

not

Are

you

?

They

are

They

are

not

Are

they

?

Conjugating other verbs.

Here, we need to be careful when adding (s or es) to a verb in third person. Also notice that were using do and does as auxiliaries.

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + verb (simple form) + complement.

Subject pronoun + auxiliary (do/does) + not + verb (simple form) + complement.

Auxiliary (do/does) + subject pronoun + verb (simple form) + complement +?

I

eat

I

do

not

eat

Do

I

eat

?

You

eat

You

do

not

eat

Do

you

eat

?

He

eats

He

does

not

eat

Does

he

eat

?

She

eats

She

does

not

eat

Does

she

eat

?

It

eats

It

does

not

eat

Does

it

eat

?

We

eat

We

do

not

eat

Do

we

eat

?

You

eat

You

do

not

eat

Do

you

eat

?

They

eat

They

do

not

eat

Do

they

eat

?

Present progressive

For this tense, we use forms of (to be) in simple present as an auxiliary verb + ing.

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + to be (am, is, are) + verb (ing) + complement.

Subject pronoun + to be (am, is, are) + not + verb (ing) + complement.

To be (am, is, are) + subject pronoun + verb (ing) + complement +?

I

am

eating

I

am

not

eating

Am

I

eating

?

You

are

eating

You

are

not

eating

Are

you

eating

?

He

is

eating

He

is

not

eating

Is

he

eating

?

She

is

eating

She

is

not

eating

Is

she

eating

?

It

is

eating

It

is

not

eating

Is

It

eating

?

We

are

eating

We

are

not

eating

Are

we

eating

?

You

are

eating

You

are

not

eating

Are

you

eating

?

They

are

eating

They

are

not

eating

Are

they

eating

?

Simple past

For this tense, we use the auxiliary -did.

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + verb (simple past) + complement.

Subject pronoun + auxiliary (did) + not + verb (simple form) + complement.

Auxiliary (did) + subject pronoun + verb (simple form) + complement +?

I

ate

I

did

not

eat

Did

I

eat

?

You

ate

You

did

not

eat

Did

you

eat

?

He

ate

He

did

not

eat

Did

he

eat

?

She

ate

She

did

not

eat

Did

she

eat

?

It

ate

It

did

not

eat

Did

it

eat

?

We

ate

We

did

not

eat

Did

we

eat

?

You

ate

You

did

not

eat

Did

you

eat

?

They

ate

They

did

not

eat

Did

they

eat

?

Past progressive

For this tense, we use forms of (to be) in simple past + (ing).

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + to be (was, were) + verb (ing) + complement.

Subject pronoun + to be (was, were) + not + verb (ing) + complement.

To be (was, were) + subject pronoun + verb (ing) + complement +?

I

was

eating

I

was

not

eating

Was

I

eating

?

You

were

eating

You

were

not

eating

Were

you

eating

?

He

was

eating

He

was

not

eating

Was

he

eating

?

She

was

eating

She

was

not

eating

Was

she

eating

?

It

was

eating

It

was

not

eating

Was

it

eating

?

We

were

eating

We

were

not

eating

Were

we

eating

?

You

were

eating

You

were

not

eating

Were

you

eating

?

They

were

eating

They

were

not

eating

Were

they

eating

?

Simple future

For this tense, we use the auxiliary -will.

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + auxiliary (will) + verb (simple form) + complement.

Subject pronoun + auxiliary (will) + not + verb (simple form) + complement.

Auxiliary (will) + subject pronoun + verb (simple form) + complement +?

I

will

eat

I

wont

eat

Will

I

eat

?

You

will

eat

You

wont

eat

Will

you

eat

?

He

will

eat

He

wont

eat

Will

he

eat

?

She

will

eat

She

wont

eat

Will

she

eat

?

It

will

eat

It

wont

eat

Will

it

eat

?

We

will

eat

We

wont

eat

Will

we

eat

?

You

will

eat

You

wont

eat

Will

you

eat

?

They

will

eat

They

wont

eat

Will

they

eat

?

*will + not = wont

Future progressive

For this tense, we use the auxiliary (will) + (ing).

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + auxiliary (will) + to be + verb (ing) + complement.

Subject pronoun + wont + to be + verb (ing) + complement.

Auxiliary (will) + subject pronoun + to be + verb (ing) + complement +?

I

will

be

eating

I

wont

be

eating

will

I

be

eating

?

You

will

be

eating

You

wont

be

eating

will

you

be

eating

?

He

will

be

eating

He

wont

be

eating

will

he

be

eating

?

She

will

be

eating

She

wont

be

eating

will

she

be

eating

?

It

will

be

eating

It

wont

be

eating

will

it

be

eating

?

We

will

be

eating

We

wont

be

eating

will

we

be

eating

?

You

will

be

eating

You

wont

be

eating

will

you

be

eating

?

They

will

be

eating

They

wont

be

eating

will

they

be

eating

?

Present perfect

For this tense, we use the verb (to have) in simple present as an auxiliary + (participle form).

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Subject pronoun + to have (have, has) + verb (past participle) + complement.

Subject pronoun + to have (have, has) + not + verb (past participle) + complement.

To have (have, has) + subject pronoun + verb (past participle) + complement +?

I

have

eaten

I

have

not

eaten

Have

I

eaten

?

You

have

eaten

You

have

not

eaten

Have

you

eaten

?

He

has

eaten

He

has

not

eaten

Has

he

eaten

?

She

has

eaten

She

has

not

eaten

Has

she

eaten

?

It

has

eaten

It

has

not

eaten

Has

it

eaten

?

We

have

eaten

We

have

not

eaten

Have

we

eaten

?

You

have

eaten

You

have

not

eaten

Have

you

eaten

?

They

have

eaten

They

have

not

eaten

Have

they

eaten

?

Now, you can take a sweet quiz. Write the tense each sentence belongs to.

1. He is smoking a very good cigarette. __________________________________________.

2. I believe we are young. ____________________________________________________.

3. That man over there is my friend. ____________________________________________.

4. She is my girlfriend. _______________________________________________________.

5. Those kids have been playing all day. _________________________________________.

6. We will have turkey for dinner tonight. _______________________________________.

7. My parents werent home last night. _________________________________________.

8. Money isnt everything. ___________________________________________________.

9. Do you have pets at home? _________________________________________________.

10. Did your sister go to Paris last month? ________________________________________.

11. What will you be doing tonight? _____________________________________________.

12. I am a student at UNAM. ___________________________________________________.

13. They arent studying for their test. ___________________________________________.

14. My neighbors were playing the guitar last night. ________________________________.

15. Ive been waiting for you. __________________________________________________.

Spanish note:

Espero y les sirva de algo este pequeo archivo que me llevo cerca de 4 horas para armarlo bien. En este archivo inclu todos los 12 tiempos. An no tienen que conocer los 12 para esta evaluacin, pero cada quin tendr que echarle un vistazo a la primera hoja para saber que estudiar de acuerdo a su nivel. El QUIZ que puse al final es para todos los que gusten analizar la estructura de las oraciones, algunas estn muy sencillas y otras no lo estn.

Estudien mucho porque como algunos de ustedes ya se habrn dado cuenta, the test is not a piece of cake. Lo digo por los que tuvieron la oportunidad de presenciar una simulacin del examen de rbricas.

I wish you the best on your test.

Teacher Carlos

1

12 TENSES IN ENGLISH

Unlike most parts of speech, verbs change their form. These different forms, known as tenses,

indicate the timing of an action, which is performed by the first, second, or third person.

Each verb must express a person (first, second, o

r third), a number (singular or plural), and a

tense (past, present, or future).

It is very important to study all of the tenses, no matter what level you are in.

If you are in

Level 1

, youre required to perform in

o

simple present,

o

present progressive,

o

simple past,

o

and

past progressive.

If you are in

Level 2

, youre required to perform in

o

simple present,

o

present progressive,

o

simple past,

o

past progressive,

o

and

simple future.

If you are in

Level 3

, youre required to perform in

o

simple present,

o

pre

sent progressive,

o

simple past,

o

past progressive,

o

simple future,

o

future progressive

o

and

present perfect.

Everyone must know all of the

subject pronouns

:

v

I

v

You

v

He

v

She

v

It

v

We

v

You

v

They

Take a close look at the following

12

-

tense

chart

.

Teacher Carlos

1

12 TENSES IN ENGLISH

Unlike most parts of speech, verbs change their form. These different forms, known as tenses,

indicate the timing of an action, which is performed by the first, second, or third person.

Each verb must express a person (first, second, or third), a number (singular or plural), and a

tense (past, present, or future).

It is very important to study all of the tenses, no matter what level you are in.

If you are in Level 1, youre required to perform in

o simple present,

o present progressive,

o simple past,

o and past progressive.

If you are in Level 2, youre required to perform in

o simple present,

o present progressive,

o simple past,

o past progressive,

o and simple future.

If you are in Level 3, youre required to perform in

o simple present,

o present progressive,

o simple past,

o past progressive,

o simple future,

o future progressive

o and present perfect.

Everyone must know all of the subject pronouns:

I

You

He

She

It

We

You

They

Take a close look at the following 12-tense chart.