Chapter 1: The Present Tense

A. Simple Present Tense To make statement about fact:: Examples: Rubber trees grow well in Malaysia. The weather is hot in Mecca. To express something habitual/daily: Examples: Habit: I wake up at 6.30 oclock every morning. Daily Activities: KFC closes at 11.00 p.m. every day. Singular & Plural Put s when the subject is singular. No s when the subject is plural. Look at the table:

Subject

Verb
grows is has

Singular Ina He She It Plural I You They We Ina and Lana

grow are have

B. Present Continuous An activity that is happening at the moment of speaking. Examples: Lan is talking to his best friend on the phone. Ina and Lan are jogging at the park now. The small boy is eating ice cream. An activity that happens over a given period. Not necessarily at the moment of speaking. Examples: My mother is working as a nurse in the hospital. Lona is trying to get into a university. I am taking two tuition classes this year. To express future time. Examples: The train is arriving at 3 oclock. To form the Present Continuous: Look at following chart; Be (verb) + verb- ing

Subject
Singular Ina He She It Plural You They We Ina and Lana I

Verb Be (verb) + verb- ing

Is + washing

are + washing

am + washing

C. Present Perfect Tense An action/ emotion that happen in the past & continue into the present. Examples: Lan has lived in Karak for ten years. They have always liked going to the beach. I have studied in this school for five years. An activity that has been repeated before the present time. Examples: They have flown in an aeroplane many times We have taken four Maths tests this semester. An action that happened in the past at an unspecified time. Examples: Ina has eaten lunch. Lan and Ina have read that story book. To form the present perfect: have/has + verb ed or en Examples: Singular Plural has + work-ed = has worked has + eat- en = has eaten have + work-ed = have worked have + eat-en = have eaten

D. Present Perfect Continuous Used to show the duration of an action that happened in the past and still continuing to the present time. Examples: Lan have been studying for five hours. We have been waiting for you since 3 oclock. Also used without mentioning the time. It expresses a general activity in current progress. Examples: Lan and Ina have been studying hard. Exams are just around the corner. I am extremely exhausted. I have not been getting enough sleep lately.

To form the Present Perfect Continuous: i) Positive form ii) Negative form Examples: Singular has + been + cook- ing = has been cooking (+ve) has + not + been + cook- ing = has not been cooking (-ve) have + been + wait-ing = have been waiting (+ve) have + not + been + wait-ing = have not been waiting(- ve) : : has/have + been + verb- ing has/have + not + been + verb- ing

Plural