E N G LISH GRAM MAR

TENSES
TENSE SIMPLE CONTINOUS
I read I am thinking
PRESENT you read Every morning he reads the you are thinking "What arc you thinking about'r'
he/she/it reads newspapers he/she/it is thinking
. we/you/they read we/you/they are thinking
I have worked I have been waiting
PRESENT you have worked I have lived here since 1995. you have been waiting Dan has been waiting for Sue
PERFECT he/she/it has worked he/she/it has been waiting for three hours
we/you/they have \Yorked we/you/they have been waiting
I cleaned I \Vas talking
PAST you cleaned 1 cleaned my room last week. you were talking I was talking with Mary 111hile Ill\'
he/she/it cleaned he/she/it was talking brother was listening to his stereo.
we/you/they cleaned we/you/they were talking
I had started I had been swimming
PAST you had started The show had staried before you had been swimrn ing He had hccn swimming j(n· two
PERFECT he/she/it had started we arrived at the theatre. he/she/it had been swimming hours he/ore he rea ched
we/you/they had started we/you/they had been swimming the island .
I will play I will be flying
FUTURE you will play Mike will play Torn at chess you will be flying Luck'y you I You will be flying to
he/she/it will play tomorrow. he/she/it will be flying Hawaii at this ti111e tomorrow.
we/you/they will play we/you/they will be flying
I will lrnve finish ed I will have been doing
FUTURE yo~ will have finish ed Bv th e end of.June you will have been doing I will have been doing thi s job
PERFECT he/she/it will have finished we will have finished he/she/it will have been doing for thirty fi,·e years bv Ju Iv.
we/you/they will have finished school. we/you/they will have been doing

INDIRECT SPEECH
• Witlr reporting verbs in a present, present perfect orfi1ture tense, tlrere is no change of tenses: -
Sam sa: s, I ::rwant to walk out the, ~og " I' I
Peter says that he wants to walk out the dog .
Dan has said. We have lost our dog. -+ Jack has said that they have lost thelf dog .

• Witlr reporting verbs in tire past, the changes are: present

present
tense~
perfect~
past tense
past perfect
past tense~ past perfect
future~ future-in-the past
Alan said, " I am very hungry. I haven't eaten for -+ Alan said that he was very hungry, that he had not
hours. And I had breakfast at 6 o' clock in eaten for hours ; he mentioned that he had had
the morning I So I will order a large meal breakfast at 6 o 'clock in the morning. He added (that)
now - but first I would like some steak." he would order a large meal and would like some
steak for a start.
N.B.: Modals (mi£!:ht should, could) and tire second conditional do not chanf!e in the indirect speech.
• ·w ith both yes/no-questions and wh-questions, there is no question form in the indirect speech:
Sue asked. I" Is the po~t office near? " I' I
Sue asked if I whether the post office was near.
Paul a sked. "vv11ere did you meet G erry'/" -+ Paul asked me where I had met Gerry.
Witlr orders, requests and advice, the imperative changes into the il~finitive:
•
Mum sa id.
Dad <:::i irl
I "Take care of youl"
" Don't make so much noise! "
I'I-+ Mum advised me to take care.
Dad to ld me not to make so much noise .
this~ that these ~ those
• Otlrer changes refer to pmnouns and a(i((cfives:
Tlln "" ;r1 ·· l will see you at my office t 11s week". -+ Dan said he would see me at his office that week
• .4 d1·erhs of time and today -+ that day
place: tomorrow the next/ following day
yesterday the day before
the day after tomorrow -+ in two days' time
the day before yesterday two days before
la st weelJ month/ yea r the previous week etc.
two years ago two yea rs before
•,
he re there
 I N A N U T S H E L L
SIGNALS FOR THE TENSES

PRESENT every day/ week/ month/ year I do exercises every day

ii srMPLE alvvays, sometimes, never, often, seldom I often visit my grandparents in the country side.
He usually reads or listens to music in his free time.
usually, occasionally, regularly, generally
I at the weekends, on Monday mornings We go to the cinema at the weekends.
I She presents her report on Monday mornings.
i
I PRESENT now, at present, at the moment, currently Currently, I am preparing my exams.
We are studying this table right now
I CONTINUOUS this week/ month, right now
still, just I am still reading the book you lent to me.
look! Look! It's raining!
i
! PAST SIMPLE yesterday, last night/ week/ montlJ yea I finished my paper last night.
I two minutes/hours/weeks/months/years/ ago
in 2000, on March 26th
He left school two years ago.
She travelled to Spain in 1985.
I during our last meeting He talked all the time during our last meeting.
! PAST when ... , while. When she called me, I was just leaving.
j CONTINUOUS at three o'clock yesterday, at this time .. Where were you going at nine o'clock last night?
PRESENT . for She has worked on her project for two months.
I PERFECT smce She has worked on her project since· November.
His fax has just arrived.
already, just
I
!
yet
today/ this week/ mont!Jyear
Sorry, I haven't sent the reply yet.
No, I haven't seen her today.
i! iiJ over the last few \Neeks/ months/ years
so far, up to now, until now
In the last few years it has rained a lot.
Nothing has been decided so far.
lately, recently There have been many cultural events lately.
PRESENT for He has been working in this office for 35 years!
PERFECT smce She's been cooking since ten o'clock, no wonder
CONTINUOUS she's exhausted.
PAST after/\vhen After they had read the mies they understood the
PERFECT until that happened . grammar exercise.
a .long time before . /up to that time . Up to that holiday he had been very busy.
PAST before that happened ... Before they realized, they had been walking for
PERFECT until that happened . three hours.
CONTINUOUS
FUTURE soon She' I! be twenty years soon
SIMPLE tomorrow, next week/ mont!J year The exhibition will open next month.
in (the) future In the future astronauts will fly to Mars.
I think , I hope , l expect.. . I hope they' 11 arrive on time.
FUTURE at this time tomorrow/ next week/ montlJ At this time tomorrow I' 11 be reading my paper at
CONTINUOUS year the conference.
FUTURE by Monday/ July/ the end of. By the end of the year I will have finished the
PERFECT English course.
CONDITIONALS
l CONDITIONAL!
if-clause present simple
- future consequences of a present event
-promise
She will get Promoted if she learnsEnglish.
If you changeyour mind, please call me know.
I
t
main clause u 'ill + mf
1mnerat tve
- warning or threat If you get good marks, I -ll buy you roller skates.
Unless you stop this noise, I · j l ca 11 your parents.
I CONDITIONALII hypothetical situations: imagining If I had more free time, I "ould take up jogging.
I i I-clause past simple ff! was/weretalleL I could play basketball
'l 111ai11 ci<1use: il'(Ju/d could+ ll!f bargaining If you lentme your bicycle, l' cl s:i\'eyou my guitar.
I CONDITIONAL ID
I speculating about the past lfwe had hurried, we \1ould11 ·l ha1'c missectthe train.
'i i [-clause past perfect tense " Why clicln 't you tell me about that show'! lf l ha cl
m ;ll11 clau se 11 '0 11/d,co11hVinigh1 known,! might ha1 ·e gone there too.
+ hcl\'(:' + Dast p;1rt1ciple If it hadn't been for Jim. we· cl haie scot lost
CONDITfONALO stating a general rule Lf you don ' t clovour homework, you get poor marks
i I-clau se present simple if = when(ever) lfthe wind blows from the west, it rains
111ain clause mesent simole lf you pressthe red button, the machine stons.