Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Tenses

Tense classification flow chart:

Tense classification tree:

Phrasal verbs

Some verbs are two part verbs (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases). They consist of a verb and a particle:

grow + up
>> The children are growing up.

Often this gives the verb a new meaning:

take + after
>> She takes after her mother
= She looks like her mother, or She behaves like her mother.
count + on
>> I know I can count on you
= I know I can trust you, or I know I can believe you.

Some transitive two part verbs (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases) have only one pattern:
N (subject) + V + p + N (object)
[Note: N = noun; V = verb; p = particle]

N (Subject)	Verb	Particle	N (Object)
She I My father	takes can count comes	after on from	her mother you Madrid

Some transitive two part verbs (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases) are phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs have two different patterns:
• The usual pattern is: N + V + N + p

N (Subject)	Verb	(N) Object	Particle
She He We	gave knocked will be leaving	the money the glass our friends and neighbours	back over behind

• But sometimes these verbs have the pattern: N (subject) + V + p + N (object)

N (Subject)	Verb	Particle	N (Object)
She He We	gave knocked will be leaving	back over behind	the money the glass our friends and neighbours

When the object is a personal pronoun,these verbs always have the pattern:
N + V +N + p:

~~She gave back it~~
>> She gave it back
~~He knocked over it~~
>> knocked it over
~~We will be leaving behind them~~
>> We will be leaving them behind

• Phrasal verbs are nearly always made up of a transitive verb and a particle. Common verbs with their most frequent particles are:

bring:	about, along, back, forward, in, off, out, round, up
buy:	out, up
call:	off, up
carry:	off, out
cut:	back, down, off, out, up
give:	away, back, off
hand:	back, down, in, on out, over, round
knock:	down, out, over
leave:	behind, out
let:	down, in, off, out
pass:	down, over, round
point:	out
push:	about, around, over
put:	across, away, down, forward, off, on, out, through, together, up
read:	out
set:	apart, aside, back, down
shut:	away, in, off, out
take:	apart, away, back, down, in, on, up, over
think:	over, through, up

We use the to-infinitive:
• to express purpose (to answer "Why...?"):

He bought some flowers to give to his wife.
He locked the door to keep everyone out.

We sometimes say in order to or in order not to:

We set off early in order to avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly in order not to wake the children

… or we can say so as to or so as not to:

We set off early so as to avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly so as not to wake the children.

• after certain verbs (see verbs followed by infinitive), particularly verbs of thinking and feeling:

choose, decide, expect, forget, hate, hope, intend, learn, like,
love, mean, plan, prefer, remember, want, would like, would love

… and verbs of saying:

agree, promise, refuse

They decided to start a business together.
Remember to turn the lights out.

Some verbs are followed by a direct object and the infinitive(see verbs followed by infinitive):

advise, ask, encourage, invite, order, persuade, remind, tell, warn,
expect, intend, would prefer, want, would like

She reminded me to turn the lights out.
He encouraged his friends to vote for him.

• after certain adjectives.
Sometimes the to-infinitive gives a reason for the adjective:

disappointed
glad
sad
happy
anxious
pleased
surprised
proud
unhappy

We were happy to come to the end of our journey
= We were happy because we had come to the end of our journey
John was surprised to see me
= He was surprised because he saw me

Other adjectives with the to-infinitive are:

able
unable
due
eager
keen
likely
unlikely
ready
prepared
unwilling
willing

Unfortunately I was unable to work for over a week.
I am really tired. I’m ready to go to bed.

We often use the to-infinitive with these adjectives after it to give opinions:

difficult
easy
possible
impossible
hard
right
wrong
kind
nice
clever
silly
foolish

It’s easy to play the piano, but it’s very difficult to play well.
He spoke so quickly it was impossible to understand him.

We use the preposition for to show who these adjectives refer to:

difficult
easy
possible
impossible
hard

It was difficult for us to hear what she was saying.
It is easy for you to criticise other people.

We use the preposition of with other adjectives:

It’s kind of you to help.
It would be silly of him to spend all his money.

• As a post modifier (see noun phrases) after abstract nouns like:

ability
desire
need
wish
attempt
failure
opportunity
chance
intention

I have no desire to be rich.
They gave him an opportunity to escape.
She was annoyed by her failure to answer the question correctly.

• We often use a to-infinitive as a post modifier after an indefinite pronoun (See indefinite pronouns):

When I am travelling I always take something to read.
I was all alone. I had no one to talk to.
There is hardly anything to do in most of these small towns.

Both tenses have a continuous form. These continuous tenses are formed with the verb be and the –ing form of the verb:
We use continuous aspect:

for something happening before and after a given time.

He’s getting on the train. [before and after the moment of speaking]
It was quarter past ten. We were watching the news on television.

for something continuing before and after another action:

Mother will be cooking the dinner when we get home.
We were waiting for the bus when it started to rain.

for something continuing for some time:

Everybody will be waiting for us.
They had been working hard all day.

for something happening again and again:

They’ve been doing that every day this week.
The children were always shouting.
He will be practising the piano every night.

for something temporary:

We are renting an apartment until our house is ready..
He was working in a garage during the vacation.

for something new:

We have moved from Birmingham. We’re living in Manchester now.
He had left university and was working in his father’s business.

to describe something changing or developing:

Everything has been getting more difficult.
He was growing more bad-tempered every day.

We use the present perfect to show that something has continued up to the present

They’ve been married for nearly fifty years.

She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

… or is important in the present:

I’ve lost my keys. I can’t get into the house.
Teresa isn’t at home. I think she has gone shopping.

We use the present perfect continuous to show that something has been continuing up to the present:

It’s been raining for hours.
We’ve been waiting here since six o’clock this morning.

We use the past perfect to show that something continued up to a time in the past:

When George died he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.

... or was important at that time in the past:

I couldn’t get into the house. I had lost my keys.
Teresa wasn’t at home. She had gone shopping.

We use the past perfect continuous to show that something had been continuing up to a time in the past or was important at that time in the past:

Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.
He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a teenager.

We use will with the perfect to show that something will be complete at some time in the future:

In a few years they will have discovered a cure for the common cold.
I can come out tonight. I'll have finished my homework by then.

We use would with the perfect to refer to something that did not happen in the past but would have happened if the conditions had been right:

If you had asked me I would have helped you.
I would have helped you, but you didn’t ask me.
You didn’t ask me or I would have helped you.

We use other modals with perfective aspect when we are looking back from a point in time when something might have happened, should have happened or would have happened.
The point of time may be in the future:

We’ll meet again next week. We might have finished the work by then.
I will phone at six o’clock. He should have got home by then.

the present:

It’s getting late. They should have arrived by now.
He’s still not here. He must have missed his train.

or the past:

I wasn’t feeling well. I must have eaten something bad.
I checked my cell phone. She could have left a message.

We use the verb had and the past participle for the past perfect:

I had finished the work.
She had gone .

The past perfect continuous is formed with had been and the -ing form of the verb:

I had been finishing the work
She had been going.

The past perfect is used in the same way as the present perfect, but it refers to a time in the past, not the present.
We use the past perfect tense:

for something that started in the past and continued up to a given time in the past:

When George died he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.
She didn’t want to move. She had lived in Liverpool all her life.

We normally use the past perfect continuous for this:

She didn’t want to move. She had been living in Liverpool all her life.
Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

for something we had done several times up to a point in the past and continued to do after that point:

He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a teenager.
He had written three books and he was working on another one.
I had been watching the programme every week, but I missed the last episode.

We often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:

They had been staying with us since the previous week.
I was sorry when the factory closed. I had worked there since I left school.
I had been watching that programme every week since it started, but I missed the last episode.

when we are reporting our experience and including up to the (then) present:

My eighteenth birthday was the worst day I had ever had.
I was pleased to meet George. I hadn’t met him before, even though I had met his wife several times.

for something that happened in the past but is important at the time of reporting:

I couldn’t get into the house. I had lost my keys.
Teresa wasn’t at home. She had gone shopping.

We use the past perfect to talk about the past in conditions, hypotheses and wishes:

I would have helped him if he had asked.
It was very dangerous. What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month.

The past continuous is formed from the past tense of be with the -ing form of the verb:
We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

for something which continued before and after another action:

The children were doing their homework when I got home.

Compare:

I got home. The children did their homework.
and
The children did their homework when I got home.

As I was watching television the telephone rang.

This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:

The other day I was waiting for a bus when …
Last week as I was driving to work …

for something that happened before and after a particular time:

It was eight o’clock. I was writing a letter.

Compare:

At eight o’clock I wrote some letters.

In July she was working in McDonald’s.

.to show that something continued for some time:

My head was aching.
Everyone was shouting.

for something that was happening again and again:

I was practising every day, three times a day.
They were meeting secretly after school.
They were always quarrelling.

with verbs which show change or growth:

The children were growing up quickly.
Her English was improving.
My hair was going grey.
The town was changing quickly.

Forms

With most verbs the past tense is formed by adding -ed:
call >> called; like >> liked; want >> wanted; work >> worked
But there are a lot of irregular past tenses in English. Here are the most common irregular verbs in English, with their past tenses:

infinitive	irregular past
be begin break bring buy build choose come cost cut do draw drive eat feel find get give go have hear hold keep know leave lead let lie lose make mean meet pay put run say sell send set sit speak spend stand take teach tell think understand wear win write	was/were began broke brought bought built chose came cost cut did drew drove ate felt found got gave went had heard held kept knew left led let lay lost made meant met paid put ran said sold sent set sat spoke spent stood took taught told thought understood wore won wrote

Use

We use the past tense to talk about:

something that happened once in the past:

I met my wife in 1983.
We went to Spain for our holidays.
They got home very late last night.

something that happened again and again in the past:

When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day.
We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

something that was true for some time in the past:

I lived abroad for ten years.
He enjoyed being a student.
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

we often use phrases with ago with the past tense:

I met my wife a long time ago.

Questions and negatives

We use did to make questions with the past tense:

When did you meet your wife?
Where did you go for your holidays?
Did she play tennis when she was younger?
Did you live abroad?

But look at these questions:

Who discovered penicillin?
Who wrote Don Quixote?

For more on these questions see question forms
We use didn’t (did not) to make negatives with the past tense:

They didn’t go to Spain this year.
We didn’t get home until very late last night.
I didn’t see you yesterday.

There are two tenses in English – past and present.
The past tense in English is used:

to talk about the past
to talk about hypotheses – things that are imagined rather than true.
for politeness.

There are four past tense forms in English:

Tense	Form
Past simple:	I worked
Past continuous:	I was working
Past perfect:	I had worked
Past perfect continuous:	I had been working

We use these forms:

to talk about the past:

He worked at McDonald’s. He had worked there since July..
He was working at McDonald’s. He had been working since July.

to refer to the present or future in conditions:

He could get a new job if he really tried.
If Jack was playing they would probably win.

and hypotheses:

It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.
I would always help someone who really needed help.

and wishes:

I wish it wasn’t so cold.

In conditions, hypotheses and wishes, if we want to talk about the past, we always use the past perfect:

I would have helped him if he had asked.
It was very dangerous, What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month.

We can use the past forms to talk about the present in a few polite expressions:

Excuse me, I was wondering if this was the train for York.
I just hoped you would be able to help me.

The present tense is the base form of the verb: I work in London.
But the third person (she/he/it) adds an -s: She works in London.

Use

We use the present tense to talk about:

something that is true in the present:

I’m nineteen years old.
He lives in London.
I’m a student.

something that happens again and again in the present:

I play football every weekend.

We use words like sometimes, often. always, and never (adverbs of frequency) with the present tense:

I sometimes go to the cinema.
She never plays football.

something that is always true:

The adult human body contains 206 bones.
Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.

something that is fixed in the future.

The school term starts next week.
The train leaves at 1945 this evening.
We fly to Paris next week.

Questions and negatives

Look at these questions:

Do you play the piano?
Where do you live?
Does Jack play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?
Where do they work?

With the present tense, we use do and does to make questions. We use does for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do for the others.

We use do and does with question words like where, what and why:

But look at these questions with who:

Who lives in London?
Who plays football at the weekend?
Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?

Look at these sentences:

I like tennis, but I don’t like football. (don’t = do not)
I don’t live in London now.
I don’t play the piano, but I play the guitar.
They don’t work at the weekend.
John doesn’t live in Manchester. (doesn’t = does not)
Angela doesn’t drive to work. She goes by bus.

With the present tense we use do and does to make negatives. We use does not (doesn’t) for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do not (don’t) for the others.

The present continuous tense is formed from the present tense of the verb be and the present participle (-ing form) of a verb:

Use
1. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the present:

for something that is happening at the moment of speaking:

I’m just leaving work. I’ll be home in an hour.
Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.

for something which is happening before and after a given time:

At eight o’clock we are usually having breakfast.
When I get home the children are doing their homework.

for something which we think is temporary:

Michael is at university. He’s studying history.
I’m working in London for the next two weeks.

for something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.
What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowadays? What sort of music are they listening to?

to show that something is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing quickly.
The climate is changing rapidly.
Your English is improving.

for something which happens again and again:

It’s always raining in London.
They are always arguing.
George is great. He’s always laughing.

Note: We normally use always with this use.

2. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the future:

for something which has been arranged or planned:

Mary is going to a new school next term.
What are you doing next week?

3. We can use the present continuous to talk about the past:

When we are telling a story:

When we are summarising the story from a book, film or play etc.

The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of a verb:
The present perfect continuous is formed with have/has been and the -ing form of the verb:

Use

We use the present perfect tense:

for something that started in the past and continues in the present:

They’ve been married for nearly fifty years.
She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

Note: We normally use the present perfect continuous for this:

She has been living in Liverpool all her life.
It’s been raining for hours.

for something we have done several times in the past and continue to do:

I’ve played the guitar ever since I was a teenager.
He has written three books and he is working on another one.
I’ve been watching that programme every week.

We often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:

They’ve been staying with us since last week.
I have worked here since I left school.
I’ve been watching that programme every week since it started.

when we are talking about our experience up to the present:

Note: We often use the adverb ever to talk about experience up to the present:

My last birthday was the worst day I have ever had.

Note: and we use never for the negative form:

Have you ever met George?
Yes, but I’ve never met his wife.

for something that happened in the past but is important at the time of speaking:

I can’t get in the house. I’ve lost my keys.
Teresa isn’t at home. I think she has gone shopping.
I’m tired out. I’ve been working all day.

We use the present perfect of be when someone has gone to a place and returned:

A: Where have you been?
B: I’ve just been out to the supermarket.

A: Have you ever been to San Francisco?
B: No, but I’ve been to Los Angeles.

But when someone has not returned we use have/has gone:

A: Where is Maria? I haven’t seen her for weeks.
B: She's gone to Paris for a week. She’ll be back tomorrow.

We often use the present perfect with time adverbials which refer to the recent past:

just; only just; recently;

Scientists have recently discovered a new breed of monkey.
We have just got back from our holidays.

or adverbials which include the present:
ever (in questions); so far; until now; up to now; yet (in questions and negatives)
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Where have you been up to now?
Have you finished your homework yet?
No, so far I’ve only done my history.

WARNING:

We do not use the present perfect with an adverbial which refers to past time which is finished:

I have seen that film ~~yesterday~~.
We have just bought a new car ~~last week~~.
~~When we were children~~ we have been to California.

But we can use it to refer to a time which is not yet finished:

Have you seen Helen today?
We have bought a new car this week.

LUGHA NA FASIHI

Pages

Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Tenses

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Phrasal verbs

to + infinitive

Continuous aspect

Perfective aspect

Past perfect

Past continuous

Simple past

Forms

Use

Questions and negatives

Past tense

Simple present

Use

Questions and negatives

Present continuous

Present perfect

Use

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