Ingles IV

Tenses
Laura Daniela Murcia Bonilla
Past Tense
the Past Tense is used to talk about something that started and
finished at a definite time in the past.

The main rule is that for every verb in English, there is only one form
of it in the past tense.
(The exception is the Past tense of To Be, which has two forms: was
and were)
This is totally different from other languages such as Spanish, French,
Italian etc. where you change the verb ending for every subject.
For example: The past tense of the verb want is wanted.
Wanted is used as the past tense for all subjects/pronouns.

I wanted
You wanted
He wanted
She wanted
It wanted
We wanted
They wanted
So you just have to learn one word to be able to use it in the
past tense. In this case we just needed to learn the one
word wanted which can be used for all subjects (or people).
Irregular Verbs in the Past

Tense
Irregular verbs are ONLY irregular in affirmative/positive sentences.

(An exception to this is with the verb TO BE in the Past Tense).
For example: The past tense of GO is WENT.
It does not end in ED so it is considered irregular.
The word went is used for all subjects I, you, we, they, he, she, it.
I went to the beach
He went to the park.
She went to the zoo.
They went to the library.
BUT, as we mentioned before, it is only in its irregular form
(went) in sentences that are affirmative/positive.

Compare the following using GO in the past tense.
They went to the beach
They didn't go to the beach --- Didn't shows that we are
talking in the past tense.
Did they go to the beach? --- Did shows that we are talking
in the past tense.
Another example with an irregular verb.
The past of EAT is ATE.
You ate my cake.
You didn't eat my cake.
Did you eat my cake?
Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense in English is used to describe an
action that is regular, true or normal.
We use the present tense:
1. For repeated or regular actions in the present time period.

I take the train to the office.
The train to Berlin leaves every hour.
John sleeps eight hours every night during the week.
2. For facts.
The President of The USA lives in The White House.
A dog has four legs.
We come from Switzerland.
3. For habits.
I get up early every day.
Carol brushes her teeth twice a day.
They travel to their country house every weekend.
4. For things that are always / generally true.
It rains a lot in winter.
The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace.
They speak English at work.
Verb Conjugation & Spelling

We form the present tense using the base form of the
infinitive (without the TO).

In general, in the third person we add 'S' in the third
person.
Subject Verb The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they speak / learn English at home
he / she / it speaks / learns English at home
The spelling for the verb in the third person differs depending on the ending of
that verb:
1. For verbs that end in -O, -CH, -SH, -SS, -X, or -Z we add -ES in the third
person.
go goes
catch catches
wash washes
kiss kisses
fix fixes
buzz buzzes
2. For verbs that end in a consonant + Y, we remove the Y and add -IES.
marry marries
study studies
carry carries
worry worries
Note
NOTE: For verbs that end in a vowel + Y, we just add -S.
play plays
enjoy enjoys
say says
Negative Sentences in the

Simple Present Tense
Affirmative: You speak French.
Negative: You don't speak French.
You will see that we add don't between the subject and the verb. We use
Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they.
Affirmative: He speaks German.
Negative: He doesn't speak German.
When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn't between the subject and
the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that the letter S at the end of
the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person)
disappears in the negative sentence. We will see the reason why below.
Negative Contractions
Don't = Do not
Doesn't = Does not
I don't like meat = I do not like meat.
There is no difference in meaning though we normally use
contractions in spoken English.
Word Order of Negative

Sentences
The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English
in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.

Subject don't/doesn't Verb* The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they don't have / buy
eat / like etc. cereal for breakfast
he / she / it doesn't
* Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive
without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have
part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it
begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Questions in the Simple

Present Tense
To make a question in English we normally use
Do or Does. It has no translation in Spanish though it is essential to show we are making a question.
It is normally put at the beginning of the question.
Affirmative: You speak English.
Question: Do you speak English?
You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We
use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.
Affirmative: He speaks French.
Question: Does he speak French?
When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence
a question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is
in third person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.
We DON'T use Do or Does in questions that have the verb To Be or Modal Verbs (can, must,
might, should etc.)
Word Order of Questions with Do

and Does
The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do
or Does.
Do/Does Subject Verb* The Rest of the sentence
DoI / you / we / they have / need
want etc. a new bike?
Does he / she / it
*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive
without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have
part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it
begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.

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Tenses

Laura Daniela Murcia Bonilla

finished at a definite time in the past.

Wanted is used as the past tense for all subjects/pronouns.

Irregular Verbs in the Past

Irregular verbs are ONLY irregular in affirmative/positive sentences.

BUT, as we mentioned before, it is only in its irregular form

(went) in sentences that are affirmative/positive.

Simple Present Tense

We use the present tense:

1. For repeated or regular actions in the present time period.

Verb Conjugation & Spelling

infinitive (without the TO).

Negative Sentences in the

Word Order of Negative

in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.

Questions in the Simple

Word Order of Questions with Do

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