Verb Tenses

Simple Past
We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as
completed in the past.
We can use it to talk about a specific point in time.
She came back last Friday.
I saw her in the street.
They didn't agree to the deal.
It can also be used to talk about a period of time.
She lived in Tokyo for seven years.
They were in London from Monday to Thursday of last week.
When I was living in New York, I went to all the art exhibitions I could.
You will often find the past simple used with time expressions such as these:
Yesterday
three weeks ago
last year
in 2002
from March to June
for a long time
for 6 weeks
in the 1980s
in the last century
in the past
The Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is most often used for the following:
- For past events with a connection to the present
- With words of unfinished time
How to form the present perfect | Present perfect continuous
For past events with a connection to the present
The present perfect tense is quite complicated to explain. It is used
when an action that happened in the past continues to have a
strong connection in the present. The best way to understand it is
to look at some examples. They are followed in each case by a short
explanation:
I have lost my dictionary. (I don't have my dictionary now; can you

help me find it?)
Mary has fixed my computer (My computer is working now and I'm
happy about it!)
You haven't eaten very much. (Don't you feel well? Don't you like
it?)
I haven't read his letter. (I haven't had time yet. What does he say?)
Have you seen my calculator? (- I want to use it now!)
Has she had an accident? (- Someone said she's in hospital!)
Have you done your homework? (- It's due in today!)
With words of unfinished time
The present perfect tense is used with words or expressions of
unfinished time. Unfinished time started in the past and continues
into the present. (So you can see how this use of the present
perfect is connected with use 1 above.) Here are some sentences in
the present perfect. The expressions of unfinished time are shown
in bold.
I've played tennis 3 times already this week and it's only Thursday!
She's been back to Korea twice already this year, and she's going
again next week!
Sorry, I've seen that film already. I don't want to see it again.
I've lived in Germany since 1986.
She's had a lot of bad luck recently.
I haven't seen my mother for 2 months.
No, you can't use the bathroom. You haven't finished the
exerciseyet.
She hasn't called me lately? Do you think she's sick?
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Has he lived here all his life?
Has the postman been yet?
** Be careful: sometimes an expression of unfinished time can be
used with the past simple tense. Look at these examples and
explanations:
I drank three cups of coffee this morning.

The speaker is talking in the evening so for him this morning is
finished time.
I didn't see John today.
The student is talking after school when there is no more possibility
of seeing John on this day. Today becomes an expression of finished
time.
This year was a very good year for me!
This is possible if the speaker is talking very near to the end of the
year, and so in her opinion the year is finished. Therefore she uses
the past simple was.
Write the participle form of the following verbs.
1.
go
4.
buy
2.
sing
5.
do
3.
be
6.
Complete the table in present perfect simple. Write sentences in present perfect
simple.
1.
they / ask / a question -
2.
he / speak / English -
3.
I / be / in my room -
4.
we / not / wash / the car -
5.
Annie / not / forget / her homework -
Write questions in present perfect simple.

1.
they / finish / their homework -
2.
Sue / kiss / Ben -
3.
the waiter / bring / the tea -
4.
Marilyn / pay / the bill -
5.
you / ever / write / a poem -
Ask for the information in the bold part of the sentence.

1.
They have talked about art at school. -
2.
Jane has got a letter. -
3.
Oliver has cooked dinner. -
4.
Caron has read seven pages. -
5.
You have heard the song 100 times. -
Before submitting the test, check the following:
Got the spelling right?
Put in the full stop or question mark where required?
Used the correct key to type the apostrophe (Shift and #)?
In the test we cannot give you a second try. Such careless mistakes would therefore cost you
valuable points.
The Past Perfect Tense

We don't use the past perfect a lot in English, but it is useful, and it sounds very good if you can
use it correctly. Also, it's really easy to make - just the past simple of 'have' and the past
participle.
(Learn about USING the past perfect here)
The positive - make it with 'had' + the past participle (usually made by adding 'ed' to the
infinitive, but a few verbs have irregular past participles):
(Also, here's some help if you are not sure how to pronounce '-ed' at the end of a verb).
I had been (I'd been)
You had gone (you'd gone)
She had met (she'd met)
He had played (he'd played)
It had rained (it'd rained)
We had bought (we'd bought)
They had studied (they'd studied)
The short form for 'had' is 'd.

(Be careful not to confuse it with 'would'. Would is followed by the infinitive - 'I'd go',
whereas had is followed by the past participle - 'I'd gone').
For the negative just add 'not':
I had not been (I hadn't been)
You had not gone (you hadn't gone)
She had not met (she hadn't met)
He had not played (he hadn't played)
It had not rained (it hadn't rained)
We had not bought (we hadn't bought)
They had not studied (they hadn't studied)
Here's a exercise about the positive and negative forms.

And to make a 'yes / no' question put 'had' before the subject:
Had I come?
Had you eaten?
Had she gone?
When had I come?
Had it rained?
Why had you eaten?
Had he studied?
Where had she gone?
Had we met?
Had they left?
For 'wh' questions put the question

word at the beginning:

Verb Tenses

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Simple Past

She came back last Friday.

I saw her in the street.

They didn't agree to the deal.

It can also be used to talk about a period of time.

She lived in Tokyo for seven years.

They were in London from Monday to Thursday of last week.

three weeks ago

from March to June

for a long time

in the last century

The Present Perfect Tense

I have lost my dictionary. (I don't have my dictionary now; can you

I drank three cups of coffee this morning.

they / ask / a question -

we / not / wash / the car -

Annie / not / forget / her homework -

Write questions in present perfect simple.

they / finish / their homework -

Sue / kiss / Ben -

the waiter / bring / the tea -

Marilyn / pay / the bill -

you / ever / write / a poem -

Ask for the information in the bold part of the sentence.

They have talked about art at school. -

Jane has got a letter. -

Oliver has cooked dinner. -

Caron has read seven pages. -

You have heard the song 100 times. -

Before submitting the test, check the following:

Got the spelling right?

Put in the full stop or question mark where required?

The Past Perfect Tense

I had been (I'd been)

You had gone (you'd gone)

She had met (she'd met)

He had played (he'd played)

It had rained (it'd rained)

We had bought (we'd bought)

They had studied (they'd studied)

The short form for 'had' is 'd.

I had not been (I hadn't been)

You had not gone (you hadn't gone)

She had not met (she hadn't met)

He had not played (he hadn't played)

It had not rained (it hadn't rained)

We had not bought (we hadn't bought)

They had not studied (they hadn't studied)

Here's a exercise about the positive and negative forms.

Had you eaten?

Had she gone?

When had I come?

Why had you eaten?

Where had she gone?

Had they left?

For 'wh' questions put the question

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