GRAMMAR FILE

Section 1: Tenses

THE PRESENT TENSES

THE PRESENT SIMPLE AND THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

THE PRESENT SIMPLE THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

FORM: short inf + s/es (3rd person sg.) FORM: am/ are/ is + vb-ing
1. Habitual, repeated action 1. Action in progress at the moment of speaking
Eg. Jane works in the garden every weekend. Eg. Jane is working in the garden.
2. Permanent state/ situation
2. Temporary state/ situation
Eg. (1) John lives in London,
he is staying in Paris these days.
BUT
he is being very rude today.
(2) John is usually a very polite guy, BUT
3. Permanent state/ situation 3. Changing state/ situation
Eg. The rainy season comes every six months. Eg. The Earth’s climate is getting hotter and hotter.
4. Future: Personal programme (the subject is
4. Future: Official programme/ schedule
the doer of the action)
Eg. The train leaves at 10 pm.
Eg. I’m meeting my parents tomorrow
5. General truth 5. Expressing irritation
Eg. The Earth moves around the sun. Eg. Jane is always taking my things!
6. Repetition of events of limited duration
6. In sports comments
Eg We’re having such a great time here at the
Eg. Beckham receives the ball, he shoots and he
seaside. We’re sunbathing and swimming every
scores.
morning.
7. Instructions and demonstrations
Eg. You separate the yolks from the whites and ---------
add the white to the entire composition.
8. In headlines
---------
Eg. Two airplanes crash into the WTC.
9. Historic present
---------
Eg. In 1922 James Joyce publishes Ulysses.
TIME ADVERBIALS:
 FREQUANCY ADVERBS;
TIME ADVERBIALS:
Always, often, usually, habitually,
 NOW
generally, sometimes, rarely, seldom,
 At this moment, this very moment
hardly ever, never
(instant)
 Every + day/ week/ month/ year
 Right now
 Every+ the days of the week/ months of
the year

 A MODERN APPROACH

VALUE THE PRESENT SIMPLE THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

Generic Value  It indicates the validity of a state at ----------
speech time without making
reference to a particular situation/
moment.
 Associated with state verbs
 Used in: - Scientific language
- Proverbs

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- Definitions
- Geographical
statements
- Instructions
- Specific game rules
 Timeless statements expressing
general/ universal truths
 It indicates that a situation is  A habitual action extending over
repeated with a certain frequency a limited period of time, generally
during an interval of time. specified
 They do not refer to a specific  Repetition of events of limited
moment in time; they refer to an duration (does not apply to the
individual or an object about which habit as a whole, but to each and
Habitual Value
the respective property is true at every event which is part of a
Speech Time. habit
 The sentences may be completely  An idiomatic meaning which
specified, indicating the frequency focuses on its gradual progress;
and the interval during which an + adj/ adv used in the
event takes place comparative
 It refers to an event which is
assumed to be simultaneous with
Speech Time
 Used in: - Sports commentaries
- Demonstrations
- War reports
Instantaneous
- Exclamations --------
Value
 The use of Present Simple renders
the sentence dramatic, insisting on
the total completion of the event
mentioned
 Habitual and generic sentences may
receive instantaneous reading
 It refers to a plan/ arrangement/
programme made by somebody
 It refers to official/ collective future
as the agent of the action
plans/ arrangements that can’t be
 always involve human volition,
Future Value altered
which is interpreted as imminent
 It may be related to timetables,
since they are fixed
schedule, itineraries
 can be contrasted with that of
the Simple Present
Past Value  the historic present; a storyteller’s ----------
license which is typical of an oral
narrative style
 often alternates with time adverbials
indicating the past
 used after verbs of linguistic
communication: tell, say, learn,
hear
 it emphasizes the persistence in the
present of the effect of a past
communication

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Section 1: Tenses

 it is employed when describing an

artist and his work; this feels as if
they were still alive (the artist still
survives through his work)
 in newspaper headlines to announce
recent events
 it may also refer to imaginary
situations
 employed in novels and stories or
stage directions
 it indicates temporary/
incomplete activity of limited
duration
Temporary  it may refer to activities in
-----------
Value progress at the very moment of
speaking or to a temporary
activity covering a more extended
period of time
 used with frequency adverbs:
Emotional always, constantly, continually
------------
Value  it suggests irritation/ amused
disparagement
 the progressive forms a temporal
frame around another action
expressed by means of a simple
present with a past value.
Temporal
-------------  The relationship is that of TIME
Frame Value
INCLUSION: the action denoted
by the simple form takes place
during the action expressed by
the continuous present.

A. THE PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

 FORM: HAVE/ HAS + PAST PARTICIPLE (the 3rd form of irregular vb-s/ vb- ED for regular vb-s)
 USES:
1. To talk about things that took place prior to the present moment (NOW/ ST 1) with an effect
or result in the present.
Eg. (1) I have broken my leg. (the action is recent; my leg is still broken and in plaster)
My leg is in plaster.

Recent action (ET) NOW (ST; RT)

Anteriority

1
ST = Speech Time (NOW)
RT = Reference Time
ET = Event Time

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2. To talk about events that took place in an indefinite past (vs. Past Simple: refers to definite
past events).
Eg. I have been to Paris twice. (the event took place sometime in the past, but it is not
exactly mentioned when)
3. When an event is unusual/ unique in your life (often with a superlative and ever/ never)
Eg. (1) I have never seen anyone who is so rude.
(2) London is the most beautiful city I have ever seen.
4. With the phrases: This is/ It’s/ That’s the first/ second .....time.....
Eg. (1) This is the first time I have been in Africa.
(2) It’s the first time I have ever got so out of control.
5. With report/comment verbs or phrases (guess, imagine, suppose...)
Eg. I guess they have forgotten all about the meeting.
6. In Time Clauses (after when, as soon as, until, before, the moment/ minute etc.) (we
CANNOT USE FUTURE IN A TIME CLAUSE)
Eg. After you have signed the contract, you won’t be able to change your mind.

 A MODERN APPROACH
 Indefinite Past Theory:
o The Present Perfect locates events somewhere before the moment of speaking,
but without pointing to any particular occasion.
o The time reference of the perfect is indefinite.
 Extended Now Theory:
o It analyses the perfect “as a marker of prior events which are nevertheless
included within the overall period of the present, the extended now”
o The perfect tense includes an action or state within certain limits of time; the
limits are those of a period which began in the past and extends up to or into the
present.
o From the point of view of the present the speaker looks back upon some
continuous stretch of the past and within this he places the action/ state. This
period may be:
 Momentary: The plane has just landed.
 Of considerable extent: The house has been abandoned for years.
 Including all past time: “Men have died from time to time and women
have eaten them, but not for love” (W. Shakespeare)
 At a pragmatic level:
o The Present Perfect is appropriate in all those uses in which the event described
has relevance for the discourse topic, a fact which can be evaluated entirely only
on the basis of contextual factors.

 TIME ADVERBIALS
 LATELY
Eg. Have you heard any news from John lately?
 RECENTLY (may also be used with Past Simple)

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Eg. I haven’t seen anything interesting recently.

 YET
Eg. I haven’t met anyone yet who can sing as beautifully as her.
I have yet to meet anyone who......
 ALREADY
Eg I have already done the task.
 JUST
Eg. The class has just finished

 SINCE..... (referring to the moment when the event occurred)

Eg. (1) I have lived here since I was born.
(2) I have lived here since 1998.
 FOR...... (referring to the period of time)
Eg. They have known each other for 20 years.

 PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE vs. PAST SIMPLE

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE PAST SIMPLE

Indefinite past event Definite past event
I have done this before. I did this last year.
Present effect/ result No connection with the present
Jane has painted the house. They painted their house a few months ago.
I haven’t eaten this morning. (the morning isn’t
I didn’t eat this morning. (the morning is over)
over)

B. THE PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

 FORM: HAVE/ HAS + BEEN + vb-ING
 USES:
1. To talk about events that took place during a period of time that extends from the past into
the present, including the present.
Eg. I have been living here all my life.

I have been living.....

When I was born (Past Simple) NOW (ST)

 TIME ADVERBIALS
 SINCE......
 FOR.........

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