Learning Activity 2

English Tenses
A. Introduction

In this second learning activity, the students will learn about English tenses which
consist of Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Tense. This learning activity is
the continuation from the previous learning activity, Parts of Speech. Aftersucceed
in identifying English words’ Part of Speech, students can now construct
appropriate sentences based on the words’ class and function. In addition, by
learning this material, students will learn how to construct sentences based on its
context.
This meeting will cover Present Tense that consist of Simple Present Tense,
Present Continuous Tense, and Present Perfect. In addition, Past Tense will
involve the basic of the tenses and the comparison between Present Perfect and
Past Simple and Future Tense will focus on the context and the difference of using
“will” and “going to”.

B. Relevance
Materials in this learning activity are related to knowledge from previous meetings
which is Parts of Speech. By knowing the words’ class, types and function,
students can now create some sentences based on the context; present, past and
future.
Furthermore, the knowledge of English Tenses will help students in facing the next
materials, especially related to reading and speaking and indirectly to listening.
We expect that after finished the material, students can construct variety of English
tenses in a form of basic conversation.

C. Lesson Learning Outcome

1. Description
English is one of the languages which is very strict about the
description of time and context. Different time and context will come up with
different tenses too. That is why, tenses are very important to pay attention
to as it can create misunderstandings in communication if we cannot use it
properly.
English Tenses are somehow a specter for those who try to learn
English. Since we first learn English, we were introduced to many English
tenses. It somehow a challenge for the English as a second language students
since there are 16 of them in total.
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 In this module, we will cover English Tenses that people usually
used in daily conversation; which are Present Tense, Past Tense, and Future
Tense.

1.1 Present Tense

Present Tense is the most used tenses in English. It shows something that is
happening NOW as the term used is PRESENT.
a. Simple Present Tense
Simple Present indicates situations or events that happen always,
frequently, and habitually.

I and Jimmy go to school by bike every morning

My sister usually watches news before working

In addition, Simple Present Tense states facts or general statement,

like:

The Earth is round

The sun rises from the East

See closely to the sentence The Earth is round. This sentence is

what we call as Nominal Simple Present, since it uses TO BE (am,
is, are) in explaining the noun (The Earth). Moreover, the rest of the
examples are what we call Verbal Simple Present as it directly uses
verbs (go, watches, rises) to explain the subjects (I and Jimmy, My
sister, The Sun).

STATEMENT (I, You, We, They) run.

(He, She, It) runs.
NEGATIVE (I, You, We, They) do not (don’t) run.
(He, She, It) does not (doesn’t) run.
QUESTION Do (I, You, We, They) work?
Does (He, She, It) work?
https://prodi4.stpn.ac.id/

Please pay attention to the subject of your sentence when creating

this sentence by looking at the table above.

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b. Present Continuous Tense
Present Continuous, also called progressive tense shows an activity
that is happening right now. The action is happening by the time the
person is speaking.

Tom and Jerry are in the library. They are reading books
I can’t go right now because I am having a class

Present Continuous Tense needs “to be” (am, is are) and gerund
(Verb + -ing) to the sentence. Look at the form below:

STATEMENT (I) am running.

(You, We, They) are running.
(He, She, It) is running.
NEGATIVE (I) am not running.
(You, We, They) are not (aren’t) running.
(He, She, It) is not (isn’t) running.
QUESTION Am (I) working?
Are (You, We, They) working?
Is (He, She, It) working?
https://prodi4.stpn.ac.id/

c. Present Perfect Tense

The Perfect tenses all indicate that an action happens before another
event or time. There are three meaning of the present perfect. First,
it shows that an action happened or did not happen before now. The
accurate time is not significant.

The baby has taken a bath

I have done my work

In sentence The baby has taken a bath, the baby finished taking a
bath sometime before now. Meanwhile, in sentence I have done my
work, I finished doing my work sometime before now. All those
sentences do not require the exact time when it is happened.

Second, it expresses repeated activities at unspecified times in the

past.

Lily has met her supervisor many times this month

They have been to the tourist village three times this week

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 Third, when “since” and “for” are used, the present perfect shows
actions that started in the past and continue up to the present time.

He has been a student since 2011

She has studied English for ten years

The use of “since” indicates the period of time when something is

happened. The time must be specific, like the example above (2011,
10 o’clock, etc.). “For” on the other hand is used to specify the
duration of an event. The time can be in seconds, minutes, hours,
days, months or even years (ten years, a week, etc.)

Present Perfect Tense use auxiliary verb (has/ have) and past
participle (been/ Verb-III). Let’s see the form below:

STATEMENT HAVE/HAS + PAST PARTICIPLE

The students have finished their reports
The lecturer has given the students feedback
NEGATIVE HAVE/HAS + NOT + PAST PARTICIPLE
Susan and Susi have not gathered their reports
Mika has not analyzed the data
QUESTION HAVE/HAS + SUBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE
Have you called the doctor?
Has she checked her e-mail?
https://prodi4.stpn.ac.id/

Please pay attention that the verbs used in this tense are regular
verbs (finished, gathered, checked) and irregular verbs (given,
gone).

1.2 Past Tense

Past Tense is the tense used to express an action or activity that occurred in
the past when the time of the incident is known.
a. Simple Past Tense
The Simple Past shows that a situation or an activity started and
finished in the past. This tense more likely use adverb of time to
stress the time difference, for example yesterday, last week, two
months ago, in 1993, and etc.

The meeting started 30 minutes ago

Lisa got bad dream last night

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 Point out that both sentences above have adverb of time (30 minutes
ago, last night) and the verbs are different (started, got). “Started” is
taken from the word start with the additional -ed at the end of the
word. In past tense, when the verb is regular, we only add suffix -
ed, like started, finished, and etc. Moreover, the word “got” is an
irregular verb from the word get. Learn the transformation of
irregular verbs as there are so many of them, like went, saw, and etc.

Additionally, for the nominal sentence in simple past tense, the to

be needs to be changed into was/ were, like in the sentences:

They were happy

She was a singer

Even though there are no time explanation in both sentences above,

we can identify that the context of the sentences is something that
have happened or something that happened in the past. Look at the
form of the past tense below:

STATEMENT (I, You, We, They, He, She, It) visited the
zoo yesterday.
NEGATIVE (I, You, We, They, He, She, It) did not
(didn’t) visit the zoo yesterday.
QUESTION Did (I, You, We, They, He, She, It) visit the
zoo yesterday?
https://prodi4.stpn.ac.id/

b. The difference between Past Simple and Present Perfect

Except the difference in the form, the difference in context of Past
Simple and Present Perfect is also important to be noticed. The past
simple (something happened) tells us only about the past. If
somebody says Tom lost his key, this doesn’t tell us whether he has
the key now or not. It tells us only that he lost his key at some time
in the past.

While the present perfect (something has happened) is a present

tense. It always tells us about the situation now. So, the sentence
Tom has lost his key means that he doesn’t have his key now. Do
not use the present perfect if the situation now is different.

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 Compare:

They’ve gone away. They’ll be back on Friday. (they are

away now)
They went away, but I think they’re back at home now. (not
They’ve gone)

In the second sentence, we use past simple as the situation now is

changing as they are at home now.

1.3 Future Tense

Future Tense is a form of time used to express an action or activity to be
carried out in the future.
a. Simple Future
In the simple future, will and going to are used in expressing future
time. Even though we can use both words, but there is slightly
difference in the context when we apply it in the sentence. See the
sentences below:

A: Let’s have a party.

B: That’s a great idea. We’ll invite lots of people.

We use will when we decide to do something at the time of speaking.

The speaker has not decided before. The party is a new idea.

Sue and I have decided to have a party. We’re going to

invite lots of people

We use (be) going to when we have already decided to do

something. In here, the speaker has already decided to invite lots of
people before she tells the person. Please compare:

A: Ann is in hospital
Oh really? I didn’t know. I’ll go and visit her
B: Ann is in hospital
Yes, I know. I’m going to visit her this evening

Will can be used to make a spontaneous decision in reaction to a

present situation. While (be) going to is used to describe intentions
or predictions based on present evidence (It is going to rain) when
we can see the sky is getting darker and there is a sound of thunder.

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 b. Other tenses used for future plans
Except the application of will and (be) going to in future tense,
Present Tense and Present Continuous are also can be used in the
context of future plans.

The film starts at 6.00

I’m having a lie-in on Saturday

Present Tense can be used to describe fixed future events, like

programmes and timetables. It usually in a short-term condition.
Like He arrives from London at 1pm.

In addition, present continuous is used to describe planned events

and arrangements, like I’m meeting Jim this evening, and we’re
going out for a meal, if you want to join us.

2. Conclusion
Learning English Tenses is basically learning the basic of four skills of
English; writing, speaking, reading and listening. The Tenses might give
students a hard time as there are 16 of them with different form and context.
This module provides the majority used tenses in daily conversation; Simple
Present Tense, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Past Simple Tense, and
Future Tense.

- Simple Present Tense indicates situations or events that happen always,

frequently, and habitually. Additionally, it can also be used to describe
fixed future events.
- Present Continuous shows an activity that is happening right now. Also,
it can be used to describe planned events and arrangements.
- Simple Past Tense shows that a situation or an activity started and
finished in the past.
- Future Tense is a form of time used to express an action or activity to
be carried out in the future. We can utilize the words will and (be) going
to, simple present and present continuous.

In addition, there is an explanation about the difference between past simple

and present perfect tense in terms of its context that students need to pay
attention to.

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 3. References
Clare, Antonia, JJ Wilson. 2002. Language to go Upper Intermediate, Vol.
2., London: United Kingdom.
Idaryani. 2015. Bahasa Inggris untuk Perguruan Tinggi, 1st Ed., Aceh Utara:
Unimal Press.
Sarbunan, Thobias. 2020. 16 Tenses dalam Bahasa Inggris, Ambon: Institut
Agama Kristen Ambon.
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343218802_16-tenses-dalam-
bahasa-inggris)

D. Formative Test
Read the following sentences. Choose the right answer of each sentence based on
its tenses.
1. Look to your right! Mary her little sister to school. How
sweet! (BRING)
a. bring c. is bringing
b. brings d. brought
2. The neighbors’ boys always to school late. (COME)
a. come c. coming
b. comes d. came
3. He was walking down the street when he his old school
teacher on the other side. (SEE)
a. saw c. seen
b. see d. had seen
4. The post office is not far from here. I there many times
before. (BE)
a. was c. have
b. were d. have been
5. My sister in the USA next year. (STUDY)
a. will studies c. is going to study
b. will study d. studies
6. I the office after I had finished writing my last email.
(LEAVE)
a. left c. leave
b. was leaving d. leaves
7. Laras thinks that this room is quite dirty, so she this room
tomorrow morning. (CLEAN)
a. will cleaning c. is cleaning
b. will clean d. clean

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 8. I with my sister at the moment. (LIVE)
a. live c. will live
b. life d. am living
9. I know why she has been so happy. She married next
month. (GET)
a. will get c. get
b. is getting d. gets
10. One great Scottish event which happens every summer is the Edinburgh
Festival. It at the end of July and in August.
(START/ FINISH)
a. will start/ will finish c. starts/ finishes
b. is starting/ is finishing d. started/ finished
Answer Keys:
1. C 6. A
2. A 7. B
3. A 8. D
4. D 9. B
5. C 10. C

E. Feedback
If you feel you have answered the formative test well, compare your answers with
the key answers provided in this module. If the calculation results show that you
have achieved a level of mastery equal to or greater than 80%, you are welcome
to proceed to the next learning activity. To find out the percentage of mastery of
the material in this learning activity 2, you can simply calculate it using the
following formula:

Number of correct answers

x 100%
Total question numbers (10)

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F. Assessment
LLO: Students are able to construct English sentences.
Indicator: Clarity in creating English Tenses (Present, Past and Future Tense)
through conversation script.
Assignment:
In pairs, please create a conversation script using all English tenses that you
have learned (Present, Past, and Future Tenses) with the instructions below:
- Reenact your script into a 2-3 minutes video with a subtitle.
- Identify the sentence tenses (in the subtitle).
Ex: I have been cooking for a month now (Present Perfect)
- Upload your video in your own google drive and submit the shared link
to SIKOLA. (Link that is locked and cannot be opened will not be scored)
- Your partner must be from other departments/ faculties.
- The theme of the assignment is “Recent activity that interest you”.
- Answer these questions:
o How/ when did you start?
o What are you doing to develop this interest?
o What are your future plans for the activity?

Assessment Rubric:
Criteria Score
Accuracy in creating the right form and context of more than 10 5
English Tenses consists of Present, Past and Future tenses.
Accuracy in creating the right form and context of more than 7 3
English Tenses consists of Present, Past and Future tenses.
Accuracy in creating the right form and context of more than 5 1
English Tenses consists of Present, Past and Future tenses.

PS: If the sentences written are not accurate in form and context, the lecturer
may give the score between the gap.

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