Repetition of English tenses. Simple present tense in English Education Present Simple

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Past Simple Past Indefinite Tense

Example sentences

At the checked-in desk I showed my passport and suitcases, took the boarding pass and proceeded to the departure lounge. At the check-in desk I showed my passport and my suitcases, took my boarding pass and went to the waiting room. Molly took some flour, poured in a glass of water, added three eggs and mixed everything. Molly took some flour, poured in a glass of water, added 3 eggs and mixed everything. I want to go somewhere

Example sentences

What music did you like when you were 11 years old? What music did you like when you were 11? When I was a little boy I wanted to be a pilot. When I was a boy, I wanted to be a pilot. She used to play tennis when she was at school. She played tennis when she was in school.

Example sentences

The Olympic Games in London took place in 2012. The Olympic Games in London took place in 2012. I moved to Milan two years ago and started working there. I moved to Milan two years ago and started working there. Thomas Edison made the world’s first electric light in 1887. Thomas Edison made the world’s first electric light bulb in 1887.

Example sentences

Mozart wrote more than 600 pieces of music. Mozart wrote more than 600 pieces of music. We didn't hear the phone. We didn't hear the phone.

Example sentences

The train was going to Manchester from 6 to 8 PM. The train was on its way to Manchester between 6 and 8 pm. He was sitting by the window and was sipping a glass of wine the whole evening. He sat by the window and sipped a glass of wine all evening.

Example sentences

While I was waiting for the bus, it started to rain. While I was waiting for the bus, it started to rain. The car started to make strange sounds when I was driving back home. The car started making strange noises while I was driving home.

Example sentences

Ann was watching TV while Jane was doing physical exercises. Anna watched TV while Jane did her exercises. They were discussing the company's plans while the secretary was typing a letter. They discussed the company's plans while the secretary typed the letter.

Example sentences

It was a quiet summer evening in Provence. The sun was going down, the colors were mellowing, the light breeze was blowing, the leaves were whispering and the lavender odor was coming into the house. It was a quiet summer evening in Provence. The sun was setting, the colors took on a softer hue, a light breeze was blowing, the leaves were rustling and the smell of lavender entered the house.

Example sentences

The police arrived quickly but the robbers had already gone. The police arrived quickly, but the robbers had already fled. When she got the salary she realized that her boss had given her a pay rise. When she received her salary, she realized that her boss had increased her salary.

Example sentences

The flowers faded because nobody had watered them. The flowers withered because no one watered them. His skin was red and hurt him as he had got a sunburn. His skin was red and painful because... he got sunburn.

Example sentences

Had you been smoking for 20 years before you decided to give up? Did you smoke for 20 years before you quit? The children had been playing outside the whole day before it started to rain. The children played outside all day before it started to rain.

Circumstances of the time

The key to success for the correct use of past tenses is knowledge of special marker words that relate to a specific time. They are the ones who can help if we find it difficult to determine what tense should be used in an English sentence. Each time has its own time indicator words. The main ones are shown in the summary table below.

• Review of all English tenses
• Rules of use, time signals
• Examples of sentences with different English tenses

Let's remember the times we went through in previous lessons.

Present Simple

Let's start with Present Simple. Let us remind you that this is a regular repeated action, the verb in the 3rd person takes on the ending -s, -es. Auxiliary verbs - do, does:

Does he work every day?

Statement

He works every day.

Negation

He doesn't work every day.

Past Simple

Past Simple used to indicate an action that happened in the past at a specific time. Auxiliary did. Temporal markers are words yesterday, last week, last month, last year:

Did he work yesterday?

Statement

He worked yesterday.

Negation

He didn’t work yesterday.

Present Continuous

Present Continuous denotes an action happening now. Time markers for this time: now, at the moment:

Is he working now?

Statement

He is working now.

Negation

He is not working now.

Final table of tenses Present Simple, Past Simple, Present Continuous

Look again at how affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences are formed in the past tenses

Let's repeat the times we covered in previous lessons. Let's start with the Present Simple. Let us remind you that this is a regular, repeated action; the verb in the 3rd person takes on the ending -s/-es. Auxiliary verbs do/does. Listen to examples. Question: Does he work every day? Statement: He works every day. Denial: He doesn’t work every day.

Past Simple is used to indicate an action that happened in the past at a specific time. Auxiliary verb did. Time markers are the words yesterday, last week, last month, last year. Listen to examples. Question: Did he work yesterday? Statement: He worked yesterday. Denial: He didn’t work yesterday.

Present Continuous denotes an action happening now. Time markers for a given time: now, at the moment. Listen to examples. Question: Is he working now? Statement:He is working now. Denial: He is not working now.

When learning English, even the most dedicated beginners have difficulty with tenses. After all, in English, unlike Russian, there are as many as 12 tense forms. Despite this, the system of English tenses is logical, orderly and strictly obeys the laws of grammar.

Learning all the rules for using verbs seems very difficult at first glance. But this is only at first glance. The easiest and most effective way to master all 12 tenses is to use tables that concisely and clearly present material about the formation and use of tenses in the English language.

Why 12?

Everyone knows from school that there are only three tenses in the Russian language - present/past/future. In English there are also three of them - present/past/future, but each tense, depending on the duration of the action, can be of 4 types: simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous. As a result, there are 12 temporary forms.

Time formation table with examples

Table of tenses

Hint words to help

In the English language there are many so-called “clue words” or sign words that can tell you exactly what tense should be used in a given sentence. The ability to recognize such words greatly helps when choosing tenses. But one should take into account the fact that some of these feature words can be used in several groups of tenses.

Imagine for a moment a couple of young people talking over a cup of tea:

Frank: Do you drink black tea every day?
Jane: Oh! I drink black tea every morning and every evening. I like it too much!
Frank: People say black tea contains caffeine. Don’t drink it very often!
Jane: I know it. It's my bad habit.
A distinctive feature of this dialogue is that its participants talk about actions that constantly take place. These actions are repeated periodically, occur constantly or not at all. This is the simple present tense.

Here is the same dialogue in Russian:
Frank: Do you drink black tea every day? (repeated action)
Jane: Oh! I drink black tea every morning and every evening (repeated action). I love him very much! (at all)
Frank: They say black tea contains caffeine (permanent effect). Don't drink it very often (at all).
Jane: I know that (at all). This is a bad habit of mine (in general).

The simple present tense in English is called Present Simple (Indefinite) Tense. “Indefinite” is translated as “uncertain,” which very clearly characterizes this time. Actions mentioned in the simple present tense are not defined by a clear time frame. These actions simply happen constantly, periodically.
That is why in sentences used in the simple present tense you can often find the following adverbs: often - often, never - never, always - always, rarely - rarely, usually - usually, every morning - every morning, sometimes - sometimes, etc. .
The word “simple” is also not in vain used in the name of time. All sentence forms in the simple present tense are easy to construct.
In order to obtain an affirmative form of a sentence, you simply need to use the infinitive after the subject without the particle to. A small note: if we are talking about the third person in the singular, then the ending -s, and in some cases -es, must be added to the infinitive without the particle to.

For example:

The ending -es is added to the infinitive only in the following three cases:
1. if the stem of the verb has endings:
-s or -ss: to kiss (kiss) - he kisses (he kisses), to percuss (tapping) - he percusses (he taps)
-sh: to replenish (fill again) - he replenishes (he fills again), to leash (keep on a leash) - he leashes (he keeps on a leash)
-ch: to touch (touch) - he touches (he touches)
-tch: to match (match) - he matches (it matches), to twitch (twitch) - he twitches (it twitches)
-x: to fix (fix) - he fixes (it fixes)
2. if the stem of the verb has the ending -y, preceded by a consonant. In this case, -y changes to the ending -i:
to marry (to marry) - he marries (he is getting married)
to carry (carry, carry) - he carries (he carries, he carries)

3. if the verb stem ends in -o:
to do (do) - he does (he does)

That is, to get a question, it is enough to put the auxiliary word “Do” or “Does” before the subject. And then the infinitive will come without the particle to.
“Do” is placed before the pronouns I, you, we, they.
“Does” is placed before the pronouns he, she, it.
For better memorization, the following diagram will help:
Do (Does) + subject + V, where V is a verb

The simple present tense in English also has a negative form of sentences:
His girlfriend Jane doesn’t like rock music. - His girlfriend Jane doesn't like rock music.
I don’t know what to say about our regional theatre. - I don’t know what to say about our regional theater.

The scheme for constructing a negative sentence in the simple present tense is as follows:
Subject + Do (Does) not + V

That is, the negation particle not is added to the auxiliary words Do or Does.
Abbreviations are often used in speech:
Do + not = Don't
Does + not = Doesn't