Ingles

Present Simple Tense

I sing

How do we make the Present Simple Tense?

There are three important exceptions:

1.For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.

2.For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.

3.For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

We use the present simple tense when:

•the action is general

•the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future

•the action is not only happening now

•the statement is always true

Look at these examples:

•I live in New York.

•The Moon goes round the Earth.

•John drives a taxi.

•He does not drive a bus.

•We meet every Thursday.

•We do not work at night.

•Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the present simple tense for situations that are not general. We can use the present simple tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the present simple tense - some of them are general, some of them are now:

Past Simple Tense

I sang

The past simple tense is sometimes called the "past tense".  we going to use a list

We use the past simple tense when:

•the event is in the past

•the event is completely finished

•we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event

Here are some more examples:

•I lived in that house when I was young.

•He didn't like the movie.

•What did you eat for dinner?

•John drove to London on Monday.

•Mary did not go to work yesterday.

•Did you play tennis last week?

•I was at work yesterday.

•We were not late (for the train).

•Were you angry?

Future Simple Tense

I will sing

The future simple tense is often called will, because we make the future simple tense with the modal auxiliary will.

For negative sentences in the future simple tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the future simple tense:

How do we use the Future Simple Tense?

We use the future simple tense when there is no plan or decision to do something before we speak. We make the decision spontaneously at the time of speaking.

Look at these examples:

•Hold on. I'll get a pen.

•We will see what we can do to help you.

•Maybe we'll stay in and watch television tonight.

In these examples, we had no firm plan before speaking. The decision is made at the time of speaking.

We often use the future simple tense with the verb to think before it:

•I think I'll go to the gym tomorrow.

•I think I will have a holiday next year.

•I don't think I'll buy that car.

Prediction

We often use the future simple tense to make a prediction about the future. Again, there is no firm plan. We are saying what we think will happen.

Here are some examples:

•It will rain tomorrow.

•People won't go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.

•Who do you think will get the job?

Be

When the main verb is be, we can use the future simple tense even if we have a firm plan or decision before speaking.

Examples:

•I'll be in London tomorrow.

•I'm going shopping. I won't be very long.

•Will you be at work tomorrow?

Exercise: Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

1. The train to Glascow ___________ (leave) from platform 8.

2. I _______ (begin) to understand the Present Continuous now.

3. Sue ____________ (work) tonight.

4. Listen! The telephone _________ (ring).

5. Ms. Johnson ________ (see) a customer at 3 o'clock.

Exercise: Put the verbs into the simple past.

1. Last year I (go) to England on holiday.

2. It (be) fantastic.

3. I (visit) lots of interesting places. I (be) was with two friends of mine.

4. In the mornings we (walk) in the streets of London.

5. In the evenings we (go) to pubs.

Exercise: Put the verbs into the correct form (simple future)

James, 18 years old, asked an ugly fortune teller about his future. Here is what she told him:

1.You (be) be very happy.

2.You (get) get a lot of money.

3.You (buy) buy a beautiful house.

4.Your friends (envy) you.

5.You (meet) meet a beautiful woman.

Used To

[used to + VERB]

Example:

• I used to go to the beach every day.

It is better not to use "used to" in questions or negative forms; however, this is sometimes done in informal spoken English. It is better to ask questions and create negative sentences using Simple Past.

USE 1 Habit in the Past

"Used to" expresses the idea that something was an old habit that stopped in the past. It indicates that something was often repeated in the past, but it is not usually done now.

Examples:

• Jerry used to study English.
• Sam and Mary used to go to Mexico in the summer.
• I used to start work at 9 o'clock.
• Christine used to eat meat, but now she is a vegetarian.

Passive Voice

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
• the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
• the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive 

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future I	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Hilfsverben	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

Examples of Passive

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Progressive	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Progressive	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future II	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.

Past Perfect

FORM

[had + past participle]

Examples:

You had studied English before you moved to New York.

Had you studied English before you moved to New York?

You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

Complete List of Past Perfect Forms

USE 1 Completed Action Before Something in the Past

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.

Examples:

I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.

I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.

Tony knew Istanbul so well because he had visited the city several times.

Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?

She only understood the movie because she had read the book.

Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.

We were not able to get a hotel room because we had not booked in advance.

A: Had you ever visited the U.S. before your trip in 2006?

B: Yes, I had been to the U.S. once before.

USE 2 Duration Before Something in the Past (Non-Continuous Verbs)

With Non-Continuous Verbs and some non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Past Perfect to show that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past.

Examples:

We had had that car for ten years before it broke down.

By the time Alex finished his studies, he had been in London for over eight years.

They felt bad about selling the house because they had owned it for more than forty years.

Although the above use of Past Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT Non-Continuous Verbs.

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/usedto.html