- •Present Simple Tense.
- •Habitual or repeated actions.
- •It doesn’t often snow in winter here.
- •In May 1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime Minister in the history of Great Britain.
- •I’ll phone you as soon as I come back home.
- •I don’t know where we are going.
- •It’s raining all day.
- •Actions or states having a dynamic character (changing and developing situations).
- •I’m leaving at the end of the week.
- •I’m going to explore the neighbourhood.
- •I’m feeling fine.
- •Past Simple (Indefinite) Tense.
- •I felt very happy in those days.
- •Repeated, habitual past actions or states.
- •Past Continues (Progressive) Tense.
- •I looked out of the window. The sun was shining and the birds were singing.
- •In those days he was always borrowing money and forgetting to pay it back.
- •I was wondering if you’d like to come out with me one evening.
- •I picked up a cake and bit a piece off to see how it tasted.
- •The Present Perfect Tense.
- •Actions completed in the past but connected in their result with the present:
- •I have only recently sent her an invitation.
- •I’ve done a lot of work today.
- •It’s one of the most boring books I’ve ever read.
- •I haven’t heard anything from him since he moved to Leeds.
- •I’ve never tasted papaya.
- •The Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive) Tense.
- •I am learning English at High School. I have been learning English for 6 years. (period of duration)
- •The Past Perfect Tense.
- •The Past Perfect Tense is used to denote a past action completed before another past action or before a moment in the past.
- •I knew the Horns had been married for nearly fifty years.
- •I was sure they had known each other since childhood.
- •The Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive) Tense.
- •It was clear they had long known each other.
- •The Future Simple (Indefinite) Tense.
- •The Future Continuous (Progressive) Tense.
- •To denote a future action which is part of a regular routine (a matter-of-course event), which does not need any special arrangement.
- •I’ll be passing the post-office on my way home from work, so I’ll buy you a newspaper.
- •The Future Perfect Tense.
- •Compare the Present Simple and The Present Cont. Tense.
- •Compare the Present Perfect and The Present Perfect Cont. Tense.
- •I have planted a lot of new rose bushes.
It was clear they had long known each other.
In Indirect (Reported) Speech the P. P. C. will replace both the Pr. P. C. and the P. P. C. in Direct Speech if the reporting verb is in the Past Simple.
The Future Simple (Indefinite) Tense.
The Future Simple (Indefinite) Tense is formed with shall/will + the Infinitive of the main verb.
Main Uses
The Future Simple (Indefinite) Tense is used to denote:
A predicted future action, i.e. a happening which is inevitable (неизбежный, неминуемый) and out of anybody’s control.
The population of the world will reach 12 billion people by 2050.
She’ll be 30 next Friday.
Reference to the future is often indicated by adverbials of future time such as tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, on a week, next year, etc.
An action decided on spontaneously, out of circumstances (обстоятельство, случай) (i.e. an action which is not part of a plan).
Oh, I’ve left the door open. I’ll go and shut it.
It’s a bit cold in the room. – Is it? I’ll turn on the heating then.
The Future Simple in such cases often has the meaning of a promise, an offer or a warning.
I will lend you the money you need.
I won’t tell anybody, I promise.
An action which is speaker regards (рассматривать) as possible, or likely to happen in the future (near or remote – отдаленный).
I think they will easily win the match.
They hope the company will make a profit next year.
An enquiry (вопрос, расспрос, проблема) for an instruction, recommendation or advice in interrogative (вопросительный) sentences (often in rhetorical questions). These are addressed to the 1st person singular or plural and take shall.
Shall we do it right now?
Shall I send him a fax?
Sometimes questions with shall are asked to offer help.
Shall I help you?
Shall I carry your bag?
The interrogative request, instructions, warning addressed to the 2nd person take will.
Refusals (отказ), resistance (сопротивление) or reluctance (нежелание) to do something (with will in the negative form) and typical behavior (in the affirmative –утвердительный, sentences with will for all persons).
The door won’t open.
The pen won’t write.
In Indirect speech the Future Simple Tense is replaced by the Future-in-the-Past (according to the rules of Sequence of Tenses).
Te adverbials of future time tomorrow, next week, etc. are replaced by the next day, the next week, etc.
They said they would win the match the next week.
The Future Continuous (Progressive) Tense.
The Future Cont. (Progressive) Tense is formed with the help of the Future Simple Tense of auxiliary verb to be and the Present Participle of the main verb.
Main Uses
The Future Cont. Tense denotes an action or event that will be in progress at a definite moment or during a certain period of time in the future. The moment/period of time at which the action will be going on is either indicated by adverbial phrases (at 2 p.m., at this time tomorrow, all evening, from October to November, etc.) or by an adverbial time clause.
At 4 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon we’ll be flying over Vienna.
The Browns will be staying at my place all weekend.
The cases when the given tense-form is used:
To talk about events that are a result or part of an arrangement (договоренность) made in advance (заранее).
Buses won’t be running here this weekend due to essential track repairs.
To express a speaker’s prediction concerning (касательный) a future situation. To show the speaker’s certainty about the predicted events, states, etc. parenthetical (побочный) phrases such as I am sure, I know, I believe are often used.
Mike is sympathetic because he knows his successor will be having a hard time doing the job.