5 most important tenses

In English, if you can learn the 5 most important tenses you can manage in over 90% of situations. They are as follows:

Past Simple
Present
Present Continuous
Future
Present perfect

Present Simple Tense:

·      When things happen all the time, they are part of a routine or habit

o   The dogs bark at the cat all day long

o   The kids play in the park every weekend

o   I walk in the park every Saturday

The verb to be

The verb to be is the most important verb in the English language. It is difficult to use because it is an irregular verb in almost all of its forms.  In the simple present tense, to be is conjugated as follows:

Affirmative forms of the verb to be

Subject Pronouns	Full Form	Contracted Form
I	am	'm
you	are	're
he/she/it	is	's
we	are	're
you	are	're
they	are	're

Interrogative forms of the verb to be:

Am	I?
Are	you?
Is	he/she/it?
Are	we?
Are	you?
Are	they?

Negative Forms of the verb to be:

Subject Pronouns	Full Form	Contracted Form
I	am not	'm not
you	are not	aren't
he/she/it	is not	isn't
we	are not	aren't
you	are not	aren't
they	are not	aren't

Examples:

o   Is Brad Pitt French?

o   No, he isn't. He's American.

o   What about Angelina Joli? Is she American, too?

o   Yes, she is. She is American.

o   Are brad Pitt and Angelina Joli French?

o   No, They aren't. They are American.

Use of the simple present of to be

The principal use of the simple present is to refer to an action or event that takes place habitually, but with the verb "to be" the simple present tense also refers to a present or general state, whether temporary, permanent or habitual.

o   I am happy.

o   She is helpful.

The verb to be in the simple present can be also used to refer to something that is true at the present moment.

o   She is 20 years old.

o   He is a student.

Remember:

5.    I, you, he, she, it, you, they are subject pronouns (also called personal pronouns, a term used to include both subject and object pronouns.)

6.   am, are, is are forms of the verb to be in the simple present.

7.   'm, 're, 's are short (contracted) forms of  am, are, is

8.   'm not, aren't, isn't are short (contracted forms) of am not, are not, is not.

5.   Fill in the blanks with the right subject / personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they):

1.            Angelina Joli is American.  isn't French.

2.   Brad Pitt is American, too.  isn't German.

3.   Brad and Angelina aren't French.  are American.

4.   My friend and I are high school students.  aren't primary school students.

5.    The Statue of Liberty is in New York.  isn't in Washington.

Fill in the blanks with the right form of to be ( am, are or is):

6.            Are  you the new student? Yes, I .. .

7.   Leila and Nancy…  students.

8.   Nancy…  Australian .

9.   My sister and I…  students.

10.        The girls…  tired.

11.        These women…  beautiful.

12.        The tea…  delicious.

13.        Nadia and Leila…  friends.

14.        The newspaper…  cheap.

Choose the correct answer (negative or affirmative form of to be):

Is Julia Robert French? No, she …

What about Robert de Nero? Is he an American actor? Yes, he …

Are New York and Los Angeles Spanish Cities? No, they Spanish cities.

Is Big Ben in Paris? No, it … in Paris.

Is Mount Everest in Africa? No, it…  in Africa. It …  in Asia.

Past simple

·      Add ‘ed’, or ‘d’ or ‘ied’

·      The dog barked all night long

·      The kids played with the dog in the garden

·      I walked to the train station

Past Simple of regular verbs
 Present Simple: I talk to my sister everyday.

 Lead in to past simple:Yesterday, I talked to her.
 

T: I visited her. We watched TV. She cooked lunch. We listened to music.
 

This is the same for all people and pronouns

The Simple Past: Regular Verbs

Regular verbs make their past tense by adding - d, - ed, or (if the verb ends in a consonant + y), changing the y to i and then adding - ed. Examples: Add -d:  baked, cared, eased, filed, greased, hated, liked, piled, raced, seized, smiled, typed, wheezed, whined Change y to i and add -ed: apply / applied; bury / buried; cry / cried; fry / fried; hurry / hurried; marry / married; pry / pried; spy / spied try / tried vary / varied worry / worried Add -ed: other regular verbs: asked, belonged, clapped, dialed, filled, guessed, hopped, looked, marked, needed, pulled, reached, started, touched, viewed, washed, yelled, zipped

Simple of regular verbs
T: I sometimes walk in the park.
S: You walked in the park yesterday.

 Past Simple of irregular verbs 
 present simple: I have lunch at 12 every day. 

Lead in to past simple: Yesterday I had lunch at 12.
 

T: Yesterday I spoke to a friend. We went to the movies. We saw Eclipse. My friend ate popcorn. I drank soda. 

Past Simple of irregular verbs 
T: I usually drink orange juice for breakfast. S: Yesterday you drank orange juice. 

 Past Simple – Negative forms 
Say, 'Yesterday I talked to John. I didn't talk to Sarah.' alternating between affirmative and negative statements:
Sarah had lunch at 12. She didn’t have lunch at one. You went to the gym yesterday. You didn’t go to the movies.
And so on with all persons, singular and plural.

Do Past tense activities page 2 and 3

Present continuous tense

·      Things that are happening now

·      We add ‘ing’ on to the verb and Add the verb ‘To Be’

o   The dog is barking

o   The kids are playing

o   I am walking

Future Simple: “will” For instant decisions: You’re hungry? I will make you a sandwich.
- For promises or voluntary actions: I will call you tomorrow.


the Future Simple Tense with will – Negative form 
Just as will is used to express voluntary actions, or things you are willing to do, its negative form won’t is used to express something you are not willing to do, or even refuse to do:
I'm tired of trying to talk to Sarah. I won't call her again. 
Ask students to give you examples of things they refuse to do.

 the Simple Future Simple with will – Interrogative form: Will you help me with this?
S: Yes/Sure!
T: Will you go to tonight's concert?
S: 

 the Future Simple with will – Short answers
 Will you give us homework for the weekend?
T: Yes, I will/No, I won't. 


the Future Simple with going to 
Unlike the future with will, where an instant decision is made, once you’ve made a decision, and it constitutes a plan, you use the future with going to to express it.  The conjugation for the future with going to is the same as for the present continuous. Provide plenty of examples in different persons: You are going to have a special class next week. A student from London is going to speak to the class. We are going to listen to his experience studying in the UK. 


the Future Simple with going to – Negative form 
The future with going to in negative form, likewise, is used to express things we have decided not to do.  I am not going to give you homework for tonight. I’m going to give you some exercises for the weekend. 
Bon Jovi is not going to come to town next month. They are going to be here in December.

the Future Simple with going to – Interrogative form 
Model questions with going to: Are you going to buy tickets for the concert tonight? Is President Obama going to cancel his trip? Are you going to study for the test? 

 the Future Simple with going to – Short answers
 Are you going to give us a difficult final test?
T: Yes, I am/No, I'm not.


DO THE ‘ARE YOU GOING TO ‘WORKSHEET’

Convert the following passage in to the future tense

I travelled to London to visit the Queen of England. Being a clever fellow, I disguised myself as a prince and walked into Buckingham Palace as if I owned it.

After receiving directions from the chambermaid, I stepped into the Queen's bedroom and surprised Her Royal Highness with a hearty slap on the back. Then, of course, I tipped my hat, bowed, and delivered the usual compliments. After uncorking a bottle of champagne, we exchanged pleasantries and talked about our families for over an hour. I showed her my photograph album and my stamp collection, and she showed me hers. After a thoroughly entertaining visit, I traded addresses with Her Majesty and then kissed her goodbye--on the fingertips of her white gloves, of course.

"Visiting Her Majesty" Recast in the Future Tense

I will travel to London to visit the Queen of England. Being a clever fellow, I will disguise myself as a prince and walk into Buckingham Palace as if I owned it. After receiving directions from the chambermaid, I will step into the Queen's bedroom and surprise Her Royal Highness with a hearty slap on the back.

Then, of course, I will tip my hat, bow, and deliver the usual compliments. After uncorking a bottle of champagne, we will exchange pleasantries and talk about our families for over an hour. I will show her my photograph album and my stamp collection, and she will show me hers. After a thoroughly entertaining visit, I will trade addresses with Her Majesty and then kiss her goodbye--on the fingertips of her white gloves, of course.

THE MOST IMPORTANT VERBS

TO BE

Present

I    am
you  are
he   is
we   are
you  are
they are

Past

I    was
you  were
he   was
we   were
you  were
they were

Future

I    will be
you  will be
he   will be
we   will be
you  will be
they will be

Present Continous

I    am being
you  are being
he   is being
we   are being
you  are being
they are being

Future with Will	I	will	come	to class tomorrow
	You	will	come	to class tomorrow
	He	will	come	to class tomorrow
	She	will	come	to class tomorrow
	It	will	come	to class tomorrow
	We	will	come	to class tomorrow
	You	will	come	to class tomorrow
	They	will	come	to class tomorrow
Future with Going to	I	am going to	fly	to New York next week.
	You	are going to	fly	to New York next week.
	He	is going to	fly	to New York next week.
	She	is going to	fly	to New York next week.
	It	is going to	fly	to New York next week.
	We	are going to	fly	to New York next week.
	You	are going to	fly	to New York next week.
	They	are going to	fly	to New York next week.
Future Continuous	I	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.
	You	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.
	He	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.
	She	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.
	It	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.
	We	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.
	You	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.
	They	will be	working	at 5 pm tomorrow evening.

TO HAVE

Present

I    have
you  have
he   has
we   have
you  have
they have

Past

I    had
you  had
he   had
we   had
you  had
they had

Future

I    will have
you  will have
he   will have
we   will have
you  will have
they will have

Present

I    am having
you  are having
he   is having
we   are having
you  are having
they are having

TO DO

Present

I    do
you  do
he   does
we   do
you  do
they do

Past

I    did
you  did
he   did
we   did
you  did
they did

Future

I    will do
you  will do
he   will do
we   will do
you  will do
they will do

Present Continous

I    am doing
you  are doing
he   is doing
we   are doing
you  are doing
they are doing