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' + ''Ing'' Form of Main Verb THE USE OF TENSES AIM • To enable students grasp the description of activities or actions that exist, still exist at the MOS and could continue for sometime in the near future. Such narrations could equally be describing activities that occurred in the past and have extended from one period of time to another. • NOTE: MOS = Moment of Speaking LESSON OUTLINE • SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE • SIMPLE PAST TENSE • PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE • PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE • FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE • PRESENT PERFECT • PAST PERFECT • FUTURE PERFECT • PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE • FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE • THE USE OF ‘’WILL’’ AND ‘’BE GOING TO’’ DEFINITIONS • VERB: A verb expresses an action or occurrence in a sentence or an expression. It represents the heart of a sentence or expression A- THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE USES • To express a condition that exists at the MOS and may continue for some time. Examples: He is sick. It’s cold outside. They are rich. • To express a generally accepted Truth. Examples: The earth is round. The sun rises in the East and sets in the west. Our bodies need water and food. • To express an action or state or activity existing before the MOS, which still exists now, and may continue for a long time. Examples: David lives on Ghana street. She speaks fluent English. • To express customary or habitual actions. Examples: It gets hot during the dry season. I sometimes sleep late on Sundays. • To express future time. In this case, adverbs of time are used to characterize this construction. Examples: We meet again next week (arranged meeting) He leaves for Europe tomorrow • To increase the vividness of a story. By so doing, writers and storytellers try to give their readers and listeners a sense of being actual witnesses of the events of the story as they unfold. B. THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE. This tense may express:- - activities that occurred at a definite time in the past. Examples:- He arrived last night. It rained yesterday She taught me how to drive last year - activities that occurred at an unspecified time in the past (the point of time is implied or understood from the context) Examples:- He went downtown. (a few minutes ago, a considerable time ago). He came to see us about his son. I spoke to the boss about it. - Activities that occurred in the past over a continuous period of time, but do not continue to the present MOS. Examples:- He studied English when he was in High school. My father worked for TEXACO a few years. C. THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE • General form:- SUBJECT + PRESENT FORM OF ‘’BE’’ VERB +ING FORM OF MAIN VERB. This tense is used to:- a) Express activities that are in progress at the MOS Examples:- My wife is getting dinner. You are drinking milk. Ateba is jogging. b) Express activities that occurred in the past but are going on at MOS, and will probably continue in the future for an unspecified length of time. Examples:- My father is working for an oil company. Our son is studying law at the university. The mayor is repairing the major highways. c) Express an activity that will take place in the future. (Usually, a future time word, phrase or clause is added). Examples:- The new commander is arriving next week. We are going to the movie after supper. Note that this tense is often used with verbs expressing action such as: go, do, buy, run, dance, catch, beat, etc. D. THE PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE. General Form:- Past Tense Form of Auxiliary ‘’be’’ + ‘’ing’’ Form of main verb. Example: I was dancing. This tense is also referred to as the past continuous tense. It is used to show that an activity was in progress in the past, when another activity occurred. If both activities continued simultaneously, then both could be expressed in the past progressive tense. Examples: I was studying English when Tom called. I was eating while she was sleeping. E. THE FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE • FORM: Subject + will + be + ……….’’ing’’ form of main verb Example: The general will be arriving. This tense is seldom used. When used, it expresses the time of an event which will happen in the near future. The adverb ‘’soon’’ is often used with it. Examples: We’ll be seeing you soon. My family will be going to Kribi for x-mas. I’ll be calling you sometime this week NOTE: This tense is also occasionally used to make predictions about the future. Example: This statue will still be standing here long after we’ve gone. F. THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE • FORM: Have or Has + Past Participle of Main Verb Example: They have gone (Subject) (have) (Past Participle) USES 1. To express a continuous action or activity that started at a stated time in the past and continues at the present MOS. Present Moment of Speaking Stated Time in the Past He has been here Since last year He has spoken English Since he was a child I have studied French Since 1970 2. To express an activity that has lasted from an indefinite time in the past up to the MOS. Examples: I have been here a long time. He has studied English a long time. They have been here several years. 3. To express an activity that has occurred one or more times in the past and related to the present. Examples: I have been to Ebolowa only once. He has played football from time to time. 4. To express an activity that has been completed a short time before the MOS. Example: The colonel has just left. COMPARISON OF THE PAST TENSE AND THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE - The distinction in usage always difficult to understand. Ask yourself the following questions:- a) Do I intend to use a definite time word or in other words, do I mean to say exactly when something occurred? If the answer is ‘’yes,’’ then you must use the simple past tense. Example: He studied French for two years. b) Do I wish to describe an activity extending from one point in the past to the MOS? If the answer is ‘’yes,’’ then you must use the present perfect tense. Example: He has studied French for two years. (he still does it). NOTE: Always use the past tense with definite time words such as:- last year, last night, yesterday, in 1920, a year ago, before you left, after I arrived, etc. The Present Perfect tense should be used with frequency adverbs like:- always, seldom, never, rarely, usually, etc. Note however that you could similarly use frequency adverbs with the past tense, provided that you want to describe events that happened during a definite time in the past. Example: I rarely saw him during my years at the university. G. THE PAST PERFECT TENSE. General Form: Subject + had + Past Participle of Main Verb. Example: You had gone. The past perfect tense is used to express the occurrence of one event in the past that occurred before another event in the past. Examples: The train had arrived when I left; He had already called the doctor when we got there. I had finished my homework before the teacher came. Note that in these given examples, the past perfect tense is used in the main clause and the past tense in the subordinate clause. In some constructions, the second clause is simply omitted. G. THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE. FORMATION: Subject + Will or Shall + have + Past Participle of Main Verb. Example: You will have arrived. This tense is used to express the completion of a future act as past or completed in relation to a stated or implied future time. Examples: I will have finished my work before you arrive. She will have left before your arrival We will have finished our work before next week. H. THE PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSE FORMATION: Subject + have or has + been + ‘’ing’’ form of main verb. Examples: She has been studying. He has been reading the newspaper to improve his English. I. THE PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSE FORMATION: Subject + had + been + ‘’ing’’ form of main verb. This tense is used to emphasize the continuous nature of an activity that has lasted from a time in the past up to another specified past action (usually used in narratives) Examples: They had been playing tennis only a short while when it began to rain. He had been working in the yard when suddenly he had a heart attack. J. THE FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSE. FORMATION: Subject + will or shall + have + been + ‘’ing’’ form of verb. Used to express an activity in progress, of which a measurable phase or period will be completed at a particular time in the future. Examples: When you visit tonight, I will have been sleeping. When he gets home next month, he will have been travelling continuously for 3 months. K. EXPRESSING THE SIMPLE FUTURE (‘’be going to’’) a) He will finish his work tomorrow b) He is going to finish his work tomorrow. ‘’Will or be going to’’ are used to express future time. In spoken English, ‘’going to’’ is often pronounced ‘’gonna.’’ Examples: I will be leaving soon. I gonna leave soon. ‘’Will’’ is usually contracted with personal pronouns in both speaking and informal writing. Examples: You’ll be needing some money for the trip. She’ll be arriving late for class today. ‘’Will’’ is often contracted with nouns and other pronouns in speaking but not in writing. Example: In spoken English, therefore, it is correct to say: Peter’ll leave on Sunday. It’ll probably rain tomorrow. L. THE USE OF ‘’Will’’ and ‘’be going to’’ 1. To express a prediction.
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