Simple and Continuous Tenses

1. República Bolivariana de Venezuela
Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Educación
Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología
Universidad Yacambú
Idioma Básico Intensivo
Sequera, Fabiola
C.I: V-13.952.845
Sección:ED06D0V 2015-2
Agosto 2015

2. Is one of the verb forms associated with the
present tense in modern English. It is commonly
referred to as a tense, although it also encodes
certain information about aspect in addition to
present time.
Negative Sentences
Word Order of Questions with Do and Does
Do/Does Subject Verb*
The Rest of
the sentence
Do I / you / we / they have / need
want etc.
a new bike?
Does he / she / it
Subject don't/doesn't Verb*
The Rest of
the sentence
I / you / we /
they
don't have / buy
eat / like etc.
cereal for
breakfast
he / she / it doesn't
Short Answers with Do and Does
Sample Questions
Short Answer
(Affirmative)
Short
Answer
(Negative)
Do you like
chocolate?
Yes, I do. No, I don't.
Do I need a pencil? Yes, you do.
No, you
don't.
Do you both like
chocolate?
Yes, we do. No, we don't.

3. Verb Conjugation & Spelling
We form the present tense using the base form of the
infinitive (without the TO). In general, in the third
person we add 'S' in the third person.
1. For verbs that end in -O, -CH,
-SH, -SS, -X, or -Z we add -ES
in the third person.
go – goes
catch – catches
2. For verbs that end in a
consonant + Y, we remove the Y
and add -IES.
marry – marries
study – studies
Negative Sentences in the
Simple Present Tense
To make a negative
sentence in English we
normally use Don't or
Doesn't with all verbs
EXCEPT To Be and Modal
verbs (can, might, should
etc.).
Negative Contractions
Don't = Do not
Doesn't = Does not
Word Order of
Negative Sentences
You don't speak Arabic.
John doesn't speak
Italian.
Affirmative: You speak
French.
Negative: You don't speak
French.
You will see that we add
don't between the subject
and the verb. We use Don't
when the subject is I, you,
we orthey.

4. The simple past or past simple, sometimes called the
preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern
English. It is used principally to describe events in the
past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English
verbs form the simple past in -ed; however there are a few
hundred irregular verbs with different forms.
Form of simple past
Positive Negative Question
no
differences
I spoke. I did not
speak.
Did I
speak?
Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ‘ed’
Exceptions in spelling when adding ed Example
after a final e only add d love – loved
final consonant after a short, stressed
vowel
or l as final consonant after a vowel is
doubled
admit – admitted
travel – travelled
final y after a consonant becomes i hurry – hurried

5. The simple past expresses an action in the past taking place
once, never, several times. It can also be used for actions
taking place one after another or in the middle of another
action.
For irregular verbs, use the past form (see list of irregular
verbs, 2nd column). For regular verbs, just add “ed”.
Use of Simple Past
action in the past taking
place once, never or several
times
Example: He visited his
parents every weekend.
actions in the past taking
place one after the other
Example: He came in, took
off his coat and sat down.
action in the past taking
place in the middle of
another action
Example: When I was
having breakfast, the
phone suddenly rang.
if sentences type II
(If I talked, …)
Example: If I had a lot
of money, I would
share it with you.
Signal Words of Simple
Past

6. The simple future has a
different status from the
other tenses. Rather than
being a form of the verb,
it is expressed by the
modal auxiliary will. It's
no accident that the
future shares its syntax
with words for necessity
(must), possibility (can,
may, might), and moral
obligation (should, ought
to), because what will
happen is conceptually
related to what must
happen, what can happen,
what should happen, and
what we intend to happen.
1. Will say something that we are
certain will occur in the future.
Example: A meeting will be held next
Monday at 2 p.m.
Subject will infinitive
without to
AFFIRMATIVE
I will go
I shall go
NEGATIVE
They will not see
They won't see
INTERROGATIVE
Will she ask?
INTERROGATIVE NEGATIVE
Won't they try?
2. Be going to intention or decision already
made to do or not to do something.
Example: We are going to move to a new
neighbourhood next month.
3. Be to (is/are + infinitive)
refers to an action that is to
take place in the future. It is
used for instructions,
obligation and something that
is arranged.
Example: You are to hand this
packet over to him before
noon.

7. 4. Be about to (+ infinitive)
We use be about to for an action or event that
will happen very soon.
Example: Everyone sits down when the film is
about to start.
Will / Shall
Will and shall are auxiliary verbs used mainly in the future tense.
Example: I shall arrive before noon. / They will arrive before noon.
Shall has always been used in the first-person singular (I) and plural
(we) but will is becoming more common.
Example: I shall be away tomorrow. / We shall be away tomorrow.
We use will to ask a
favour of somebody.
Example: Will you
look after my things
for a while, please?
We use won't (will not) to
show unwillingness or refusal
to do something.
Example: I have asked the
noisy children to keep quiet,
but they won't listen.
We use shall when we:
Ask a first-person question.
Example: Shall I open the
window?
Will and shall are also used to
make predictions in the simple
future tense.
Example: I think the weather
will get colder around the middle
of this month.