1. THE USAGE OF THE
BASIC TENSES IN A
DIALOG ( LAW ) AND
VOCABULARY FOCUS.
2. THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
Form : subjects + have/has + past participle of the verb ( have/has gone )
Usage : The present perfect tense has two uses :
1. For a completed action at an indefinite time in the past. The time markers
usually used are : Just, already, yet, not yet , etc
2. For an activity or a state that has continued for a period of time, from a point
in the past until the present. The past to present period is indicated by
By since 1971, for years, so far, up to now, in all her life, until now, etc.
EXAMPLES :
A. He has just graduated from faculty of law ( law school )
B. Mr. Abdullah has been the director of the company since 2012.
C. The University students have shown good conduct so far.
3. Transformation of sentences in the
Present Perfect Tense.
The present perfect tense is changed into an interrogative and negative forms
by placing the auxiliary verbs “ have/has “ in front of the statementand by
Adding the negation ‘ not ‘ respectively as in the following word order :
1. + She has worked for the company for two years.
- She has not worked for the company for two years.
? Has she worked for the company for two years ?
How long has she worked for the company ? ( question with the question word
how )
4. “ THE PAST PERFECT TENSE “
FORM : Subject + had + past participle ( had gone )
USAGE : The past perfect tense is used to show an action which was
completed before a certain event also in the past. In a sentence,
the past perfect tense is generally combined with the past tense,
since both refer to two event: in the past.
When the past perfect tense is used in the same sentences with the past
tense, the order of events is clear from the tenses themselves.
The past perfect action happened first. Generally words such as ‘ before ‘ and
‘ after ’ are used to show which event comes first. However ‘ when ‘ can be
also employed to join the two events in the sentences.
5. “ EXAMPLES OF PAST PERFECT TENSE “
1. His attorney had already left when Mr. Jhonson came in.
2. He had talked to his attorney before he went to court.
3. I went home after I had seen the police inspector
“ SENTENCES TRANSFORMATION IN THE PAST PERFECT TENSE “
The past perfect tense is changed into interrogative and negative respectively
by placing the auxiliary ‘ had ‘ for both plural and singular subjects in fron of
The statement and adding the negation ‘ not ‘ to form a negative statement.
1. His attorney had left when Mr. Jhonson came. ( statement )
His attorney had not left when Mr. Jhonson came ( negative )
Had his attorney left when Mr. Jhonson came ? ( interrogative )
Where had his attorney gone when Mr. Jhonson came ? Question with the question
word where )
6. “ THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE “
FORM : Subject + was/were + verb + -ing ( was,were talking )
USAGE : Like the past perfect tense, the past continuous tense is used in
combination with and event in the past. Both the past continuous
and the past perfect tenses are seldom used alone in sentences
they are generally tied to an event in the past continuous tense.
EXAMPLES : For an action continuing in the past.
1. The defendant was talking to Mr. Smith last night.
2. For two actions continuing at the same time in the past.
Mr. Garry was talking on the phone while his secretary was typing the letters.
3. For two actions in the past, one continuing while the other occured
or interrupted.
Members of the parliament were eating dinner when the attorney General walked in.
7. “ SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION IN THE
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE “
The past continuous tense is changed into the interrogative and negative by
placing the auxiliary verbs ‘ was ‘ for singular subjects or were for plural
subjects in front the statement. Add the negation ‘ not ‘ to make a negation.
EXAMPLE :
1. The defendant was talking to Mr. Donald last night. ( statement )
The defendant was not talking to Mr. Donald last night ( negative )
Was the defendant talking to Mr. Donald last night ? ( interrogative )
What was the defendant doing last night ? ( question with the question word
what )
8. ‘ BUILD YOUR LEGAL VOCABULARY ‘
1. Presumtion of innocence 2. district court 3. prevent
4. Hijack 5. burglary 6. possession
7. Responsible 8. defend 9. confiscate
10. worthless 11. bribery 12,punishment
13, protect 14. unscrupulous 15. theives
Questions to answer.
Build your own sentences from legal vocabularies above, start from number 1
to 15 ( positive only ) , please use them into : A . ( Present perfect tense no 1
to no 5 ), B. ( Past perfect tense no 6 to 10 ) C. ( Past continuous tense no 11
to 15 )
9. Change the following sentences to the
interrogative and negative.
Notice the example :
I. He was in class this morning. Was he in the class this morning ? He was not
( wasn’t ) in class this morning.
A . Miss Ningtyas is a law student at Krisnadwipayana University.
B. There are there main branches of law
C. These three fields are criminal law, statutory law, and civil law.
D. The rich lady had refused to buy product imported from Japan.
E. The plaintiif has just stood there looking at the presiding judge in
amazement.
