Verb Tenses
Learning Objectives
- list the verb tenses
- identify the verb tenses
- explain the requirements for using each verbe tense
- identify some common coordinate conjuctions
- punctuate sentences with these conjunctions correctly
- identify simple and compound sentences
12 Verb Tenses
Simple Tenses
- Simple Present Tense
- Jerry palys tennis everyday.
- Simple Past Tense
- Jerry played tennis yesterday.
- Simple Future Tense
- Jerry will play tennis next weekend.
Progressive Tenses
be verb + ing
- Present Progressive
- Jennifer is walking to class.
- Past Progressive (was, were)
- Jennifier was walking to class.
- Future Progressive
- Jennifer will be walking to class.
Perfect Tenses
- Present Perfect (Something happened before now)
- have/has + p.p.
- Steve has eaten sushi before.
- Past Perfect (One of the action happened before the other action)
- Now is not important
- had + p.p.
- Alan had not studied before he took the test.
- Future Perfect (Two actions in the future)
- Now is not important with future perfect
- will have + p.p.
- By next weekend, I will have seen the new movie six times.
Perfect Progressive Tenses
Combine Perfect and Progressive.
- Present Perfect Progressive
- Something started before now, it may continue even longer.
- Emphasis is on the time that the action goes on.
- She has been waiting for a long time.
- Past Perfect Progressive
- Doing the action during the time.
- He had been sleeping for ten hours.
- Future Perfect Progressive
- Emphasize the continuous action for some period of time.
- We will have been studying for a month.
Present Perfect vs. Present Perfect Progressive
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Julie has studied French for two years.
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Julie has been studying French for two years.
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Bart has lived in Ireland for two years.
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Bart has been living in Ireland for two years.
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Sofia has worked at Apple for four months.
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Sofia has been working at Apple for four months.
Most of cases, two tenses are about the same meaning. Otherwise,
- Brian has been at work since 8:00.
- Brian has been being at work since 8:00. (x)
Care about be verb.
- I have seen that movie before.
- I have been seeing that movie before. (x)
"before" is a time signal.
- The dog has been chewing that bone for 2 hours.
- The dog has chewed that bone for 2 hours. (x)
The action is still going on.
These signals are usually matching each tenses.
- Present Perfect: one time, two times, once, twice, before
- Present Perfect Progressive: for one hour, for a day, for a year, all day, all week
Present Perfect vs. Simple Past
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I have already finished my homework. (now - finished)
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We saw that movie on Friday. (Specific time in the past)
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He has been absent all week. (duration)
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They had a test yesterday. (Specific time in the past)
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The meeting started at 3:00.
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James has climbed that mountain five times so far.
-
I haven't talked to her since Friday.
Keywords for tenses.
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Present Perfect: already, ever, never, yet, since, so far
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Simple Past: last night, last week, last Monday, in 1979, at noon, two days ago, yesterday
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Max fed the dog an hour ago.
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We haven't decided what to name our new baby yet.
-
I have lived in this house since I got married.
Simple future vs. Future Perfect
- Linda will leave before you get there.
- Linda will have left before you get there.
Sometimes, those two tenses are interchangeable. But without prepositions such as before or by the time that make the sequence of events clear, you need to use the future perfect to show what happened first.
- At eight o’clock Linda will leave. (This means that Linda will wait until 8 o’clock to leave.)
- At eight o’clock Linda will have left. (This means Linda will leave before 8 o’clock.)
Conjunctions and Commas
Learning Objectives
- identify some common coordinate conjunctions
- punctuate sentences with these conjunctions correctly
- identify simple and compound sentences
Sentence Types
- Simple: independent clause (subject + verb)
- Sam washed his face.
- Compound: 2 independent clauses, conjunction and comma
- Sam washed his face, and he combed his hair.
- Complex: independent clause + dependent clause, with connector
- Sam got dressed because it was time for school.
Coordinate conjuctions: and, but, or, nor, yet, so, for.
- Sam and Pete washed their faces.
- Sam washed his face but not his hair.
- The computer is old and broken.
- We will go to the park or the market.
- She bought apples, pears, and grapes. (three or more, use comma)
Compound Sentences
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Ben washed his face, and he combed his hair. (use comma)
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Jeff ate an apple, but Alex ate a pizza.
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The bank is closed, so we can't cash the check.
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There was no air conditioning, yet we were cool.
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James did his homework, and Matt read a book. (After conjuction, it comes a complete sentence)
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Amy walks to school, but Julie rides a bike.
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Paul will go to a movie, or he will stay home.
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I tried to bake a cake, yet I failed.
No subject after the conjuction = No comma before the conjuction
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James did his homework, and Matt read a book.
-
James did his homework and read a book.
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Amy walks to school, but Julie rides a bike.
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Amy walks to school but drives to work.
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Paul will go to a movie, or he will stay home.
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Paul will go to a movie or stay home.
Quiz
Decide if these sentences need to use a comma or not.
- Bears and wolves live in the mountains and in forests.
- I had a steak a baked potato and some peas for lunch.
- John and Yoko lived and spent time near Central Park.
- We watched TV but didn't enjoy any of the programs.
- My dad will buy a new car or get his old one fixed.
- The bus was late so I decided to take a taxi to work.
- We ate pizza for dinner and had ice cream for dessert.
- They took a trip to Dallas and then spent time on a lake.
Answer:
- I had a steak, a baked potato, and some peas for lunch.
- The bus was late, so I decided to take a taxi to work.
Summary
- Don't use commas
- only 2 nouns, verbs, or adjectives
- Use commas
- series with 3 or more items
- two simple sentences / independent clauses joined with a conjunction
Coordinate conjunctions and punctuation chart