TURN ON YOUR ENGLISH: octubre 2014

Hi!
To begin with our task, I have decided to start with a Tenses Review.

When learning a language, Grammar seems to be the more difficult and laborious section, the one in which we have to spend more time. English Grammar is not one of the more complex Grammars in the world, but as all other, it requieres time. So, in this post I just want to make a short review on the English Tenses.

First of all, we have to devide English Tenses in two groups: Simple Tenses and Complex Tenses.
This week I we are just going to work on the Simple ones.
Simple Tenses:
The ones in which we don't need an auxiliary verb to form them (unless in the negative and interrogative form).

1.Present Simple

Form:

Afirmative: It is like the base form of the verb (infinitive without to), except in the 3^rd Person Singular, which ends in -s or -es. To form the 3^rd Person Singular, we have to focus on the following spelling rules, depending on the ending of the verb:
Verbs ending in -o, -ss,-ss,-sh,-ch or -x usually add -es. For instance: do - does, miss - misses, wish – wishes, touch – touches, fix – fixes.
Verbs ending in y + vowel add a -s. For instance: say – says.
Verbs ending in consonant + y change y to i before adding -es. For instance: try – tries.
Negative: Subject here is followed by the Auxiliary Verb do + the negative particle not (do not/don't). In the 3^rd Person Singular, the Axuliary Verb takes the inflected form (does not/doesn't). The main verb follows this particular construction. In the 3^rd Person Singular, we must not inflect the verb, as it is already inflected in the Auxiliary Verb.
Interrogative: Auxiliary Verb (do/does) followed by the subject (which always rotate with the auxiliary particle) and then the main verb in its base form. Have got, to be and modal verbs do not need the help of the Auxiliary Verb do either in the Interrogative or the Negative.

	1^St / 2^nd Sing	3^rd Sing	1^st /2^nd /3^rd Plu
Afirmative	I/You work	He/She/It works	You/We/They work
Negative	I/You don't work	He/She/It doesn't work	You/We/They don't work
Interrogative	Do I/You work?	Does He/She/It work?	Do You/We/They work?

Use

A regular habit or rutine.

I goes to my dancing lessons every Monday
A general truth or scientific fact.

Sevilla is one of the hottest cities in the world.
Stative verbs: those verbs which refers to an state instead of an action. They are usually used with the Present Simple Tense. They are related to:

Emotions and feelings: dislike, enjoy, hate, hope, like, love, prefer, want.
Thinking and opinion: believe, forget, guess, know, remember, think, understand.
Perception and senses: feel, hear, see, smell, sund, taste, touch.
Prices, measures and possession: cost, measure, weigh, belong, have, own.

Some of them indicate both state and activity, so they can be used both in Present Simple and Presen Continuous: think, see...

Schedule and programs

The plane leaves at 4 o'clock.

Time expressions / Adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of frequency are placed before the main verb, unless with the verb to be , in which case are placed after the verb.
I never buy Nike shoes.

My mum is always so busy.

To ask about the frequency of something we use how often...?

How often do you go to the cinema?

Time expressions are always placed ath the beginning or at the end of the sentence.

I take English lessons every week.

Adverbs of frequency	Time Expressions
Always, usually, generally, regularly, occasionally, frequently, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never...	At _ o'clock, at night, in the morning, on Fridays/Mondays..., every week, once a month, how often...? …

2. Present Continuous

Form

Afirmative: Subject here is followed by the Auxiliary Verb to be inflected in the proper form (am/is/are) and then we find the main verb ending in -ing, following the next spelling rules, depending on the termination of the base form corresponding to the main verb.
When e is not pronounced, it is dropped: pay – paying.
Y does not change: die – dying.
A monosyllabic word ending in vowel + consonant, the consonant is doubled (excepting w/y): run – running but show – showing.
Final l/p are doubled too when the word is bisyllabic: travel – travelling.
Bisyllabic acute words ending in vowel + consonant double their consonant: refer – referring.
Negative: Subject followed by the Auxiliary Verb to be inflected in the proper form (am/is/are) and the negative particle (not) and then the main verb ending in -ing.
Interrogative: Auxiliary Verb to be inflected in the proper form (am/is/are) followed by the subject and the main verb ending in -ing.

	1^St / 2^nd Sing	3^rd Sing	1^st /2^nd /3^rd Plu
Afirmative	I am working You are working	He/She/It is working	You/We/They are working
Negative	I am not working You are not working.	He/She/It is not working.	You/We/They are not working
Interrogative	Am I working? Are you working?	Is He/She/It working?	Are You/We/They working?

Use

An action which is taking place in the moment the speaker is talking.

Come on! It is raining.

Time expressions: now, right now, at the moment, in this very moment, in this particular moment..
A temporary action which is happening in a bigger conception of present.

Cristina is taking English lessons this summer.

Time expressions: this year, at present, today, these days, this month, this summer/winter...
A definite plan for the near future. The plan was fixed in the past and it is sure to take place.

My father is coming from London tonight.

Time expressions: this evening, tonight, tomorrow, next Friday/week/year...
To complain, by means of the adverb always.

My mum is always telling me to clean my room.

3. Past Simple

Form:

Afirmative: It depends on the kind of verb (regular/irregular).
Regular Verbs: they are formed adding the suffix -ed to the base form of the verb, following the next spelling rules:If e is not pronounced, they just add the -d, for instance prove – proved
Verbs ending in a vowel followed by y add -ed, as in the verb stay – stayed.
Verbs ending in a consonant followed by y change the y for i before adding -ed, for example carry – carried.
Verbs ending in l or p or vowel + consonant double the consonant when the word is bysillabic and acute, as in cancel – cancelled or prefer – preferred.
Irregular Verbs: they do not follow any of the preceding rules.
Negative: Subject here is followed by the Auxiliary Verb do in the corresponding past simple form, did, the negative particle not and the verb in its base form. Both regular and irregular forms are formed in this way.
Interrogative: The Auxiliary Verb and the Subject rotate and then we find the verb in the base form.

	1^St / 2^nd Sing	3^rd Sing	1^st /2^nd /3^rd Plu
Afirmative	I worked.	He/She/It worked.	You/We/They worked
Negative	I did not work.	He/She/It ididn't work.	You/We/They did not work.
Interrogative	Did you work?	Did He/She/It work?	Did You/We/They work?

Use:

A completed action that took place in a exact moment of the past.

Sandra went to Los Angeles last summer.
A series of completed actions in the past.

We opened the door and the guests entered the room.

Indicate that a short action introduced by when took place when another larger action was developing.

I was talking on my phone when you arrived.
Describe how things were in the past

In the 19^th century, London was a very dangerous city.

Time expressions: yesterday, last week/year/summer/..., two/three days/years/... ago, in 2007/1994/..., in the 1980s/1920s/..., in the 18^th / 14^th /... century, when, then...

4. Past Continuous

Form
Afirmative: Subject is followed by the Auxiliary Verb to be in the corresponding past simple form (was/were) and the main verb ending in -ing.
Negative: Subject is followed by the he Auxiliary Verb to be in the corresponding past simple form (was/were), the negative particle not and the main verb ending in -ing.
Interrogative: Auxiliary Verb to be in the corresponding past simple form (was/were), Subject and the main verb ending in -ing.

	1^St / 2^nd Sing	3^rd Sing	1^st /2^nd /3^rd Plu
Afirmative	I was working You were working	He/She/It was working.	You/We/They were working.
Negative	I wasn't working. You weren't working.	He/She/It wasn't working	You/We/They were not working.
Interrogative	Was I working? Were you working?	Was He/She/It working?	Were You/We/They working?

Use:

An incomplete action in progress at a specific time in the past

Yesterday at 7 o'clock, I was visiting my best friend.
An incomplete action interrupted by another action. The action which was happening is preceeded by while or as and the action that interrupt this one is preceeded by when.

While Justin was driving when his girlfriend kissed him.

Two incomplete actions in progress at the same time at the past, connected by while or as.

It was raining while I was walking to your house.
By using always we can express that a past action was unpleasant for being repeated and monotonous.

He was always talking about his trips.

Time expressions: last night/ week/ year/ summer/..., at 4/7/... o'clock, when, while, as...

CLASS ACTIVITY:
This activity is recommended for groups of at least, 10 people. You have here ten different verbs. Construct a sentence using any of the tenses that you have just reviewed. Time expressions are recommended to use.

EXERCISES: