.:Rudy’s Blog:.

There are 16 tenses in English. It is mainly divided by the timeline,
1. The present tense, describes something that happens at present time
2. The past tense, describes something that happened at past time
3. The future tense, describes something that should be happened at future time
4. The past future tense, describes something that will be done at past time

Let’s discuss it one by one, starts from the present tense.

Simple Present Tense
Pattern :
       S + to be (is, am, are) + …
       S + V1 + (s/es) + …

This tense has two main purposes, is to express :
1. An action that happens frequently (habitual action)
    Example :
    -  We eat rice every day.
    -  I go to school at 6 o’clock.
2. General truth / fact
    Example :
    -  The world is round.
    -  The earth goes round the sun.
    -  Animal lives only for food.

Present Continuous Tense
Pattern :
        S + to be (is, am, are) + V-ing + …

This tense has three main purposes, is to express :
1. An action or event which is taking place when the expression is said.
    Example :
    -  My Father is reading a magazine.
    -  She is sweeping the floor.
2. An action or event which is temporary.
    Example :
    -  She is waiting me because I shall meet her.
    -  I am listening the radio before she come.
3. An action or event which is taking place on the next time.
    Example :
    -  I am meeting you again tomorrow.
    -  He is coming here tonight.

There are some exceptions, for these verbs below, we cannot use V-ing.
1. Verb of emotion; like, dislike, refuse, want
2. Verb of sense; hear, see, smell, notice, taste
3. Verb of thought/opinion; believe, forget, prefer, remember, expect, know, realize
4. Verb of possesion; owe, own, belong to

The time signals which are usually used with this tense are :
now, right now, today, soon, at present, this morning, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, in a few days.

Present Perfect Tense
Pattern :
    S + have/has + been + …
    S + have/has + V3 + …

This tense has four main purposes, is to express :
1. An action or event that happened in the past and still has a connection with the present time.
    Example :
    -  He has gone since morning.
    -  I have waited you since afternoon.
2. An action that has happened.
    Example :
    -  We have helped him.
    -  Budi has given me a book.
3. A repeating action in irregular time, usually using the adverb before, yet, never, ever, already.
    Example :
    -  She has ever met us.
    -  I have never promised to met her.
4. An action or event that is finished in a short time, usually using the adverb just, last, finally, recently.
    Example :
    -  He have just come here.
    -  Merry has invited them last.

The time signals which are usually used with this tense are :
once, twice, three times, many time, several times,
this week, this month, this year,
just, not yet, already, at last, so far, finally, lately, recently, as yet,
since yesterday, since 1991,
never, ever, for an hour

Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Pattern :
    S + have/has + been + V-ing + …

This tense is used to express an action or event that is started at past but still happening at present.
Example :
-  I have been waiting for an hour but he still has not turned up.
-  He has been living here for six weeks.
-  We have been learning English for a year.

The time signals which are usually used with this tense are :
for, since, long, for over two years, the whole day, since five o’clock, all morning, the whole night

Let’s move back to the past, the past tense.

Simple Past Tense
Pattern :
    S + to be (was, were) + …
    S + V2 + …

This tense is used to express an action or event that is started at past and ended also at past and we know the time.

continued next time, zZZZzzZZZZZ

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