Back to the Future

If these guys can have such fun playing with tenses, imagine what you can do with your friends!

Future Tense Exercises

Lets practice our future!

Write the correct form of the verb in brackets to complete the sentences. Use one of these structures: will, shall, be going to, will be + -ing, will have + past participle, will have + bee + -ing, present continuous or present simple. 

Example: 

"Have you booked a holiday yet for this year?"

"Yes, we are taking (take) a cruise around the Caribean in November."

1) I´m going on holiday tomorrow. This time next tuesday afternoon I ................(ski) down a mountain!

2) Look at those black clouds. It ................. (rain) this afternoon.

3)  At our next wedding anniversary we .......... (be/married) for twenty five years.

4) My father´s approaching retirement age, so he.................(probably/sell) the buisness next year.

5) Sit down and watch the T.V.; I ...........(just/finish) this letter quickly before I join you. 

6) "You speak very good Chinese. " "Thank you. It´s not surprising; I ....................... (live) in Beijing for eight years next month."

Time for checking!

Here are the keays to the above exercise.
1) ´ll be skiing
2) ´s going to rain
3) ´ll have been married
4) ´ll probably sell
5) ´ll just finish / ´m just going to finish
6) ´ll have been married

Here you can fins some useful web-sites to practice your future!

• https://english.lingolia.com/en/grammar/tenses/future-i-simple-will/exercises
• http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-simple-future.php#.VFLR0EDTe-U

Future Tense

Future Tense

English doesnt have a "future tense", but uses a variety of forms to talk about the future. The choice of form often depends on whether we are making a prediction, expresing and intention or talking about anarragement.

1) 

Going to → Personal intention; intention regardless to what others think and the circumstances. May be altered by external factors.

- “I´m going to stop by by sister´s tomorrow night.” → she doesn't know

-”I´m going to drink coffee.” → no coffee → “ok, I´ll drink tea.”

• Present Continuous → Future arrangement/plan ti which you have to act accordingly because there are people involved/actions that have taken place(bought the tickets) or are taking place(have everything changed for it) which tie you down, not allowing you to step out so easily.

- “I'm stopping by sister´s tomorrow night.” → she'll be waiting for her.

- “I´m going to the game next Sunday.” → Tickets have been bought

• Will → willingness (modality in that “will”)

      →  decision made at the time of speaking

- “I'll set the table, don't worry”   - “I will pass the exams.”

- “I´m arriving at six and first thing I´ll do is take a nap.”

2)

• Future continuous ( will + be + -ing ) → Action in progress in the future for a specific amount of time.

- “Don't come between 8:00 and 11:00. I´ll be studying by then!”

• Future Perfect( will + have + part.) → action completed by a sprecific time in the future (fut. time ref.)

- “By six o´clock I will have finished studying and be free to go to the cinema.”

3) PREDICTION

• going to → prediction based on present evidence (Facts, feeling about sth)

“It´s going to rain! Look at the clouds!”

“She is going to have a baby” → she´s pregnant

• will → prediction based on statistics/personal criteria/facts that will lead to future outcome.

“It´ll rain according to the forecast.”

“She´ll have a baby.” → plan, not pregnant yet.

4)

•  Simple Present → Use of time adverb to refer to future circumstances (as soon as)

“Let me know when you come”

“Let me know when you will come” → indirect question, future action that hasnt happened yet. Request.

5) Timetable

• Simple Present → part of schedule that you can´t change at will, decided on by authorities.

Present Continuous → change in timetable, temporary arrangement

Past Tense Exercises

Let´s put the Past Tense into practice!

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form using the Simple Present.
Example: 
John came (come) to visit me last week.

1) Last night, mom ..... (bake) the best cake I ever tried!

2) Jake ...... (not come) to my bithday last year.

3) Lucy says that you ..... (win) the race, is that true?

4) Yesterday I ....(go) to the dentist.

5) In the past, women .... (not wear) trousers.

Key to exercise!

1) baked
2) didn´t come
3) won
4) went
5) didn´t wear

Here are some exercises to put into practice what you´ve learnt!!

• http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-simple-past.php#.VFLPh0DTe-U

• http://www.grammar.cl/Games/Past_Irregular_Verbs.htm

Past Tense

Past Tense

We often use the past simple tense for single completed actions and past states and we use the past continuous for temporary or irrumpted actions. We use the past perfect tense for actions which happened before a time in the past.

Past Tense

• Past Simple

There are certain adverbials which mark/prompt the use of simple past form. “Yesterday, at that moment, at the age of…, when she was, she started to get toothache, etc.”

• Clear/Specific reference to a fixed point in the past.

“I was 14-years old when I first went to the dentist. It was not a happy experience.”

“But, 3 months ago, she signed up for…”

• Return to the narrative line. / Back to narrative.

“She had been getting pain on and off. So, her mother decided to take her to the dentist.”

“She had started to get tooth ache and realized she needed do sth about it.”

• Past Perfect

Be careful not to overdo it and make it heavy, it may be unnecessary. Use it at the beginning to set clearly the narrative time and then shift to Past Simple.

• Narration time previous to the fixed point of reference in the past. Reason for past action (go to the dentist/start course)

“Until then, she had always been lucky. She had always had good teeth and had never suffered from a toothache.”

“Three months ago she started the course. She had started to have toothache again and realized she needed to…”

Past Perfect Simple (had + Part.)	Past Perfect Continuous (had + been + Part.)
The action took place once and is factual narration. “She had always had good teeth.”	Emphasis on the continuity of the action over a certain period of time before the point of reference in the past. Reinforce the idea of duration, continuity and progress. “For two months, she had been getting pain, on and off.”

• Present Perfect

There are certain prompts which mark the use of the tense. “Since then, Yet, Still, Seldom, Often, So far, Ever”

• Action/condition/state which begins in the past and is present at the time of speaking.  Point of reference in the past (Since then…) and focus on the result/consequence of the action, rather than the action taking place. Recent past action baring present consequences.

“I had a haircut in 2011 and, since then, I´ve never had long hair again.”

“I´ve never had another cavity since then.”

• Action which happened in the past and may happen again in the future.

“I´ve been to London once, but I´d love to go again.” ≠ “During that trip I didn´t visit London.”

• Continuity in present time                          ≠               Finished time belonging to past. (Simple Past)

“I´ve lived here for 19 years.”                                 ≠            “I lived there for 4 years.”

Present Perfect Simple ( Have/ has + Part.)	Present Perfect Continuous ( Have/has + Been + Part.)
Completed action. “I´ve answered my e-mails yesterday.” Process that will take time to be finished. “It has been wonderful so far. I´ve begun to realize which the reason for my phobia is.”	Action taking course. Idea of continuity and duration “I have been answering my e-mails all morning.” Action still taking place / several sessions (vs. “she´s had several…” only one) “At the course, she´s been having several counseling sessions and has been given the chance t express her feelings.”

Present Tense Exercises

Time for practice!

Write the correct forms of the verbs in brakets to complete the exercises.
Example:
I usually come to the club on Sundays.

1) Penguins ...... (live) in the Antartic.
2) English people ..... (drink) a lot of coffee.
3) I ..... (run) 3 km every day.
4) My cellphone ......(take) 2 hs to get charged.
5) They usually ......(pass) their exams with high grades!

Lets check how you did!

1) live

2) drink

3) run

4) takes

5) pass

Here are some web-sites where you can put into practice what you´ve learnt in theory!!

• http://www.englishmaven.org/HP6/Present%20Tense%20Exercise%209.htm

• http://www.grammar.cl/Games/Simple_Present_Tense.htm

Present Simple and Continuous Tense

Present Tense

1) Factual information; scientific statement; universal/gral truth. Things that will never change because they are always the same.

“Waterbboils at 100°C”

2) Characteristic behaviour of a grop of people; custom (not habit)

“British people drink a lot of tea.”

3) Fixed timetable; part of schedule; future event; decided by authorieres and can´t be changed at will.

“The train leaves at 9:00am.”

4) Schedule; part of plan; itinerary.

“We visit the museum on Thursday.”

5) Historic present; imediacy to bring the reader closer

“Columbus arrives at America in 1492.”

6) Immediacy to stories; telling jokes.

“....and then he says…”

7) Geographical references/descritions of an area

“The River Thames divides the land in two.”

8) Sport commentaries in TV/radio when the action in taking place

“He passes the ball to Messi who scores a goal!”

9) Declarative sentence. Inversion(subject-verb-->Adv./PP fronted to indicate movement)

“Up the river sails the boat.”

10) Formula; fixed expression.

“I declare you man and wife.”

11) Journalese; headlines to make more vivid and grab the attention of the reader; refference to PAST (Narrative Present)

“Ship sinks and leaves 300 deaths.”

12) Instructions; procedures. Imperative; impersonal “you”.

“First you clean the surface and then you put the ingredients on it.”

13) Express a belief.

“I bet -i know the answer.”

PRESENT SIMPLE	PRESENT CONT./PROGRESSIVE
Expressing likes and dislikes. “I don´t like gangster films.”	Feeling in process of change; transformations “I´m liking it a bit more.” Somebody doing different things. “Are you liking your stay?”
Permanent condition; NOT indicate action (habit) “Every time I go to Brazil, I stay in that hotel”	Temporary arrangement “I´m staying at that hotel.” ## “How was your stay?”(N) ##
Fixed timetable; schedule decided upon by authority. “The train leaves/arrives at six.”	Temporary arrangement; change to schedule. “The  train is arriving at six.”
Habit. “The do sleeps on the couch.”	Change in habit; action in progress at the time of speaking. “The dog is sleeping outside because we are painting the living room.”
## Completed action ## “I´ve learnt how to play chess.”	Action taking place/in progress for a limited amount of time “I´m learning how to play chess.” Temporary action “I´m walking to work these days till the mechanics repaired the car.”
Characteristic beahaviour (habit); permanent “Jack is noisy.”	Action/attitude/behaviour at the time; not characteristic of the person. “Jack is being noisy.”
Posession “I have a Porsche.”	“have” replaces certain verbs; informal. “We are having (taking) an interesting conversation.”
Mental state verbs; involuntary perception; NO action “I think I like you.” “The fish tastes good.”	Considering; mental and voluntary perception; activity. “I´m thinking about getting a job.” “I´m tasting the coffee in the mousse.” Progressive + ”always” Annoyance at sb´s behaviour/attitude “You are always slamming the doors!” =wish+”would” “I wish you would stop slamming the doors.” =”keep” + ing “you keep complaing.” = will + inf “And you will slam the doors.” (repettition)
	Incohative verbs(go, turn,get, become); process, change “I´m going mad” “Leaves are turning yellow”
Mental perception “I know the answer.”	Getting to know. “I´m getting to know him better in this trip.”