Present Simple

USE
 habits (On Mondays I get up at 5:30 a.m.)
 facts (He is 53 years old.)
 train, plane, etc. schedules (The train to Barcelona leaves at 9:45.)

FORM
affirmative: I, you, we, they + verb You read a lot.
he, she, it + verb + s (or es) She reads a lot.

negative: I, you, we, they + do not (don’t) + verb They don’t read a lot.
he, she, it + does not (doesn’t) + verb He doesn’t read a lot.

question: Do + I, you, we, they + verb? Do we read a lot?

Does + he, she, it + verb? Does she read a lot?

Present Continuous
USE
 something happening at the moment of speaking (They are listening to the
radio.)
 something happening at the moment in time (We are redecorating our living
room.)
 a plan or intention in the future (They’re staying at their cousin’s house next
weekend.)

FORM
affirmative: I am + verb+ing I am studying.
you/we/they are + verb+ing They are studying.
he/she/it is + verb+ing He is studying.

negative: I am + not + verb(ing) I am not studying.

I’m not studying.
you/we/they are + not + verb(ing) They are not studying.
They aren’t studying.
They’re not studying.
he/she/it is + not + verb(ing) He is not studying.
He isn’t studying.
He’s not studying.

question: Am I + verb(ing)? Am I studying?

Are you/we/they + verb+ing? Are they studying?
Is he/she/it + verb+ing? Is he studying?

Past Simple
USE
 actions that happened in the past and are finished (Last week they went to
London.)

FORM
affirmative: subject + verb + ed (or past irregular verb form)
Yesterday I listened to the radio. She ate chicken.
 negative: subject + didn’t + verb
I didn’t listen to the radio. She didn’t eat chicken.

question: Did + subject + verb

Did I listen to the radio? Did she eat chicken?

Present Perfect
USE
 to express something that happened in the past but affects you now (We have
lost our keys.)
 something that has happened at some point in your life (He has heard of
them.)

FORM
affirmative: I /you /we /they + have + past participle (verb+ed or 3 rd
column irregular verbs)
We have seen that movie 3 times.
he /she /it + has + past participle
She has seen that movie 3 times.
negative: I /you /we /they + haven’t (have not)+ past participle
We haven’t (have not) seen that movie 3 times.
he /she /it + has + past participle
She hasn’t (has not) seen that movie 3 times.
question: have/has + subject + past participle?
Have we seen that movie 3 times?
Has she seen that movie 3 times?

Past Continuous
USE
 actions that happened for a period of time in the past and were not finished,
often being interrupted (We were eating dinner when John called.)

FORM
affirmative: I/he/she/it + was + verb(ing) She was studying.
you/we/they + were + verb(ing) We were studying.

negative: I/he/she/it + was + not + verb(ing) She wasn’t studying.

you/we/they + were + not + verb(ing) We weren’t studying.

question: Was + I/he/she/it + verb(ing) Was she studying?

Were + you/we/they + verb(ing) Were we studying?

Past Perfect
USE
 to talk about something that happened before a specific moment in the past
(We suggested going to lunch but he had already eaten.)

FORM
affirmative: subject + had + past participle (verb+ed or 3 rd
column irregular verbs)
They had called the police.
negative: subject + hadn’t (had not)+ past participle
 They hadn’t (had not) called the police.
question: had + subject + past participle?
Had they called the police?

Future
*will*
USE
 an offer or decision made at the moment of speaking (Do you want coffee or
tea? I’ll have tea.)
 predictions based on an opinion (I think it will probably be sunny this
weekend)

FORM
affirmative: subject + will + verb (infinitive)
I’ll make a copy for you.
negative: subject + will not (won’t) + verb
They won’t be here until 10 pm.
question: Will + subject + verb?
Will you please get me a glass of water?

*going to*
USE
 plans or intentions in the future (We are going to stay at grandma’s house.)
 predictions based on fact (We aren’t going to be late.)

FORM
affirmative: subject + am/ is/ are + going to + verb (ing)
We are going to have dinner at 7 pm.
negative: subject + am/ is/ are + not + going to + verb (ing)
She isn’t going to come to class today.
question: am/ is/ are + subject + going to + verb (ing)
Am I going to see you again?

*Will and going to often can be used with the same meaning.

Conditionals
*Zero*
USE
 to talk about true facts referring to all time

FORM
if / when / whenever + present simple, present simple
When you heat water, it boils.

*First*
USE
 to talk about real situations and their outcomes in the future

FORM
if / when + present simple, will + verb
If I don’t study, my parents will be angry.
*Second*
USE
 to talk about situations that are imaginary or not very probable

FORM
if + past simple, would / could / might + verb
If they drove faster, they’d get there sooner.
*was can change to were in this form without a change in meaning (If
I was you... If I were you...)
*Third*
USE
 to talk about past situations and express the result if things had happened
differently

FORM
if + past perfect, would / could /might + present perfect
If we had bought that house, we would have lived next to the school.

*all of the conditional sentences can be expressed by stating the result or condition first.
for example: If you hadn’t been late, you wouldn’t have missed the news. OR You
wouldn’t have missed the news if you hadn’t been late.

Passive
USE
 the passive is used to take the focus of a sentence from the agent (who does
the action) to the action itself when the agent is understood or when it isn’t
important
The kitchen was remodeled last August.

 it is also used to sound more formal

Houses are built every day.
Houses are being built.
Houses were built every day.
Houses have been built.
Houses had been built.

Continuous tenses

be/get used to vs. used to

be
can (modal verbs)
uses of have

 possession (see below)

o My friend has a dog. We’ve got two birds.

 the perfect tenses (see above)

o She hasn’t read the book yet. (present perfect)
o They hadn’t called yet. (past perfect)

possession
Have and have got both express possession. The only difference is the
form, they both have the same meaning. There is only one past form
(had).

forms of have

have have got

affirmative I / you / we / they have a book. I / you / we / they have got a book.
She/ he / it has a book. She/ he / it has got a book.
negative I / you / we / they don’t have a I / you / we / they haven’t got a
book. book.
She / he / it doesn’t have a She / he / it hasn’t got a book.
book.
question/short answer Do I / you / we / they have a Have I / you / we / they got a book?
book? Yes, I do. No, I don’t. Yes, I have. No, I haven’t.
Does she / he / it have a book? Has she / he / it got a book?
Yes, she does. No, she doesn’t. Yes, she has. No, she hasn’t.
past simple I had a book.
I didn’t have a book.
Did you have a book? No, I didn’t.
uses of be

 present continuous
o They are watching a movie.

 future- going to
o We are going to have a party on Saturday.

 passive
o The building was designed by a team of architects.

to be (present tense)

AFFIRMATIVE:

I am (I’m) I’m Spanish.

you are (you’re) You’re Spanish.
he is (he’s) He’s Spanish.
she is (she’s) She’s Spanish.
it is (it’s) It’s Spanish.
we are (we’re) We’re Spanish.
they are (they’re) They’re Spanish.

NEGATIVE:

I am not (I’m not) I’m not Spanish.

you are not (you’re not / you aren’t) You’re not Spanish.
he is not (he’s not / he isn’t) He’s not Spanish.
she is not (she’s not / She isn’t) She’s not Spanish.
it is not (it’s not / it isn’t) It’s not Spanish.
we are not (we’re not /we aren’t) We’re not Spanish.
they are not (they’re not / they aren’t) They’re not Spanish.

QUESTION:

Am I …? Am I Spanish?
Are you …? Are you Spanish?
Is he …? Is he Spanish?
Is she …? Is she Spanish.
Is it…? Is it Spanish?
Are we …? Are we Spanish?
Are they …? Are they Spanish?

SHORT ANSWER:

Yes, I am. / No, I’m not. Yes, she is. / No, she isn’t (she’s not).
Yes, you are. / No, you’re not (you aren’t). Yes, it is. / No, it isn’t (it’s not).
Yes, he is. /No, he isn’t (he’s not). Yes, we are. / No, we’re not (we aren’t).
Yes, they are. / No, they’re not (they aren’t).

to be (past tense)

AFFIRMATIVE:

I was I was Spanish.

you were You were Spanish.
he was He was Spanish.
she was She was Spanish.
it was It was Spanish.
we were We were Spanish.
they were They were Spanish.

NEGATIVE:

I wasn’t I wasn’t Spanish.

you weren’t You weren’t Spanish.
he wasn’t He wasn’t Spanish.
she wasn’t She wasn’t Spanish.
it wasn’t It wasn’t Spanish.
we weren’t We weren’t Spanish.
they weren’t They weren’t Spanish.

QUESTION:

Was I …? Was I Spanish?

Were you …? Were you Spanish?
Was he …? Was he Spanish?
Was she …? Was she Spanish?
Was it…? Was it Spanish?
Were we …? Were we Spanish?
Were they …? Were they Spanish?

SHORT ANSWER:

Yes, I was. / No, I not.

Yes, you were. / No, you weren’t.
Yes, he was. /No, he wasn’t.
Yes, she was. / No, she wasn’t.
Yes, it was. / No, it wasn’t.
Yes, we were. / No, we weren’t.
Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t.