REVIEW OF TENSES PROF: RAFA CANO

1º BACHILLERATO
A) PRESENT SIMPLE vs PRESENT CONTINUOUS
FORM
PRESENT SIMPLE:“I PLAY- HE/SHE PLAYS” *remember the rules of 3rd person “s”
PRESENT CONTINUOUS: “I AM PLAYING” * remember the rules of “ing”

USES
PRESENT SIMPLE:
- ROUTINES-HABITS: “I usually go to the cinema on Saturdays”
- GENERAL ACTIONS: “Susan lives in London and she works in a hospital”
- UNIVERSAL TRUTHS: “Water boils when you heat it”
- STATIVE VERBS: “She doesn’t understand the problem” *remember these verbs
- FUTURE: For Fixed Timetables: “The train leaves tomorrow at 6.00 p.m”

PRESENT CONTINUOUS:
- An action happening at the time of speaking: “We are studying English now”
- TEMPORARY ACTIONS: “Susan is living with her parents until the builders finish the works
in her living room”
- A DEFINITE PLAN FOR A NEAR FUTURE: “I am visiting my cousins this weekend”
- BREAKING A HABIT/ROUTINE: “I always go to school on foot, but today I am going by car
because it is raining a lot”

TIME EXPRESSIONS
PRESENT SIMPLE: ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY (Always, never, usually, often, sometimes, seldom,
etc). ON Saturdays, EVERY year, ONCE/TWICE a week, etc

PRESENT CONTINUOUS: NOW, AT THE MOMENT, RIGHT NOW, THIS weekend, TONIGHT,
BUT TODAY, …

B) PAST SIMPLE vs PAST CONTINUOUS

FORM
PAST SIMPLE: “I played/ I saw” *remember the rules of “ed” and Irregular verbs
PAST CONTINUOUS “I was playing”

USES
PAST SIMPLE: A definite and completed action from the past
“Sally went to Paris last year”
PAST CONTINUOUS: An action happening at a specific time from the past
“Sally was watching TV yesterday at 8.00 p.m.”

TIME EXPRESSIONS
PAST SIMPLE: yesterday, last Saturday, three days ago, in 2005, etc
PAST CONTINUOUS: (the previous expressions) + time: yesterday at three o´clock.

SUBORDINATE SENTENCES
1. TWO VERBS IN PAST SIMPLE= CONSECUTIVE ACTIONS
“I saw the accident and I called the police immediately”
2. TWO VERBS IN PAST CONTINUOUS= SIMULTANEOUS ACTIONS
“I was studying Maths at the same time as my sister was playing the piano”
3. ONE VERB IN PAST SIMPLE, ONE VERB IN PAST CONTINUOUS= an action in progress
(past continuous) which is interrupted by another action (past simple)
“I was reading my emails when the electricity went off”

LINKERS
WHEN, (va NORMALMENTE con el past simple)
WHILE, AS (van SIEMPRE con Past Continous)
AT THE SAME TIME AS (los dos verbos van SIEMPRE en Past Continuous)
REVIEW OF TENSES PROF: RAFA CANO
1º BACHILLERATO
C) PERFECT TENSES

-PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE: actions which started in the past and that, somehow, have some
connection with the present
“I have lived in London for five years” (I started living in 2005 and I still live in London)

*compare with PAST SIMPLE: “I lived in London in 2005” (I don’t live there nowadays)

TIME EXPRESSIONS
SINCE : I have studied English since 1997/ since I was a child/ etc
FOR: I have studied English for ten years / for a long time / for ages/ etc
YET: I haven’t read The Lord of the Rings yet. (-) (?) final position
ALREADY I have already read The Lord of the Rings. (+) mid position
JUST John has just gone to the street. (acabar de) mid position
RECENTLY I have recently seen Mary in the supermarket. Mid position
EVER Have you ever drunk Chinese tea? (alguna vez…) mid position
HOW LONG? How long have you lived in this city?

-PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS: la diferencia con el PPS es que en este tiempo se

enfatiza más la duración de la acción y el resultado de la misma.
PPS: I have cut the onions. (OK, I have finished, what shall I do next?)
PPC: I have been cutting onions (now my eyes are red and I am crying)

*si se puede contar las veces que hemos hecho algo usamos el PPS. Si no lo podemos hacer, o bien
porque no lo sepamos o porque nos interese exagerar la acción, usamos el PPC
PPS: I have sent three letters since May.
PPC: I have been sending letters all the morning (and now I’m really tired!)

TIME EXPRESSIONS
ALL, THE WHOLE: I have been running all the evening/ the whole evening.

-PAST PERFECT SIMPLE (vs PAST SIMPLE):

“I bought the car after I had saved the money”
Se usa para hablar de acciones pasadas anteriores a otras también en pasado. La acción más lejana en
el tiempo va en Past Perfect, y la más cercana al presente en Past Simple.

TIME EXPRESSIONS
AFTER (va seguido de Past Perfect)
BEFORE, BY THE TIME (van con Past Simple)

-PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS: para enfatizar una acción que se estaba desarrollando en el
pasado.
“They had been making noise all the morning yesterday”