2TTO - Unit 1 - verb tenses present

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• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

2TTO - Unit 1 - verb tenses present

What grammar do you need to know?

• Present simple and present continuous
• Present perfect
• Present perfect continuous 

Do you remember what verb tenses are used here?

I walk home every day.

I walked to soccer yesterday.

When do we use the present simple?

When do we use the present continuous?

Present simple vs continuous

We use the present simple to talk about current routines and habits: I often listen to music

We use the present continuous with things that are happening right now, temporary events, and new patterns or habits.

My brother and sister are fighting.

He’s studying a new language at the moment. 

Present simple or continuous?
1. You look worried, what are you thinking?

1. present simple
2. present continuous

Present simple or continuous?
2. She earns a lot of money.

1. present simple
2. present continuous

Present simple or continuous?
3. Look, a man is running across the street.

1. present simple
2. present continuous

Present simple or continuous?
4. I am preparing our presentation in the library.

1. present simple
2. present continuous

Present simple or continuous?
5. I always go to the office early.

1. present simple
2. present continuous

What does the verb show in this sentence?

Present perfect - when do we use it?

1. an action that happened at an unspecified moment in the past. What is important is the actual experience, not when it happened.

- I've seen Beyoncé in concert.

2. recent events which have a result in the present.

She's lost her bag. (= She hasn't got it now.)

Present perfect - when do we use it?

3. actions that finished very recently.

They've just had an accident.

4. actions or situations which started in the past and continue in the present.

Mark's lived here for ten years. (= Mark started to live here ten years ago and he still lives here now.)

present simple

present continuous

past simple

present perfect

regular activities, states and permanent situations

activities and events taking place at the moment of speaking, and temporary situations

activities and events that started and ended in the past

actions and events which ended in the past but we don’t know or it’s not important when exactly they happened

Verb forms - overview

Present simple: to talk about regular activities, states and permanent situations, and preferences: I have breakfast at 7 o’clock. 

Present continuous: to talk about activities and events taking place at the moment of speaking, and temporary situations: The manager is talking to the customer.

Past simple: to talk about activities and events that started and ended in the past:
Yesterday we played tennis in the garden.

Present perfect: to talk about actions and events which ended in the past but we don’t know or it’s not important when exactly they happened: I have never swum there.

What does the verb show in this sentence?

Present perfect continuous

The present perfect continuous has a similar meaning to the present perfect. However, we use the continuous when we want to emphasise the process and the duration of an action: I have been studying in this school for five months.

So, if an action is very short, we don’t use the continuous form. (NOT: I’ve been breaking the window.)

We also use the continuous to emphasise that an action finished very recently or is incomplete: I’ve been washing the dishes … and my hands are wet.

Present perfect continuous

How do we form it?

We use has/have been + the present participle (root + ing).

Examples:

I have been reading Harry Potter. 

I have not been feeling well lately.

She has been living in the Netherlands since 2002.