Present and Past tenses

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 3

English Class

Present & Past Tenses

Comparative & Superlative

Present Simple - When?

Present Simple - When?

1. Facts

"The sun rises in the morning."

2. Routines, habits, timetables, plans

"I always cycle to school on Mondays."

3. Instructions/directions

"Clean your room right now."

Present Simple - How?

Verb + SHIT rule

(she, he, it gets + s)

Fill in the missing verb in the present simple: "He always ______ (close) the door behind him."

Present Continuous - When?

Present Continuous - When?

1. An action that is happening right now, at the moment of speaking.

"I am trying to fix the computer."

2. Future plans or arrangements

"I am going to meet Sarah tonight." 

3. Repeated actions

"He is always annoying me with dumb questions."

Present Continuous - How?

to be + verb + -ing

"I am watching a movie right now."

Present Continuous - Keywords

Look

Listen

(Right) now

At the moment

Fill in the missing verb in the present continuous: "He is _______ (follow) me because he doesn't know the way."

Past Simple - When?

Past Simple - When?

1. Actions that happened (and finished) at a specific time in the past. 

"I walked home yesterday"

2. Something that indicates habit/routine

"I walked to school every day"

3. Something that was true/factual, in the past

"I walked a lot, back in the day"

Past Simple - When?

4. A list of things that follow each other

"I walked to my car, saw the window was broken, and called the police" 

Past Simple - How?

Verb + -ed

"I walked..."

or

Irregular verb in past tense

(eat --> ate)

"I ate..."

Past Simple - Keywords

yesterday

ago

last (month/year/weekend/monday)

the day before yesterday

Fill in the missing verb in the past simple:
"I _______ (walk) home yesterday."

Past Continuous - When?

Past Continuous - When?

1. Something that was happening before another action interrupted

"I was walking when I heard thunder overhead"

2. Something that was already happening at a specific time

"I was calling my friend at three in the morning"

3. Something that explains duration/frequency

"I was studying maths all night"

Past Continuous - How?

Past tense of to be + Verb + -ing

"I was walking..."

"He was starting..."

"They were cooking..."

Past Continuous - Keywords

while

when

as

all day (morning / evening / night)

yesterday at 6 (7, 8, ...) o'clock / a.m. / p.m.

this time yesterday / this time last year (week / month)

Fill in the missing verb in the past continuous: "I _________ (watch) a movie when the phone rang."

Side-by-Side

Past Simple:

Action is done, or was short

"I walked", "I ate", or "I sneezed"

Past Continuous

Shows it took time

"I was walking"

Both in same sentence

When one activity is interrupted by another:

"I was meditating until my sister sneezed"

The activity in the Past Continuous is interrupted by the activity in the Past Simple

"While he _______ (play) the piano, a brick ________ (crash) through the window."

Present Perfect - When?

Actions or states started in the past, but still connected to the present. 

1. Unfinished times or states

"We haven't received a lot of feedback so far."

Present Perfect - When?

2. Life experiences (life is also an unfinished time)

"I have worked for six different companies"

3. Past actions with a result in the present

"He has broken his leg so he can't go on holiday."

Present Perfect - How?

Present Perfect - How?

Has + verb(+ed)

Unless the verb is irregular, then...

Has + verb (past participle)

Complete with the present perfect:
"It _________ (not/rain) on our holiday so far."

Past Perfect - When?

Past Perfect - When?

Talking about the earlier of two actions

Past Perfect = earlier & Past Simple = later

(always together in a sequence of events)

"He had saved his document before the computer crashed"

"After she had finished her work, she went to lunch"

Past Perfect - How?

Past Perfect - How?

Had + verb(+ed)

Unless the verb is irregular, then...

Had + verb (past participle)

Complete with the Past Perfect & Past Simple:
"I ______ (clean) my room before the painter ______ (arrive)."

How do you form the past simple?

1. Verb + ed (excluding irr. verbs)
2. Has + verb + ed
3. Verb + ed (including irr. verbs)
4. Had + verb + ed

How do you form the past continuous?

1. to be + verb + ing
2. to be + verb + ed
3. to be + verb
4. to be + verb + been + ing

How do you form the past perfect?

1. Have + verb + ed
2. Has/have + verb + ed
3. Has + verb + ed
4. had + verb + ed

Comparative & Superlative Form

Fast

Faster

Fastest