Times in English and their translation. English tenses for dummies: a simple explanation of each aspect

Oh, the times! Oh, morals! Tenses in the English language are considered to be the most difficult section of grammar. But this is one of the most common misconceptions. Along with the fact that the majority distinguishes a dozen tenses in English, and three in Russian. So: don’t trust anyone :) In the English language, experts will highlight more than 12 tenses (take at least Future-in-the-Past for warming up). And in Russian, in theory, there are also more than three. Need proof? Yes please.

Times in the Great and Mighty

Only a first grader thinks that we have past, present and future tense. But at the same time, everyone will feel the difference in these proposals:

I was walking home through the park yesterday.
I walked home through the park yesterday

Immediately a quick question: what is the tense in the sentences? Yeah, past. What verb did “went” come from? Well, yes, from the verb “to go.”

The English language also has tricky irregular verbs, which in the past tense take on such a form that you can try to guess the original one. So the myths that camouflage is practiced only in the English language can already be safely considered debunked.

Let's go back to "went" and "went". Can we smell the difference? In the first case, we are talking about some long time: I walked to myself and walked through the park, without touching anyone. And in the second - about what has already happened. The questions answered by “went” and “went” are also different: “what did you do?” and “what did you do?” Such forms of verb tenses in Russian are usually called imperfect/non-perfect form (what to do) and perfect/perfect (what to do).

And that is not all. For example, when we want to emphasize the duration of an action, we become more sophisticated and use synonyms of verbs that are very close in meaning. For example:

Yesterday I walked through the park in in a great mood.

Now imagine how difficult it is for a foreigner when he wants to convey long action. Surely he will come up with something like “Yesterday I walked... mmm... walked... walked... through the park in a great mood.” And try to explain to him that to convey a long-term action, it is better to take the verb “to walk” and put it in the past tense in the non-perfect form.

Whose tense system is easier?

This is ours:

	Imperfect form (Indefinite)	Perfect form ( Perfect)
		long-term	regular
Present	I'm playing	—	—
Past (Past)	played	played	played
Future (Future)	I will play	I'll play	I'll play

Moreover, in order to denote the present continuous or past imperfect tense, we will have to explain this further. Compare:

I play the guitar (that is, in principle I know how to play this instrument).
And
I'm in this moment I play the guitar (that is, right now I’m sitting and playing, I have nothing else to do).

Tenses in English

While we are getting more sophisticated with perfect/non-perfect forms of the verb, and also practicing finding synonyms, the English have created a completely logical and understandable system of tenses. Each verb easily forms 12 main groups. Let’s take the same “walk” (walk) and use it by default with the pronoun I (I).

Table of tenses in English with examples

	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	I walk I walk (in general, in principle)	I am walking I'm walking/walking (right now)	I have walked I went (already)	I have been walking I walked (did it and completed it by now)
Past	I walked I went (in general, in principle)	I was walking I was walking/walking (a while ago)	I had walked I was walking (the action had already ended at a certain point in the past)	I had been walking I have walked (done this and completed it by a certain point in the past)
Future	I will walk I will walk (in general, in principle)	I will be walking I will walk/walk (for a while)	I will have walked I'm like (the action will end at a certain point in the future)	I will have been walking I will walk (and complete it by some point in the future)

Thus, when reading a sentence in English, one can easily understand what the person means. While in our country the use of explanatory words is mandatory. While we need to use explanatory words for this. For example, to convey the Future Perfect tense, we will add “I’ll finish” to the main semantic verb: “I’ll finish doing my homework by 5 pm.” These are the simple rules of English tenses that, thanks to exercises, are quickly memorized.

And whose tense system is ultimately easier?

There is one topic in language learning that we can probably talk about endlessly. Of course, we mean tenses in English. It is sometimes difficult for students new to the language to get used to the way English-speaking people divide their time for themselves. In fact, each tense form in English has its own analogue in Russian, we just don’t distinguish these forms into separate groups. Therefore, understanding tenses is not at all difficult, and today you will see for yourself.

First, let's do a quick overview of all the time groups so you have an idea of ​​what we'll be talking about today. As in Russian, English sentences can be built in the past, present and future. But besides these time periods, English also has 4 temporary forms, namely: Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous. In general, it turns out that one idea can be expressed in twelve temporary forms. Each form has different way formation of verbs that appear in a sentence. With their help you can determine the time. Detailed table for clarity:

Formation of tenses in English
Time/View	Simple	Continuous or Progressive (long)	Perfect	Perfect Continuous / Progressive (perfect continuous)
Past (past)	V2	to be (2nd form) + V-ing	had + V3	had + been + V-ing
Present (present)	V1	to be (1st form) + V-ing	have / has + V3	have / has + been + V-ing
Future (future)	will + V1	will be + V-ing	will + have + V3	will + have + been + V-ing

Having briefly examined English times, let's move on to their more detailed study and consider the rules for forming tenses with examples.

Why are tenses needed in English?

But first I would like to dwell on the question of why tenses of the English language are needed and whether it is worth learning them all. The tense system in English helps to correctly convey your thoughts to others. That is, you can make it clear what action we're talking about. Was it in the past or present? Has it already ended or is it still going on? Or maybe it happens regularly? - all these questions will disappear on their own , if it is known what tense was used in the sentence.

“So I’m just starting to learn the language, and I’ll immediately have to learn all 12 tenses of the English language?” - you ask. Ideally, yes, you need to learn all tenses. But, most likely, you will not be able to do this at once. Therefore, start your training from the times of the Simple group. Knowing the simple tense, you will be able to explain what happened or will happen to you, what you need and why. But you shouldn’t limit yourself to this time, and therefore, having dealt with it, gradually continue to study other groups. The latest one to consider is the Perfect Continuous group. It is often resorted to when the language level of the students already “exceeds” the average, because the tenses of this group are used quite rarely and are used more to demonstrate their knowledge.

Tenses in English: Simple group

Simple		Present	Past	Future
	+	V1	V2	will + V1
	—	do / does + not + V1	did + not + V1	will + not + V1
	?	Do/Does... V1?	Did... V1?	Will...V1?

Present Simple

Present Simple or simple present tense , is perhaps the most used. The use of this English tense is necessary to express regularly repeated actions, habits, schedules and facts.

As you may have noticed from the table above, the present tense is formed using a verb in its initial form, that is, in the form in which the word is indicated in the dictionary. However, this form may vary slightly depending on the person and number. So, if an action is performed by a third person in the singular, the verbs have an ending -s (-es):

To form negative and interrogative sentences The auxiliary verb do is used. If it is used with third persons in the singular, then this verb turns into does, because it takes away the ending -s (-es) from the semantic verb.

Examples:

As you can see, this tense does not have any complex grammatical rules.

Past Simple

Past Simple or simple past tense in English is used to express the same simple repeated actions, but only in the past. To form it, a verb in the second form is used. It comes in two types. If the verb is regular, then it is enough to add the ending –ed. If it is irregular, then you just need to memorize the second form, because each irregular verb has its own one. Compare:

In this case, the person performing the action does not affect the verb in any way, that is, for all persons the form of the verb is the same. Let's look at the use of this time using examples:

To form negative and interrogative sentences in this case, the auxiliary verb did is used. It takes over the function of the past tense determiner, so the semantic verb returns to its initial form:

Future Simple

Future Simple or simple future tense in English is used to express simple actions that will happen in the future. It has the auxiliary verb will in all three sentence forms:

	She will help you.	She will help you.
	I will explain you how to do this.	I'll explain to you how to do it.
	They will share their main ideas.	They will share their main ideas.
	You will not (won’t) remember anything.	You won't remember anything.
	She won’t be available because she’ll turn off her phone.	She won't be available because she will turn off her phone.
	They won't sign the documents.	They won't sign the documents.
	Will you be with me?	You will be with me?
	Will they like the description of the product?	Will they like the product description?
	Will he lie or not?	Will he lie or not?

Tenses in English: Continuous group

Continuous / Progressive (Long)		Present	Past	Future
	+	to be (1st form) + V-ing	to be (2nd form) + V-ing	will be + V-ing
	—	to be (1st form) + not + V-ing	to be (2nd form) + not + V-ing	will + not + be + V-ing
	?	to be (1st form) ... V-ing?	to be (2nd form) ... V-ing?	Will...be V-ing?

Present Continuous

Present Continuous (Present Progressive) or present continuous tense in English (also known as continuous tense in English) is a tense that shows that an action is ongoing, that is, in the process of being performed at a given moment in time. It is usually constructed using the auxiliary verb to be, which is expressed in three forms, depending on person and number:

Examples:

	I am typing him a message right now.	I'm typing a message to him right now.
	We are watching TV all day long.	We watch TV all day.
	They are translating the text at the moment.	They are currently translating the text.
	He is not (isn’t) reading now.	He's not reading now.
	Jim isn’t writing a new post.	Jim doesn't write a new post.
	I am not (‘m not) learning Turkish.	I don't study Turkish.
	Is she working here till summer?	Is she working here until the summer?
	Are you doing this on purpose, huh?	You're doing this on purpose, right?
	Are they studying the course at the moment?	Are they currently studying this course?

Past Continuous

(Past Progressive) or past continuous tense is used to show that some action lasted at a certain point in the past. Its formation also requires auxiliary and semantic verbs. The same verb to be acts as an auxiliary verb, but only in the past tense:

Pronouns	to be in the past tense
I	was
We	were

The semantic verb is formed in the same way as for the present continuous tense.

Examples:

	I was sleeping when he called me.	I was sleeping when he called me.
	She was cooking while I was reading a newspaper.	She was cooking while I was reading the newspaper.
	They were watching a cartoon when the electricity was suddenly cut off.	They were watching a cartoon when suddenly the lights went out.
	He was not (wasn’t) surfing the Internet at 8 in the evening.	He wasn't surfing the Internet at 8 p.m.
	They were not (weren’t) talking to each other when I came in.	They weren't talking to each other when I walked in.
	I wasn't analyzing the results.	I didn't analyze the results.
	Was she laughing during your presentation?	Did she laugh during your presentation?
	Were they training in the evening?	Did they train in the evening?
	Was she teaching her student at 3 p.m.?	Was she tutoring her student at 3pm?

Future Continuous

Accordingly, the Future Continuous (Future Progressive) or future continuous tense shows an action that will occur at a specific moment in the future. All 3 sentence forms in this tense require an auxiliary verb will be and a semantic verb ending in –ing:

	When I come back, they will be listening to music.	When I return, they will listen to music.
	I will be passing the exam this time tomorrow.	Tomorrow at this time I will be taking the exam.
	They will be rehearsing here at 9 p.m.	They will be rehearsing here at 9 pm.
	Diana will not (won’t) be recording a song tonight.	Diana won't be recording the song tonight.
	Unfortunately, I will not be spending time with my friends during my vacations.	Unfortunately, I won't be spending time with my friends during my vacation.
	They will not be building a website this time on Monday.	They will not be developing the website at this time on Monday.
	Will they be chilling the whole day?	Will they chill out all day?
	Will she be washing the dishes when we go downstairs?	Will she be washing the dishes when we go downstairs?
	Will they be conducting a research?	Will they do the research?

Tenses in English: Perfect group

Perfect (Perfect)		Present	Past	Future
	+	have / has + V3	had + V3	will + have + V3
	—	have / has + not + V3	had + not + V3	will + not + have + V3
	?	Have/Has…V3?	Had...V3?	Will... have V3?

Present Perfect

Present Perfect or present perfect tense is a tense in English used to express actions that have completed by now. It differs from the simple past tense in that it places emphasis on the result in the present that caused an action in the past.

This tense form requires the auxiliary verb have, which changes to has for the third person. But with verbs used as semantic ones, not everything is so simple. They are answered by the past participles. The participle can be formed in two ways:

• If the verb is correct, then it is enough to add the ending –ed:

Example sentences:

	The son has broken the window with a ball.	My son broke a window with a ball.
	My children have already made the list of presents.	My children have already made a gift list.
	I have heard this story many times.	I've heard this story many times.
	I have not (haven’t) hurt people ever.	I've never hurt people.
	She has not (hasn’t) decided yet.	She hasn't made a decision yet.
	They haven’t learned these formulas by heart; that’s why I’m sure they have written cheat sheets	They didn't memorize these formulas, so I'm sure they wrote spurs.
	Has she been to Europe?	Has she been to Europe?
	Have you ever watched an eclipse?	Have you ever watched an eclipse?
	Have they met him yet?	Have they already met him?

Past Perfect

Or the past perfect tense is used to show that some action took place before a specific moment in the past. It is formed using the auxiliary verb had and the same past participles:

	I had prepared a surprise for my children by 7 o’clock in the evening.	I have prepared a surprise for children by 7 p.m.
	We had considered all suggestions by Friday.	We reviewed all proposals by Friday.
	I wanted to visit her but she had moved already.	I wanted to visit her, but she had already moved.
	She had not (hadn’t) spent too much time before she understood the concept.	It didn't take her long before she understood the concept.
	They hadn’t finished the construction by the deadline.	They didn't finish construction by the deadline.
	We hadn't published the magazine by Monday.	We had not published the magazine by Monday.
	Had she edited everything by the end of the day?	Did she edit everything before the end of the day?
	Had he learned the details carefully before he started doing the project?	Did he study all the details carefully before starting the project?
	Had she come back by Thursday?	Was she back by Thursday?

Future Perfect

Future Perfect or future perfect tense, as you might have guessed, shows that the action will be completed by a certain point in the future. To form this tense, in addition to the auxiliary verb have, you will need the verb will. The meaning is the past participle:

	I will have changed everything by this time.	By this time I will change everything.
	She will have been in the Maldives at 3 a.m.	She will be in the Maldives at 3 am.
	The builders will have built the stadium by next winter.	Builders will build the stadium by next winter.
	They will not (won’t) have spent much time on family until they understand its value.	They will not spend much time on family until they understand its value.
	She won’t have reached her goals until she starts working.	She won't achieve her goals until she starts working.
	I think George and Quincy won’t have made up before your birthday party.	I don't think George and Quincy will make up until your birthday.
	Will they have made it by March?	Will they do it by March?
	Will she have got his real intentions before they get married?	Will she understand his true intentions before they get married?

Tenses in English: Perfect Continuous group

Perfect (Perfect)		Present	Past	Future
	+	have / has + been + V-ing	had + been + V-ing	will + have + been + V-ing
	—	have / has + not + been + V-ing	had + not + been + V-ing	will + not + have + been + V-ing
	?	Have / Has … been + V-ing?	Had... been + V-ing?	Will... have + been + V-ing?

Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous or present perfect continuous tense is a tense used to show an action that began and lasted up to a certain moment or continues to last now.

It has auxiliary verbs have been, which change to has been for the third person. The semantic verb is the same verb that was used in Continuous tenses. Among all the English tenses of this group, the Present Perfect Continuous tense is the most commonly used:

	It has been raining all day long.	It rained all day.
	My friend has been persuading me to go with him for an hour.	My friend convinces me to go with him for an hour.
	I’m tired because we have been creating a studio all night.	I was tired because we had been setting up the studio all night.
	She has not (hasn’t) been learning French since she moved from Canada.	She doesn't study French since I moved from Canada.
	Bryan hasn’t been enjoying his weekends since his mother-in-law came to visit them.	Brian didn't enjoy the weekend because his mother-in-law was visiting.
	We haven't been sleeping all night.	We didn't sleep all night.
	How long have you been living here?	How long have you lived here?
	Have you been fighting again?	Did you fight again?
	Who has been touching my documents?!	Who touched my documents?!

Past Perfect Continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous or past perfect continuous tense is used in the same way as the Present Perfect Continuous, only in this case the action ends at a certain point in the past. Sentences are formed in this tense using the auxiliary verbs had been and the semantic verb ending in –ing. Since this form is not used very often and there are not many options for its use, let's look at just a few examples:

Future Perfect Continuous

Future Perfect Continuous or future perfect continuous tense implies a certain moment in the future. Time is used in very rare cases. It uses the auxiliary verbs will have been and the same semantic verb:

That's all. We hope that the explanation of the topic helped you, and the use of tenses in English is no longer a problem for you. Try to use all tense forms as often as possible when speaking, make up examples with them, do various exercises on English tenses and make translations.

To avoid having to constantly return to this article, redraw or create your own table of English tenses. It will be like a cheat sheet for you. Refer to it periodically, even if you have finished studying this topic, since repeating what you have covered will never do any harm. If you still have a little confusion with the tenses at first, with enough practice you will quickly understand how to use them. The main thing is that we deal with all the tenses step by step and do not move from one group to another until we have completely mastered the material.

Hello guys! Many will agree that the topic of this article evokes fear. Tenses in English - This combination of words can scare even an experienced English student, let alone a beginner.

Just about English times

• It is worth understanding that in English there are 3 pillars on which all grammar rests - “ to be», « to have" And " to do».
• Each of these whales can swim in three times: Present,Past And Future.
• In turn, Present, Past and Future will flow into the seas Simple,Continuous, Perfect And Perfect Continuous.
• In the meantime, whales (or whales) swim in these seas, they have babies, or rather, new forms are formed.

Are you confused? Let's take a closer look.

How to learn all tenses in English

You just need to sort everything out and systematize your learning until it becomes automatic. You will know how much you have studied and how much is still to come, then the study of times will not seem like something limitless and endless.

• Present Simple used to express a common, regularly repeated action.
• Past Simple used to express an action that happened in the past.
• Future Simple used to express an action that will happen in the future.

• Present Continuous used to express an action taking place at the moment.
• Past Continuous used to express an action that occurred at a certain point in time in the past.
• Future Continuous used to express an action that will occur at a certain point in time in the future.

• Present Perfect used to express a completed (or still ongoing) action, the result of which is associated with the present.
• Past Perfect used to express an action that ended earlier than another action or a specific moment in the past.
• Future Perfect used to express an action that will be completed by a specific point in time in the future.

Important! There is also the time Future in the Past, which we talked about in the corresponding article.

• Present Perfect Continuous used to express an action that began in the past and continues in the present, or the duration of the action is important.
• Past Perfect Continuous used to express an action that began at a certain point in the past and continued for some time before the beginning of another action.
• Future Perfect Continuous used to express an action that, having begun at a certain moment, will still continue at some point in time in the future.

How not to be afraid of tenses in English?

• Be prepared for the fact that you should have a good feel for the difference between times, from a logical point of view. The tenses in English and Russian are not 100% similar, so it is not always possible to draw a parallel.
• After getting acquainted with each new tense, you must practice it well by completing various grammatical exercises in order to remember the construction and, of course, the situation where we use this tense.
• It is important to learn irregular verbs. For this purpose, there are now special songs that consist of all irregular verbs. Give it a try. This is a very effective method for learning irregular verbs. Especially for music lovers.
• Study English tenses systematically, without trying to learn everything in one day. As soon as you begin to navigate one time, you can move on to the next. Then be sure to practice the mixed exercises where the tasks will be collected in order to check if you are not confused about these tenses.
• It is advisable to practice English every day for 15 minutes. In this case, the new store of knowledge will be stored in your memory for a long time and you will use it automatically.
• If you are studying English tenses on your own, search the Internet. useful videos. On our website you will find many useful grammar video lessons. This is much more interesting and reliable than looking for rules anywhere on the Internet.
• Don't overwork yourself! It's important to give yourself rest. If you turn English into daily hard labor, it will not benefit you, but will only discourage you from learning it.
• When learning tenses in English, pay attention to whether your memory is visual or auditory. Based on this, you can understand which tasks are best to give preference to achieve the most effective result.
• Don't try to learn all tenses in English at once. To start, learn 5-6 basic tenses. This will be quite enough to communicate in English competently.
• As a result, it is important to be able to use these tenses in a conversation. This is quite difficult to do on your own. Suppose you can find rules, exercises and answers to them on your own, but understanding whether you use English tenses in your speech is not an easy task.

Conclusion

WITH English times Usually there are 3 scenarios:

• The student decides that he doesn’t need tenses in English because he just wants to improve his conversational skills.
• The student finds a popular grammar textbook and slowly studies each tense on his own.
• The student turns to the teacher and trusts him on his path to mastery at times in full.

Which one do you choose?

Definitely the second and third! It is impossible to communicate in a language like a native speaker without knowing the tenses. Definitely, if you want to know English, tenses are very important. So which side should you approach them from?

The EnglishDom online school employs many experienced teachers who have already proven to many students that learning tenses is not a disaster.

Many students come to a free introductory lesson with the request “just not grammar,” and after a few lessons with the teacher, they take grammar tests and other interactive tasks with great pleasure. So don't be afraid! U can do it! Times are waiting for you :)

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

They are divided into 4 groups: simple (Simple/Indefinite), continuous (Continuous/Progressive), perfect (Perfect) and perfect continuous (Perfect Continuous) tenses. What will help us choose the right option?

Marker words tenses in English help to correctly determine the tense form, so it is recommended to learn them by heart. With an asterisk* Ambiguous time indicators that may occur in different cases are marked.

Table of satellite words for all tenses of the English language

Used to describe actions in the present that occur regularly, with repetition, and not just at the moment of speech. Used to describe a routine, schedule, habits, etc.

Usually- usually
I usually wake up at 7 o’clock. I usually wake up at 7 o'clock.
Always- Always
Alice always gets good marks at school. Alice always gets good grades at school.
Often- often
Terry often drinks tea in the morning. Terry often drinks tea in the morning.
Every day / morning / week – every day/every morning/every week
Every week Rob goes to the gym. Rob goes to the gym every week.
Sometimes / from time to time / occasionally - Sometimes
Sometimes I visit my Granny in the suberbs of Moscow. Sometimes I visit my grandmother in the suburbs of Moscow.
At the weekend / on weekends / on Saturdays / on Friday – On weekends / Saturdays / Fridays
We have a party on Fridays. On Fridays we have a party.
Seldom/rarely- rarely
We rarely go to the swimming pool. We rarely go to the pool.
Never* / hardly ever– never / almost never
Ann never watches horror films. Ann never watches horror films.

2. Companion words Past Simple

Used to describe actions that happened in the past.

Yesterday- yesterday
Yesterday we were at home. Yesterday we were at home.
A week / a year ago– a week/year ago
Alex moved to the USA a week ago. Alex moved to the USA a week ago.
Last month/year– last month/year
Last month Fred sold his car. Last month Fred sold his car.
When*- When
I was in the kitchen, when you came. I was in the kitchen when you came.

3. Future Simple satellite words

Used to describe actions that will occur in the uncertain future.

Tomorrow- Tomorrow
Tomorrow Jared will go to London. Jared is leaving for London tomorrow.
Next month/year– next month/year
Jack will finish school next year. Jack will graduate from school next year.
In…days/years– in … days/years
Ronald will arrive in 2 days. Ronald will arrive in 2 days.

4. Companion words Present Continuous

Used to describe actions occurring at the moment, at the time of speech.

Now- Now
Mary is playing the guitar now. Now Mary plays the guitar.
At the moment- At the moment
The refrigerator isn’t working at the moment. The refrigerator is not working at the moment.
Still*- still
John is still washing the dishes. John is still washing the dishes.

5. Companion words Past Continuous

Used to describe actions that occurred at some point or period in the past.

From…till…*- From to …
Helen was watching a movie at the cinema yesterday from 5 till 7. Helen yesterday watched a movie at the cinema from 5 to 7.
- all day
He was working hard all day long. He worked hard all day.

6. Future Continuous satellite words

Used to describe actions that will occur at a specific moment or period in the future.

from…till…*- From to …
Tony will be working in the office tomorrow from 9 to 11 o’clock. Tony will work in the office tomorrow from 9 to 11 o'clock.
All day long* / for the wholesale day* - all day
He will be writing an article all night long. He will write the article all night.

7. Companion words Present Perfect

Used to describe actions that have completed at the time of speech or the present as a whole.

Just- just now
Harry has just made a cake. Harry has just made a cake.
Already- already
I have already done my homework. I've already done my homework.
Yet- still
Liza hasn’t chosen the flowers yet. Lisa still hasn't chosen flowers.
Since- With
I haven’t played football since finishing the university. I haven't played football since graduating from university.
Recently- recently
Sally has recently been at the theater. Sally was recently at the theater.
Never* / ever*– never / ever
I have never been to London. I've never been to London.

8. Companion words Past Perfect

Used to describe an action that was completed at some point in the past.

Before* / after*- before after
I had brushed my teeth before I went to bed. I brushed my teeth before going to bed.
By*- To
Ann had spoken with her boss at 12 o’clock yesterday. Yesterday at 12 o'clock Ann spoke to her boss.

9. Future Perfect satellite words

Used to describe actions that will last until a specific point or period in the future.

By*- To
I will have been finished my project by the end of the month. I will finish my project by the end of the month.
Before*- before
Chris will have found a job before Christmas. Chris will find a job before Christmas.

10. Word-markers of Perfect Continuous tenses

As you can guess from the name, times group Perfect Continuous is a mixture of Perfect and Continuous. Therefore, their function is a long-term action that led to a result in the past / present / future.

for*- during
I had been reading for 5 hours. I've been reading for 5 hours already.
I have been reading for 5 hours. I've been reading for 5 hours already.
I will have been reading for 5 hours. I'll be reading for 5 hours already.

WARNING: marker words are not a panacea! As we see, some of them occur in several times at once. Often this can be explained like this: take the phrase “from ... till …” and see that it is a sign of the duration of an action, and duration can be in the past, present and future tenses. However, the presence of a companion word is a very good sign of the correct tense form.

And now we will look at the basics of composing simple sentences to express past, present and future tenses using examples.

Construction of sentences in the Simple group

Affirmative sentences

Let's start from now Present Simple. All affirmative sentences are built according to the following scheme:

1. "I'm in in this example is subject. It should not be confused with the complement, since the subject performs the action, and the action is performed on the complement. Moreover, in Russian the order of words is not important to us, because it is already clear who is performing the action. We can freely say: “I eat the cake.” But in English you won’t be able to construct a sentence like this, since the one who performs the action must come first, otherwise they will simply laugh at you when you say: “The cake is eating me.” Even in the passive voice, such a phrase will sound very strange.
2. In second place should be the predicate, which expresses the action itself. In the Russian language, there are often sentences with an incomplete grammatical basis, where there is no subject or predicate, or both are absent. In the latter case, we are dealing with an impersonal sentence: “It’s dark.” In English there must always be a subject and a predicate. So, if there is no verb in a Russian sentence, then it will definitely appear in English. Let's take, for example, a one-part sentence in which there is no predicate: “The telephone is on the table.” To translate it correctly, we will need to use the verb “to be”, which will connect the subject with the predicate. As a result, the phrase will literally be translated as: “The phone is on the table.”
3. In third place, the secondary members of the sentence are lined up according to a certain rule: first comes the direct object (answers the question “who?”, “what?”, “who?”), then the indirect object (answers the same questions, but with the prepositions “with whom?” ?”, “to whom?”, etc.). This rule is not always observed and is not strict.

As in Russian, English verbs vary depending on the person. The main changes occur in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), where the suffix “s” or “es” is added to the predicate. As a result, we get the sentence: “He goes to school.”

Negative sentences

In addition to affirmation, there is also negation, the diagram of which looks like this:

In this scheme, all the same components are found, except for the linking verb “do” and the particle “not”, which is equivalent to the negative particle “not” in Russian. What is an auxiliary verb and why is it needed? Unlike the Russian language, where we simply put the particle “not” before the verb, in English there must be an auxiliary verb before the particle “not”. It is different for each tense, and in the case of the Present Simple it will be in the form of either “do” or “does” depending on the number and person of the subject. Example: “She does not go to school.”

Interrogative sentences

So, we have considered the affirmation, the negation, and we are left with a question, the formation of which also requires an auxiliary verb:

So, we have discussed with you the basic principles of construction various types sentences in Present Simple. Past Simple and Future Simple are constructed in a similar way, the main differences will be in the form of the auxiliary verb.

Constructing sentences in the Future Simple

Statement

The scheme for constructing a statement in the simple future tense (Future Simple) is as follows:

The auxiliary verb will indicates that the action takes place in the future tense, and the phrase will be translated as: “I will go to school.”

Negation

Negation is constructed using the already familiar particle “not” and the auxiliary verb “will”.

Question

Any question begins with an auxiliary verb, so when constructing a question we simply put will in first place.

Past Simple

Statement

When constructing a statement in the past tense of the Simple group, there is a small peculiarity: the suffix “ed” is added to the verb.

I specifically omitted the example with school because it uses an irregular verb. Most verbs form the simple past tense by adding the suffix “ed” to the stem (cook - cooked), but there are about 470 verbs, according to the Oxford Dictionary, that form the past tense according to their own canons. Our verb “go” also falls into their number, which will change its form to “went”: “I went to school.”

Negation

Negation in the simple past tense is constructed similarly to the Present Simple, with the only difference being that the form of the auxiliary verb “do” takes on the past form “did”.

Question

The question is also constructed by analogy with the Present Simple. We only change the form of the auxiliary verb to the past.

So we studied the construction of sentences in the entire Simple group. The main thing is to remember the patterns for all three types (affirmation, negation and question), not to forget how the word forms of verbs in the 3rd person singular change, and to memorize the main irregular verbs in order to achieve automaticity in speech.

Construction of sentences in the Continuous group

In the Continuous group there is always an auxiliary verb “to be”, the change in form of which will tell us when the action occurs: yesterday, now or tomorrow. In this group, the participle I is also always present, similar to the real participle in the Russian language. The participle itself is constructed by adding the suffix “ing” to the verb (go - going).

Statement

Let's not deviate from the structure and consider the formation of time in the Present Continuous.

The forms of the verb “to be” change depending on the person, and here the matter is not limited to changes only in the 3rd person singular. You just need to remember the forms.

In the past tense, the auxiliary verb changes its form to “was” or were” depending on the person and number.

Sentence construction scheme in Past Continuous will be as follows:

The future tense in this group is formed without any changes, we simply put the future tense verb “will” before the auxiliary “to be”:

Denial and question

The construction of negation and question follows the general scheme for constructing sentences: when negating, we put “not” after the auxiliary verb, and when asking a question, we put the auxiliary verb in first place.

For building past form you need to change the form of the auxiliary verb to “had”.

To build a future form, we additionally put “will”.

Denial and question

Negation and question are constructed in a classical way: the particle not after had (in negation), had in first place (in question).

Denial and question

Negation	Question
I have not been going.	Have I been going to school?

These sentences are given for the sake of example only; in practice, you are unlikely to find yourself in a situation where you will need to express yourself in the Perfect Continuous. It will be much easier and faster to construct a phrase from the Simple and Continuous groups.

Simplified table of formation of all types of sentences in all tenses

For those who are encountering tenses for the first time, this article may seem a little chaotic, so as a result, I offer you a ready-made table with the formation of sentences in all tenses to make it easier for you to see the whole picture. You can use it as a cheat sheet in the initial stages of studying temporary structures. The table is taken from the Pikabu resource.