Search results for 'tag:Paragraphs tag:Present continuous' matching tags 'Paragraphs' and 'Present continuous'

chossing correct tense/tense consistency

MaxMaximus — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:08:59 GMT

Greetings,

I have a pretty big favour to ask.

I've been struggling with this topic for quite awhile now.It goes without saying that my English "leaves something to be desired".

Having in mind the subtle differences that occur from using particular tenses, I have often wondered how the authors of following exercises expect anyone to choose the correct form, without providing sound and unambiguous references.

I've uploaded 2 exercises that I stumbled upon :

1. http://rapidshare.com/files/138835945/HP.txt.html
and
2.http://rapidshare.com/files/138835946/redundancy.txt.html

I have converted them into .txt files to ease moderators' job.

They present the essence of my inability to comprehend and do right.

First text:
1. First sentence, adverb "always" stands before the verb (author did not bother to put it in the brackets (always/be)). If she is dead (we don't know that until we have finished reading) or if she is not "a fighter" anymore (we are clueless about that either), - we could use Past Simple. Of course, Present Perfect is more likely choice, but the position of adverb puzzles.

2."But, prior to..." - Past Continuous or Past Perfect?

3.The sentence : "it (be)__ slow to notice..".I'm not sure whether Past Simple or Past Perfect should be used here.There is no strong reference whether this "slow noticing" occurred prior to her arrival or about the time when she came on board.

4."Those three years are not over..". The starting point is present time, but, that has nothing to do with the moment when she realized how things stand, which I know nothing about.Even the Present Simple is possible if she keeps realizing everyday that things are harder than she expected.For the rest of the paragraph I'm not certain whether Present Perfect should be used.

5."Above all,.." - from Present Simple (finds, is trying, is going to embark)...to Present Perfect (has found, has tried/has been trying, has embarked)...The tenses chosen in these sentences determine the tenses of the last paragraph in the text.

Second text:
1. First sentence: we could use Future Simple as well as Present Simple for the verb "have to"?

2. "Although no business or industry..". If there was a recent survey - do interviewed subjects still claim what they have said - or the use of Past Tense is obligatory? The word "any" is used in interrogative or negative sentences - but here, no question is being asked nor it is possible to be negative. Instead, "some" should have been used, I think.

3. "Those who have..." - Present Continuous or Present Simple? Former is more likely choice although the latter is possible also.

4. "In the past.." - as far as I know this presents the "indefinite moment in time". The Present Perfect could be used - but the position of adverb "always" confuses, again.

I would be more than grateful to anyone who can shed some light on these issues.
If I could reach to any other decent credible source I wouldn't ask for help in this way.

Thanks in advance,
Georgie.

all the general forms of English tenses >> pleas help me.

Voltaire101 — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 11:05:10 GMT

hello all

I will put (write) here all the general forms of the English grammar tenses as I know (understand ) it, I want you to chek it and correct me. Sometimes there is no form (just a speace), I want you to write the general form of the kind of the tense that is detected.

I'm so sorry If my grammar or idea not clear for you in the last paragraph; I hope the idea is received.

In English grammar there are 12 tenses consists of (present,past and future)
each on of them consists of 4 parts
1- simple.
2- continuous.
3- perfect.
4- perfect continuous.

add to that 4 parts of the future :

1- future simple in the past or present conditional.
2- continuous future in the past or present continuous conditional.
3- perfect future in the past or past conditional.
4- perfect continuous in the past or past continuous conditonal.
.........

I will put the general forms , pleas check it.

these are the shorten words that I used in the forms:

this color is for He, She, It.

this color is for I, You, We, They.

without any clor for all pronouns : He, She, It, I, You, We, They.

v~s = verb end by ''s'' like "He writes to them".

v~ing = verb end by "ing" like "He is writting to them".

v(P.P) = verp in past participle.

v(base) = verb in base case.

------------------------------------------------------------

1- Present simple:
Affirmative
subject + v(~s/base) + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (does/do) + not + v(base) + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + not + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
(does/do) + subject + v(base) + object ? (active voice)
(is/are) + object + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

2- Present continuous:
Affirmative
subject + (is/are) + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject (is/are) + not + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + not + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice

Interrogative
(is/are) + subject + v~ing + object ? (active voice)
(is/are)+ object being + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

3- Present perfect:
Affirmative
subject + (has/have) + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + (has/have) + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (has/have) + not + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + (has/have) + not + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
(has/have) + subject + v(P.P) + object ? (active voice)
(has/have) + object + been + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

4- Present perfect continuous:
Affirmative
subject + (has/have) + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### ..............I don't konw, pleas write it ................### . (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (has/have) + not + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ................### . (passive voice)

Interrogative
(has/have) + subject + been + v~ing + object ? (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

5- Past simple:
Affirmative
subject + v(p) + object. (active voice)
object + (was/were) + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + did + not + v(base) + object. (active vice)
object + (was/were) + not + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
did + subject + v(base) + object ? (active voice)
(was/were) + object + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

6- Past continuous:
Affrmative
subject (was/were) + v~ing +object. (active voice)
object + (was/were) + being + v(P.P) +by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (was/were) + not + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + (was/were) + not + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
(was/were) + subject +v~ing + object ? (active voice)
(was/were) + object + being + v(P.P) by subject ? (passive voice)

7- Past perfect:
Affirmative
subject + had + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + had + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + had + not + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + had + not + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
had + subject + v(P.P) + object ? (active voice)
had + object + been + v(P.P) ? (passive voice)

8- Past perfect cotinuous:
Affirmative
subject + had + been + v~ing +object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

Negative
suject + had + not + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

Interrogative
had + subject + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

9- Future simple:
Affirmative
subject + will + v(base) + object. (active voice)
object + will + be + v(P.P) + by + subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + v(base) + object. (active voice)
object +will + not + be + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + suject + v(base) + object ? (active voice)
will + object + be + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

10- Future continuous:
Affirmative
subjec + will + be + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + be + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + be + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + not + be + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + subject + be + v~ing + object ?(active voice)
will + object + be + being + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

11- Future perfect:
Affirmative
subject + will + have + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + will + be + have + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + have + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + will + not + be + have + v(P.P) + by suject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + sbject + have + v(P.P) + object ? (active voice)
will + object + be+ have + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

12- Future perfect continuous
Affirmative
subject + will + have + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + have + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + have + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + not + have + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + subject + have + been + v~ing + object ? (active voice)
will + object + have + been + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

------------------------------------------------------------------

The four other kinds of future ; I do't know about its certain forms pleas write me the certain forms about its affirmative, negative and interrogative ... pleas

don't forget the acive voice and passive voice of its forms,

Which tense to use?

Grammarian-bot — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:04:55 GMT

We are leaving tomorrow.
Our plane is leaves tomorrow.

Both of the above sentences refer to the future. 1st sentence uses present continuous while the 2nd sentence uses
simple present to express an action in future. Are there any rules to determine which tense to use in these situations
or it's just the matter of what tense is being used in the essay/paragraph.

GB

Re: Grammar: Tenses!!!!!

miriam — Thu, 13 May 2004 01:25:16 GMT

1. I don't think it's a matter of obligation, "isn't going" just sounds natural in that sentence. The meaning is that Susan goes to school (Simple Present because it is something she des regularly), but she isn't going to school right now. "Right now" doesn't give the idea of any action you perform regularly or habitually, so the Present Continuous makes sense in that part of the sentence. She just is not going to school at the moment.
"Susan doesn't go to school" would mean she never goes to school, she doesn't attend classes.

2. The first sentence in that short paragraph says that it is summer now. So, if Susan works in summer, she "is working" at the moment.
"has been working" means she started to work at some time in the past and she is still working. However, since you're told that it is summer "now", Susan "is working".
Look at it this way: the sentence would sound weird if it said "It has been summer since June/for a month". "It is summer" sounds much more natural in that paragraph. And Susan "is doing" something this summer: she "is working".

Not sure my explanation is very clear, but I hope it helps.