Search results for 'tag:Present simple tag:English grammar' matching tags 'Present simple' and 'English grammar'

Re: Do you put "s" on "take"

bernice.farrugia — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:07:46 GMT

He usually have to takes 10 seconds to get dress.
1. The adverb 'usually' in your sentence indicates routine - therefore you need to use the PRESENT SIMPLE tense. This particular tense needs the -s at the end for HE / SHE/ IT.
     That is why we say 'He usually takes...'

THIS SENTENCE CANNOT BE SAID IN ANY OTHER WAY.

2. get dressed - You NEED TO put the -ed after dress because this is a situation in which the speaker is talking about something that he did / does himself. In these situations we must use GET + PAST PARTICIPLE. The past participle ends in -ed when the verb is REGULAR (like to dress).

Some other examples are: GET MARRIED
                                         GET DIVORCED
                                         GET WASHED

The above are all examples of regular verbs which take the -ed ending for the past participle.

Some examples of irregular past participles are: GET LOST
                                                                       GET CAUGHT
                                                                       GET BROKEN

The above 3 examples DO NOT end in -ed because they are NOT regular.

Check my mistakes,please

Kittixay — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:09:32 GMT

There are twelve tenses in English grammar. Do we have to use the definite article "the"
for each tense or not? Can you give me some explanations,please?

In the below examples, Do we have to use "the" or not?
1.In the use of the Present Simple.
2.The Present Perfect Tense or Present Perfect Tense.
3.Translate the following sentences into the Past Unreal Conditional.
4.Complete the sentences using Past Simple or the Past Simple.

Check the following sentences,please:
   A: Why didn't you prepare anything yesterday?
   B: Because I didn't know they will come.If I had known that they would come, I would
      have prepared everything.
    - If they had told me they would come,I would have prepared everything.

1. This program is on air everyday except on Sundays.

Which one is correct?
1. Why I couldn't get in touch with you yesterday?
2. Why couldn't I get in touch with you yesterday?

Re: correct sentences 24/11

Diamondrg — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 15:58:48 GMT

Hi Hela,

I don't know what Yankee knows but I hope this might help..

13 present perfect and present tense

To say how long something has continued, we can use the present perfect, but not the present continuous or present simple.

She has been waiting for an hour. (Not: She is waiting for an hour.)

I've lived here since last year. (Not: I live here since last year.)

The Heineman English Grammar

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,

Everybodies favourite songs to help English students!!!

EnglishDVD.com — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:36:44 GMT

Ok guys, let's pull together and make a compilation of great english grammar songs.

Present Simple - Help, Wonderful tonight.

Present continuous - Sailing.

Past Simple - Yesterday, Yellow Submarine,

Present Perfect - I still haven't found what i'm looking for, Lady in Red, We are the Champions

your turn.......

Re: Passive of Perfect Progressive Tenses?

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:26:18 GMT

I need urgent assistance and was wondering if you would mind providing same.

Below are sentences demonstrating different tenses written in the active voice... the passive voice of most of these is pretty simple to extrapolate...or is it?

Please help by providing the passive behind in each case (IF POSSIBLE). IF NOT POSSIBLE, please advise WHY NOT???

Tom eats a hamburger. [present simple]

Tom ate a hamburger. [past simple]

Tom is eating a hamburger. [present contiuous]

Tom was eating a hamburger. [past continuous]

Tom has eaten a hamburger. [? - present perfect?]

Tom had eaten a hamburger. [?- past perfect]

Tom has been eating a hamburger. [present perfect continuous]

Tom had been eating a hamburger. [past perfect continuous]

I noticed that there was reference made in earlier postings to a rule in English grammar books against the usage of the passive in certain instances.

Unfortunately in the case of one of my students a simple "no" does not suffice. Is there an explanation behind the "no".

I would appreciate any assistance with the above.

Re: Passive of Perfect Progressive Tenses?

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:25:53 GMT

I need urgent assistance and was wondering if you would mind providing same.

Below are sentences demonstrating different tenses written in the active voice... the passive voice of most of these is pretty simple to extrapolate...or is it?

Please help by providing the passive behind in each case (IF POSSIBLE). IF NOT POSSIBLE, please advise WHY NOT???

Tom eats a hamburger. [present simple]

Tom ate a hamburger. [past simple]

Tom is eating a hamburger. [present contiuous]

Tom was eating a hamburger. [past continuous]

Tom has eaten a hamburger. [? - present perfect?]

Tom had eaten a hamburger. [?- past perfect]

Tom has been eating a hamburger. [present perfect continuous]

Tom had been eating a hamburger. [past perfect continuous]

I noticed that there was reference made in earlier postings to a rule in English grammar books against the usage of the passive in certain instances.

Unfortunately in the case of one of my students a simple "no" does not suffice. Is there an explanation behind the "no".

I would appreciate any assistance with the above.

Re: I am going to go??

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:12:40 GMT

1) We use "will" for solutions which are being decided. Example: Do you have coffee or tea? I will have tea;
2) We use "I am flying" (present continuous) for our plans. Example: I am playing tennis tomorrow;
3) We use "I am going to" for solutions which have decided. Example: I am going to buy new computer (But I don't know when it will be);
4) We I do (present simple) for time-table
example: train leaves station at 2:00 pm.
English Grammar in USE for Intermediate students Raymond Murphy!

Re: Past Perfect

Jussive — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 10:15:57 GMT

Jack112 wrote:

Sorry for my lack of understanding. Could you give me a few more examples as to how to distinguish between them?

1. I have never had more girlfriends than I have now. (Correct)

2. I have never had more girlfriends than I do now. (Is this one correct as well? How do I distinguish between a main verb and an auxiliary?)

Thanks

Hi Jack. Sorry I didnât reply to this earlier but Iâve been away.

Donât worry about not understanding. English grammar is not always clear-cut and neither is the teaching of it.

What you have trouble with is auxiliaries that also have a lexical form such as âdoâ or âhaveâ. In their auxiliary form they help to create tense (bar creating questions or emphasis). They are used in conjunction with lexical verbs. As you know, lexical verbs often take complements or objects, for example:

âI have homework.â

Here âhomeworkâ is the object of the verb and, obviously, as we only have one verb (âhaveâ) in this sentence (clause), it is, therefore, being used as a lexical verb.

âI have needed homework.â

âI have always needed homeworkâ

Bar some obvious exceptions such as when the predicate is a compound, two lexical verbs donât fit together in the same clause. (Donât confuse this with infinitives, participles or gerunds.) In other words, âhaveâ has to be an auxiliary as it is followed by the lexical verb âneedâ and varies its tense. âHomeworkâ is therefore the object of the verb âneedâ. âHave neededâ is what is traditionally known as a verb phrase, a verb consisting of more than one word. One thing which you need to see is that this does not change if we replace the lexical verb âneedâ with a verb which has both a lexical and auxiliary form:

âI have done my homework.â

âI have always done my homework.â

âI have had homework.â

âI have always had homework.â

There is a second verb so âhaveâ is the auxiliary, âdoneâ and âhadâ are lexical verbs and âhomeworkâ their object.

A. âI have done more homework than I do now.â

B. âI have needed more homework than I need now.â

C. âI have had more homework than I have now.â

These three are correct. Notice the lexical verbs in the first clauses match the lexical verbs in the second: âdoneâ and âdoâ; âneededâ and âneedâ; âhadâ and âhaveâ. Notice also that we are only comparing the past to the present and, other than that, we are comparing the same thing, for example, the homework I have done compared with the homework I do.

1. âHe does more homework than I do.â

2. âHe has done more homework than I have.â

3. âHe has done more homework than I do now.â

4. âHe needs more homework than I need.â

5. âHe has needed more homework than I have.â

6. âHe has needed more homework than I need now.'

7. âHe has more homework than I have.â

8. âHe has had more homework than I have.â

9. âHe has had more homework than I have now.â

All the above are correct. (If number three compares a past completed action with a single present continuing action then it makes no sense. It only makes sense if the past perfect refers to a period of time and the present simple refers to an habitual action (as with âAâ).

Notice (above) that when we are comparing different things or people there are more grammatically correct combinations. For example, the homework he has done compared with the homework I have done:

âHe has done more homework than I have.â

This sentence is elliptical because âhaveâ cannot be a lexical verb otherwise we would be comparing the lexical forms of âhaveâ with âdoâ (âhavingâ with âdoingâ). Have, in the second clause, only makes sense as an auxiliary whose lexical verb is implied. The sentence could alternatively read:

âHe has done more homework than I have done.â

It is nonsensical to compare the homework I have done with the homework I have done and therefore the sentence âI have done more homework than I have now,â is incorrect because âhaveâ (as explained in the previous example) has to be an auxiliary and therefore (1) we are comparing two identical things and two identical people with two identical tenses (2) ânowâ is nonsensical as you canât âhave doneâ something ânowâ.

âHe has had more homework than I have.â

In this sentence, âhaveâ in the second clause could be either an auxiliary or a lexical verb. âHadâ, in the first clause, is a lexical verb (as explained at the beginning) and we can compare the lexical forms of âhadâ with âhaveâ (âhavingâ with âhavingâ; first clause, second clause):

âHe has had more homework than I have (homework)â

âHaveâ, in the second clause, also works as an auxiliary because we are comparing two different things even if they are in the same tense:

âHe has had more homework than I have (had).â

Hope thatâs helped.

Jussive

Re: My Direct Speech to Put into Indirect

SpoonfedBaby — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 13:41:07 GMT

Hello everybody,

I'm working on the rules of the reported speech and the ones on the future in the past.

A practical English Grammar wrote:

reported speech:
He said, âAnn will be in Paris on Monday.â >>> He said that Ann would be in Paris on Monday. (Future >>> Conditional)
âI never eat meat,â he explained >>> He explained that he never ate meat. (Present simple >>> past simple)

How English Works wrote:

future in the past:
When we are talking about the past, we often want to say that something was still in the future at that time. To express this idea, we can use the past progressive (was â¦ing), was going to â¦, would, or was to.
As the Duchess had said, the fact that Emily was marrying a general was a very adequate excuse for such ceremony at the wedding.

Pevious threads wrote:

My initial direct speech sentence:
When I registered my aunt at the gym, I asked them, âAre you going to give her money back if she doesnât like it?â

My sentence transformed into a reported speech sentence:
When I registered my aunt at the gym, I asked them whether they would give her money back, if she didn't like it.

Now, here my sentence is changed into what I would say if I had to talk about the past:

As they said when I registered her at the gym, the fact that the gym had this policy she would be reimbursed if she was to not like it.

Please, tell me if my last sentence is right. Do I understand the right way the reported speech and the future in the past?

I'm very grateful for your help.

SFB