Search results for 'tag:Present simple tag:Simple present' matching tags 'Present simple' and 'Simple present'

Re: verb "to be"

Newguest — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:05:36 GMT

CalifJim
They all use the simple present tense of be.

CJ

I see. So I should say that these sentences are all in the present simple with the verb "to be". Right?

A myriad of grammar problems :(

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:10:23 GMT

A Myriad of Grammar Problems... :(

I have absolutely no idea how to do these, can someone tell me what's going on here, Ive looked up many pages on the web but still am stumped on these:

Exercise 9
Rewrite the following in the PASSIVE voice.

E.g. 1. My wife wrote the letter. --> The letter was written by my wife.

2. My father painted the house. --> The house was painted by my father.

3. The storm will destroy the harvest. --> The harvest will be destroyed by the storm.

4. He has knocked the fence over. --> The fence was knocked over by him.

5. The man in the black hat found the child. --> The child was found by the man in the black hat.

Exercise 10
Rewrite the following in the ACTIVE voice.

E.g. 1. This task can be done by small children. --> Small children can do this task.

2. The supermarket will be opened by the mayor. --> The mayor will open the supermarket.

3. The charge was made by the police. --> The police made the charge.

4. The drawings were done by a famous artist. --> A famous artist did the drawings.

5. The company has been taken over by the Government. --> The government was taken over the company.

Are these right, I have to get them 100% word correct...but I'm really not sure if their right.

For example, we can use the present continuous (also used to refer to the future when we make arrangements) to talk about what is happening now. The simple present is commonly used to refer to routines or habits and it can also be used to refer past and future events.

Exercise 1
Look at this example taken from a newspaper: 'Prime Minister unveils new policies'. Although it is written in the present tense, it refers to past time.

Look at the following sentences using present simple tense verbs and decide what time reference they have - PRESENT, PAST, or FUTURE.

E.g. 1. When you see her, will you say hello from me.	Future
2. Cantona passes to Giggs, who passes to Sharp.
3. She walks in, comes right up to me and says...
4. The train leaves at 10.30.
5. We'll phone as soon as we get there.

Number 2,3 I said was Present, and Number,4,5 I said was Future.
Exercise 2
Look through the following sentences and select the TENSE and the time reference used.

E.g. 1. If I won a lot of money, I'd travel the world.	Past Simple	Future
2. I wish I had more time to finish this exercise.
3. When you have finished, you can go home.
4. 'Major calls for peace summit' (headline).
5. I'm meeting some friends at the pub tonight.
6. We've got the next lesson in the language library.
7. I am to give a speech at the conference next week.

I have NO IDEA how to do the above 2 exercises, I can't even attempt them very well...can anyone relieve me of the stress I'm having with these?

Re: Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

CalifJim — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:27:44 GMT

Welcome to English Forums!

I would start with the cases where the two are most different. The simple present to indicate habitual action (I go to Moscow every week on business. I often travel to Germany.) vs. the present continuous to indicate activity occurring while the sentence is being uttered (I am on the train. I am going to Moscow. I am traveling by train.)

Re: Simple past or past simple

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:32:17 GMT

Google:

71,300 English pages for "the present simple".
42,700 English pages for "the simple present".

Simple past or past simple

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:55:32 GMT

Hi everybody,

Why do all the Grammar books use the expressions "simple present" and "simple past", although all the other tenses start with the tense-marker and add the aspect-marker then: present progressive, present perfect, present perfect progressive, past progressive, past perfect, past perfect progressive.
Couldn't it be more logical to then say "present simple" and "past simple"?

Yours, D.S. Elfers

Simple past or past simple?

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:47:13 GMT

Hi everybody,

I'm a teacher of English at a German Grammar School and after 12 years of experience I'm still wondering about the following puzzle:
Why do all the Grammar books stick to the "confusing" expressions simple past and simple present, although it seems quite more logical to say past simple and present simple? I really prefer these expressions in my classes, because all the other tenses just start with the "tense marker" and go on with the "aspect marker": present progressive, present perfect, past progressive, past perfect.
Can I go on using my preferable expressions?

Yours, D.S. Elfers

Reported speech

Malinka — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:57:38 GMT

Hello everyone! I need your help. One of my books contains the following examples of the reported speech:
1) "Why is the world round?"asked the little girl.
The little girl wanted to know why the world was round.
2) "Smoking is bad for you", the teacher told us.
The teacher explained that smoking was bad for us.

I know that we do not usually change a simple present tense if the statement is always true. So my questions are:
1) Can I keep the present simple unchanged in the examples above, e.g. The little girl wanted to know why the world is round; e.g. The teacher explained that smoking is bad for us.

2) OR maybe both variants - the present and the past simple - are possible here.

Thanks in advance.
Please, give some explanations if you can.

Reported speech

Malinka — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:37:16 GMT

Hello everyone! I need your help. One of my books contains the following examples of the reported speech:
1. "Why is the world round?" asked the little girl.
The little girl wanted to know why the world was round.

2. "Smoking is bad for you", the teacher told us.
The teacher explained that smoking was bad for us.

I know that we do not usually change a simple present tense if the statement is always true. So, my questions are:
1) can I leave the present simple here unchanged, e.g. The little girl wanted to know why the world is round.
e.g. The teacher explained that smoking is bad for us.

2) OR maybe both variants - past and present simple - are possible here.

Thanks in advance.
If you can, please give some explanations.

Re: need to back-shift?

Ant_222 — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:12:17 GMT

Amy:
Â«Ant, I think you need to reread GG's post.
After "I thought," do NOT use the simple present tense.Â»

I have read this commandment (sic!) about a million times in about a hundread threads, and all that in the past two or three days. In my previous post I didn't call it in question. Rather, I tried to devise a logical explanation for it. (skip the mess below)

1. A thought is something with a finite lifespan. For example, if I am no longer thinking my cat is coward, this thought has disappeared into non-existance.

2. Therefore, by saying "I thought..." I am referring to a past thought of mine and may not use Present Simple for it would contradict with the thought's being "dead".

3. However, in reported speech in focus is not a thought but only a manifestation of a thought. In a way, such a manifestatin is eternal and "lives" as the information of it's having been utterd exists (on any type of medium, from the brain to the book). This makes the act of speech less connected to its parental thought. For example, a thought may have a lot of manifestatins issued at different times.

4. "He said the Earth is round" â these words refer to a so called general truth, which is nothing else than a long-existing thought supported/shared by many people. So, why not refer to a past manifestaion of a present thought with a present tense?

5. "He thought the Earth was round". He had this though. Such was his thought. But know he is long dead and so are his thoughts, so how dare we to use a present tense to tell about things long gone?

Re: Present simple or future continuous

Philip — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:53:30 GMT

Not really.

The second sentence indicates a time in the future, perhaps very soon.

The first sentence is a bit odd, because the use of the simple present tense already implies "as usual". This could be used, of course, in casual conversation.
English is notorious for interchanging tenses, especially in casual speech.