By Verbs, Tenses

Re: a Few grammar questions

Present Perfect is formed with the auxiliary have and the past participle of some verb: have seen, has done, have lived. Present Perfect Progressive is formed with the auxiliaries have and been and the present participle of some verb: have been seeing, has been doing, has been living.CJ

a Few grammar questions

Hi everyone,I have a few grammar questions and I don't know how to answer them:Explain why the verb “To Be” is not a non-progressive verb?I know the simple present never talks about the present but what can be an exception to this rule?Why does the present tense not exist in English? What...

Re: to focus - Passive or Active voice?

Complete any of the phrases above by adding any of these: frightened of snakes, interested in science, focused on his studies, tired of reading, fascinated by insects, bored with grammar.None of the resulting sentences has a passive construction.CJ

Re: have had

Are you familiar with the three principal parts of a verb?grow, grew, grown talk, talked, talked leave, left, leftsing, sang, sunghave, had, hadteach, taught, taught Are you familiar with the formation of the perfect tenses, using the third of these principal parts with forms of have? has grown,...

Re: use of modals for past sense

Yes. The modals are sometimes called "defective verbs", meaning that they cannot be conjugated in all the tenses available for other verbs. If you need the subtleties of those tenses, you have to switch to some other verb or equivalent expression.(Recall that a sentence marked with...

Re: What's the rule(s) for I was vs I were?

was or were In the ordinary past tense of the verb to be, was is the first and third person singular: I was late and were is the second person singular and the plural: You were right. It is not acceptable in standard English to use were for the first and third person singular: I were late,...

conditional

Hi, Are these all examples of the first conditional? If a if-clause is in the present tense, then any modal verbs can be used and it would still be a first conditional sentence? A zero conditional sentence is the one only states general rules and can't use modal verbs? All first...

need to back-shift?

Hi, I think Kooyeen said something like you need to change your tense after verbs like 'thought' since they pertain more to your feelings. And I bellieve Mr. M said that the native speakers intuitively back-shift for the sentences like this: I didn't know you have a sense of duty....

Re: I thought a spider is/was an insect

My apologies for introducing a joke! The "universal falsehood" reference is a complete joke! It doesn't matter whether what is reported is universally true or unversally false. What's important is that in the speaker's mind it is universally (or eternally, if you wish)...

Re: he is gone. What tense is being used? Is that simple present tense?

 I think it's a big mistake because the verb after the auxiliary is in the past participle, it means that the auxiliary should be 'has'  (the verb 'to have' in the present) instead of 'is' (the verb 'to be'  in the present. its a common mistake and it's a...