Present perfect
Rule: s + have/has + v3
Use1 Use2
It can refer to an action or state It can refer to an action that
that occurred at an indefinite time in the began in the past and continue
past: to the present time: I have
-we have been here several times I have Been working here for
Before. a year
We use for and since with the present perfect to indicate time.
We use for with a period of time: Martin has studied in Dubai for six months.
We use since to talk about a specific point in time or a time when the action
started:
I haven't seen him since last week.
Since January I've been to five matches.
We use ever for at any time and never for at no time to talk about experiences:
Have you ever seen a snake?
Present simple
Rule: Subject + b.v
Uses:
1. Habits or routines:
o She goes to the gym every day.
2. General truths or facts:
o Water boils at 100°C.
3. Stating opinions or feelings:
o I think this is a good idea.
4. Instructions or directions:
o First, turn left, then go straight
Past perfect simple and past perfect
continuous
past perfect: talks about an action or event that is set and done in the past.
Rule: s + had + v3.
-I had written my book when she came.
Here, we are referring to an action that was finished in the past.
Past perfect continuous: talks about longer actions in the past before another action in
the past.
Rule: s+had+v3
-I had been writing my book when she came over.
Here, we are referring to an action that was in process in the past before another action
happened.
Future tenses
1. We use the present simple for something scheduled:
-We have a lesson next Monday.
-The train arrives at 6.30 in the morning.
2. We can use the present continuous for plans or arrangements:
-I'm playing football tomorrow.
-They are coming to see us tomorrow.
3. We use will:
• when we express beliefs about the future:
- It will be a nice day tomorrow.
-think Brazil will win the World Cup.
• to make offers and promises:
-I'll see you tomorrow.
-We'll send you an email.
4. We use going to:
• to talk about plans or intentions:
-I'm going to drive to work today.
-They are going to move to Manchester.
• to make predictions based on evidence we can see:
-Be careful! You are going to fall. (= I can see that you might fall.)
-Look at those black clouds. I think it's going to rain. (= I can see that it will rain.)
Passive voice
An active sentence like I drank two cups of coffee has the subject first (the
person or thing that does the verb), followed by the verb, and finally the object
(the person or thing that the action happens to).
So, in this example, the subject is 'I', the verb is 'drank' and the object is 'two
cups of coffee'.
But, we don't always need to make sentences this way. We might want to put
the object first, or perhaps we don't want to say who did something. This can
happen for lots of reasons (see the explanation further down the page). In this
case, we can use a passive, which puts the object first:
Two cups of coffee were drunk (we can add 'by me' if we want, but it isn't
necessary).
We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need
and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past
participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive. So, play becomes played. Click here to
learn about irregular verbs.
Tense Active Passive
present simple I make a cake. A cake is made (by me).
present continuous I am making a cake. A cake is being
made (by me).
past simple I made a cake. A cake was made (by
me).
past continuous I was making a cake. A cake was being
made (by me).
present perfect I have made a cake. A cake has been
made (by me).
pres. perf. continuous I have been making a A cake has been being
cake. made (by me).
past perfect I had made a cake. A cake had been
made (by me).
future simple I will make a cake. A cake will be made (by
me).
future perfect I will have made a cake. A cake will have been
made (by me).
-Ing form
Role of -ing word What to Check Examples
Noun (Gerund) Is it the subject, object, Swimming is fun. / I
or after a preposition? enjoy dancing.
Verb (Continuous Tense) Is there a helping verb She is reading a book. /
before it (is, are, was, They were running.
etc.)?
Adjective Is it describing a noun? A boring movie / The
shining star.
Reference word
Reference Word Type When to Use Examples
Personal Pronouns Used to replace a noun I, you, he, she, it, we,
(person or thing) they
Possessive Pronouns Used to show ownership mine, yours, his, hers,
or possession ours, theirs
Possessive Adjectives Used to modify a noun my, your, his, her, its,
and show ownership our, their
Demonstrative Used to point to specific this, that, these, those
Pronouns things or people
Simple tenses
Tense Structure Usage Example
Simple Present Subject + Base General facts, The sun rises in
Verb (+ s/es for habits, and the east.
he/she/it) regular actions.
Simple Past Subject + Past Actions or facts Newton
Verb that were true in discovered
the past. gravity.
Simple Future Subject + will + Actions or facts Scientists will
Base Verb expected to explore Mars in
happen in the the future.
future.
Type Definition Examples Usage in
Sentences
Action Verbs Verbs that express physical run, jump, - She runs every
or mental actions. think, believe, morning.
eat
Linking Verbs (To Be) A specific type of linking am, is, are, - She is a teacher.
verb that connects the was, were, will
subject to a subject be, being,
complement (describes or been
renames the subject).
State Verbs Verbs that describe a state know, believe, "I know him very
or condition, not an action. love, belong, well." (Describes a
feel stable state of
knowledge.)
Simple Sentences
Simple Sentences: These are sentences that express a complete idea:
e.g.:
She was in the class.
The exam is tomorrow.
A simple sentence needs a subject (the thing 'doing' the action) and a main
verb (the action)
Simple sentences are also called "independent clauses" (because they are
complete and don't need any support)
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences: are formed by connecting two (or more) simple.
sentences with the words and/but/so/nor/or/for/yet (also called conjunctions):
e.g.
She was in class, but she arrived late.
The exam is tomorrow, so you need to revise tonight.
Note: A comma should be before each conjunction, but this rule is not always
followed.
Compound-Complex Sentences
Compound-complex sentences: are formed by combining a range of
independent and dependent clauses together.
Often, this sentence type will have three parts:
e.g.
-The assignment was completed, but he felt the reference list was not
complete,even though he had spent two hours compiling it.
- Although the exam was tomorrow, they did not feel confident they would
pass, since they had not been to the revision classes.
Remember: there are many different ways to form compound-complex
sentences, but they are useful if you want to write long sentences.
Complex Sentences
Complex sentences: are formed by using an independent clause (simple
sentence) with a dependent clause (or switch them round).
The independent clause expresses a complete idea, but the dependent clause
(also called a subordinate clause) does not.
There are many words you can use to form complex sentences, and they can
refer to concession (e.g. although, despite), time (e.g. since, while), reason (e.g.
because, as), subjects (e.g. which, who)
e.g.
- Although she completed her literature review, she still needed to improve it
because it was exam day tomorrow, it was important to revise
-The nursing assignment was difficult as they needed to critically analyse the
article
