Tenses•Present Simple.

• Use the “present simple” when you talk about what people do all the time, or again and again.

• Examples-I speak English.-We live in Ruhango.-Banyarwanda speak a lot of

Kinyarwanda

•Use present tense about things which are always true.

Examples -Monkeys eat bananas. -The sun rises and sets. -Water boils at 1000c.

•After “he, she, it, Peter, our house” (3rd person singular), the verb has an “s” at the end.

I liveYou liveHe/she/it lives here.We liveYou liveThey live

So, for example, you say:

-I live in Muyunzwe. -They live in Muyunzwe.

But He lives in Muyunzwe. -Linda lives in Kigali.

• More examples. -Peter likes James. -It rains a lot in England. -The film starts at 9 o’clock.

•NB: Notice these spelling changes in the third person singular (he, she, it).

-y changes to –ies. - Cry -cries, try -tries

-s, -ch, -sh -x add es.

-Guess -guesses-watch -watches-mix -mixes-Wash -washes

-o adds –es:-do -does-go -goes

•Make questions in the present simple with “Do”/ “Does”....?

•Make I, We, You, They questions with “Do”...?•Make he, she, it questions with “Does”...?

Do IDo youDoes heDoes she know Does it the answer?Do weDo youDo they

•Examples.-Do they live here?-Do Kenyans eat snakes?-Does he go out to work?

-Does this bus stop at Buhanda?

-Does this dog bite?

• Notice that after “does”, there is never an “s” at the end of the main verb. The main verb is in the infinitive. Compare these sentences.

(a)He lives in London.

(b)Does he live in London?

•Answer questions which begin with “Do” and “Does” like this:

(i) Do you speak English? –Yes, I do. -No, I don’t

(do not).(ii) Does he speak English? –Yes, he

does. 0r No, he doesn’t (does not).

•Use don’t/doesn’t before the verb to make it in negative. Use don’t after I, You, we, and they. Use doesn’t after he, she, it.

I don’tYou don’tHe/she/it/doesn’tWe don’t understand.You don’tThey don’t

• Examples.(i)I don’t remember his name.(ii)Tim doesn’t live here.(iii)We don’t watch television

every morningỊ(iV)It doesn’t work.

•Notice that there’s no “-s” at the end of the main verb after doesn’t. Compare the following sentences:

(a)He likes meat.(b) He doesn’t like meat.

Remember this:(cont..)

I speakYouSheHe speaksIt English.WeYou speakThey

IDo you

heDoes she Speak

English?it

Do weyouthey

IYou don’tHeShe doesn’tIt Speak

English.WeYou don’tThey

•“Do/Does as the main Verb.”

i) He does the cooking.ii) I do the shopping.iii) Does he do the housework?iv) She doesn’t do her home

work every night.

Auxilliary

Main verb

I do the shopping.

Does he do the cooking.

She does n’t do her homework.

(2)THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE.

• “Use the Present Continuous Tense when you talk about what is happening now.”Form the present continuous with the present of the verb to be and the verb +ing

Examples. a) I’m (I am) thinking. b) You are (you’re)

reading. c) The telephone’s ringing.

d) She’s writing a book about birds.

e) We’re landing. f) They’re coming.

NB: Another name for continuous is “progressive”(cont...)

• Form the negative with “not” like this.

(i)I’m not listening.(ii)You’re not helping.(iii)It’s not training.They’re not trying.

-You can also form the negativewith “n’t” like this(cont...)

1) You aren’t listening.2) It isn’t raining. But, You

always say, “I’m not (Never amn’t).

-Form questions like this.(cont...)

a) What are you doing?

b) Who’s that talking to you?

• NB: The 4llowing verbs are not usually used in the present continuous, (hear, see, hate, love, like, believe, mean, understand, know, remember, forget, want, seem, own, belong.) These verbs have only one present tense, the present simple.

Examples.(Cont...)

(i)I like this soup. (ii)I don’t understand you. (iii)What do you mean? (iv)I forget his name.

NOTE: (cont...)a) I’m not working. Am I working?

(b) You’re not working. Are you working?

(c) He’s not working. Is he working?

(d) She’s not working. Is she working?

(e) It’s not working. Is it working?

(f) We’re not working. Are we working?

(g) You’re not working. Are you working?

(h) They’re not working. Are they working?

(3)PRESENT SIMPLE OR PRESENT CONTINUOUS.

–The present simple, “He smokes” and the present continuous “He is smoking” don’t mean the same.

• “He plays football” means that he often plays football.• “He’s playing football”

means that he‘s playing football just now.

More examples

(i)She plays the guitar. (ii)It eats grass.

(iii)She’s playing the guitar. (iv)It’s eating grass.

• (iii)He repairs shoes.

-He’s repairing shoes.•He hunts tigers. -He’s hunting tigers.

PAST SIMPLE (REGULARVERBS)

•“Use past simple when you talk about things which took place in the past and got finished, i.e. before now.”

Examplesa)I missed the bus this

morning. (b)They arrived at 7.30

(c)He died last year.

(d) It rained all last summer.

• In all the above sentences, there’s a word that tells you when something happened. You can also use the “Past Simple” without words or phrases like this;

-He answered the telephone.

- They waited for the bus.-We travelled to Kigali.

•Form questions in past simple with “did” + the main verb. The main verb has no –ed at the end. It‘s in the infinitive.

Examples

(i)Did you remember her birth day?

(ii)Did you watch the film last night?

•You usually answer questions like this with “did”/ “didn’t”.

Examples

• Did she like the film?

a) Yes, she did. b)No, she didn’t.

-Did they arrive late yesterday?

a) Yes, they did.

b) No, they didn’t.

You can ask questions in the past simple like this:

1) Who did you talk to? 2) How did you crash?

3) When did you finish work?

•Use didn’t (did not) before the verb to make it in negative.

Examples

(i) It didn’t rain last month.(ii) I didn’t like film.(iii) My wife didn’t cook food

•The main verb is in the infinitive e.g. “rain.”

•NB:, you can use do/does/did as an auxiliary verb in questions and in negative statements.

Questions NegativesPresent Do you

Does she

Speak English?

I don’tHe doesn’t

Speak English.

Past Did you/he

I didn’t

• PAST SIMPLE- IRREGULAR VERBS.

Present Past Examplesmeet met They met in

1920.buy bought I bought a

new car yesterday.

leave left The train left at 9.37.

•Form the negatives in the same way as with regular verbs with didn’t before the main verb in infinitive.

•Form questions in the same way with “Did......?” and the infinitive of the verb

THE PAST SIMPLE WITH “AGO”

•Use the past simple with “ago” when you want to say when something happened in the past.

Examples

-The film started ten minutes ago.

-He rang you two hours ago.- I saw her three days ago.

-We bought this house six months ago.

-He died long ago.

•NB: You always put ago after the time.

- If you want to know when something happened in the past, you can ask: How long ago......?

Examples

(a) How long ago did you arrive?

(b) How long ago did you buy it?

(c) How long ago did she ring me?

USED TO.

•Use “used to” to talk about past habits or things which people did in the past but not now.

Examples

(i) I used to go to church every Sunday.

(ii) He used to ride a motorbike.

(iii) They used to live in London.

(iv)I used to like sweets.

(v)She used to work in a super market.

•NB: “used to” is followed by the infinitive without to.

•You can also use “used to” to talk about things which were true in the past but are not true now.

Examples

(a)I used to have a lot of hair.

(b)Oil used to be cheap. (c)I used to think that English was difficult.

• Ask questions with “used to” like this.

-Did you use to have a motorbike? -Did you use to go to school? -Did you use to have a long hair?

•Make negatives like this. a) She didn’t use to like

him. or - I never used to like milk.

b) He didn’t use to be so fat.

c)We never used to have any money.

• (4) PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE.

•Use the past continuous when you talk about things which were happening at a particular time in the past.

The action started before and probably went on after that particular time.

Example

“They were still playing cards at 4 o’clock.”

This means, they started playing cards before 4 o’clock, and they probably continued after wards.

11.00? 4.00 5.00?They started Playing cards.

They werePlaying cards.

They stopped Playing cards.

More examples

- We were having breakfast before 7.30.

This means, they started having breakfast before 7.30, and they probably continued after 7.30.

-It was still raining at lunch time.

•Form the “Past continuous” with the past of the verb to be (was/were) and a main verb in+-g.

I was

Sleeping.

You wereHeSheIt

was

WeYouThey

were

• PAST THE CONTINUOUS OR PAST SIMPLE.

•These 2 tenses do not exactly mean the same. Compare the following

(a) I had dinner at 8 o’clock. (Past simple.)•This means, he started to have dinner at 8 o’clock

(ii) I was having dinner at 8 o’clock.• It means that he started to

have dinner before 8 o’clock and probably continued after 8 o’clock.

THESE TENSES AFFECT EACH OTHER

•e.g. (a) Lucky was washing her hair when the phone rang.

2 affected the 1 action.

(b)He was driving home when the police stopped him

(c)I was dreaming when you woke me.

(d)We were dancing when he stepped on my foot.

• In all these examples, something was happening when something else happened. The past continuous comes before past simple but, it’s commutative

•FORMING QUESTIONS WITH THE PAST CONTINUOUS.

(a) He was having dinner when she rang.

Qn: Was he having dinner when she rang?

More examples-What were you doing at 11 o’clock Last night?

- Were you having dinner when I rang?

-Where were they standing when the bomb exploded?

•NB: You can also use “While” or “as” in this kind of sentence, like this:

•While I was shaving, I had a brilliant idea.•As he was crossing the road, a bus knocked him down.

• Notice that “while”/ “as” always comes just before the verb in the past continuous. It does not matter which part of the sentence comes first. So, we can also say;

•A bus knocked him down as he was crossing the road.•I had a brilliant idea while I was shaving.

•PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE.

•Use the Present Perfect Simple to talk about an action in the past which also has an effect or result in the present.

Examples

•He’s lost the keys.•This means, he lost the keys sometime in the past and as a result, he can’t open the door.

• (ii)The tax has arrived.• (iii)We’ve borrowed the money from the bank.• (iv)He’s had an operation.

•NB: Form the Present Perfect Simple with the present of “have” (have/has)+ the third part of the verb(Past Participle).

Infinitive past Past Participle

start started startedborrow borrowed borrowedlift lifted lifted

•Many verbs don’t form the past participle with “-ed” They are irregular.

E.g.: You’ve grown. Grown is the past participle of the verb grow.

Infinitive past Past Participle

grow grew grown

More examples

•I’ve forgotten your name.•He has cut his finger.

• FORM QUESTIONS LIKE THIS;•Have you posted my letter?•Has he danced with her?•What have you bought?

• FORM NEGATIVES LIKE THIS;• I haven’t shaved.• She hasn’t brushed her hair.• You haven’t answered my

questions

•Use the present Perfect Simple with “yet” in questions if you want to know if something you are expecting has or hasn’t happened.

Examples

•Has the Postman come yet?•Have they finished yet?•Has he taken his medicine yet?

•Use the negative Present Perfect Simple with “yet” like this:

-He hasn’t got up yet. -We haven’t had breakfast yet.

-You haven’t been in the water yet.

•Use the Present Perfect Simple with “already” in positive sentences like these;

•I’ve already eaten.•The film has already started.•It’s already left.

•Use the Present Perfect Simple with “just” when you talk about something that happened a very short time ago.

Examples

• They’ve just come back from holiday.•He’s just scored a goal.• I’ve just made a cup of tea.

Would you like some?

•PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE OR PAST SIMPLE

•Difference between Pres.Perf. Simple and Past Simple.

•(a) He painted the house white. (Past Simple). The house may at present be yellow or red.

• (b) He’s painted the house white.(Present Perfect) This means he painted the house white at some time in the recent past and it’s still white now. His past action has a result in the present (now).

More examples

•Tom bought a Mercedes Benz. (Past simple)•He’s bought a Mercedes Benz.(Present Perfect)

•Di you see that film?(Past Simple)•Have you seen that film?(Present Perfect)

•Present Perfect Simple with “for” or “since”.

• (a) I’ve had these boots for ten years.

-This means, he got the boots ten years ago, and he still has them.

• (b) Ruth has been member of the club for five years.

- Became a member of the club five years ago and is still a member of the club.

• (c) We’ve lived in this house since 1931.

-They moved into the house in 1931 and they are still living there.

•d) He taught in this school since he left the university.

- Started teaching at the school immediately he left the university and he still teaches there now.

• You can also use the Present Perfect Simple with a period of time which has not yet finished, like today, this week, this month, this year... Compare the following.

-The weather has been terrible this month. (Pres. Perf.-It’s still terrible.)

-The weather was terrible last month.(Past Simple,-a finished period of time.)

More examples

(a) You haven’t eaten all day. (b)We’ve only had two

customers all evening. (c)How much have you

earned this month?

•Use the Present Perfect Simple with “never” in sentences like these.• Use the Present Perfect

Simple with “never” in sentences like these.

(I ) I never hit him before. (ii)We’ve never been to

America. (iii)He’s never had a

girlfriend.

•Use the Present Perfect Simple with “ever” like this;

•Have you ever ridden a motorbike?•Have you ever won?•Has Kevin ever made a mistake?

•Use the Present Perfect Simple with “recently” and “lately” when you talk about something which happened not long ago.

• The weather has been terrible lately.• I haven’t worn these

trousers recently.•Have you been to the

dentist lately?

Remember this

Use the Present Perfect

Use the Past Simple

About things which happened some time in the past but still have an effect in the present.

About things which happened in the past and are finished now with words and phrases like these below.

just yesterdayyet/already last weekever/never two years agoFor/since On MondayRecently/lately In 1980Today/this week...

when I was young

• PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

• Use the Present Perfect Continuous when you talk about an action which continued for some time in the past and then, a short time ago, stopped. The action still has an effect or result in the present.

Examples

• She’s been running.• This means, she was running

in the past and then she stopped a short time ago- she’s still feeling tired.

More examples

(i)We have been playing volleyball.

(ii) They’ve been fighting.(iii) She’s been washing her hair.

• In the last example, she has stopped washing the hair but you can see the result of the action –“her hair is still wet” for example.

•Form the “Present Perfect Continuous” like this.

IYou have

been running.

HeSheIt

has

WeYouThey

have

• Form questions like this

•Have you been fighting?•What has he been doing?•What have you been eating?

•Form negatives like this

• You haven’t been listening.• He hasn’t been swimming.• I haven’t been watching.

• Present Perfect Continuous with “for”.

• Use the Present Perfect Continuous, followed by “for” + a period of time, for example an hour, two years, 100 years... This means, the action started in the past but is still continuing now.

• In the example “He’s been talking for an hour,” the person on the telephone box started to talk an hour ago and is still talking now.

Look at this diagram.

Past Present8.00 9.00He started to talk.

He’s still talking.

More examples

• You have been driving for five hours.• It’s been raining for three

years.• She’s been sleeping for twelve

hours.

•Form questions like this

• How long have they been playing for?/For how long have they been playing?• Have you been waiting for

long?

•PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS WITH “SINCE.”

•You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous, followed by “since” + the time when something started.

Examples

•It has been raining since Monday.•This means, it started to rain on Monday and it’s still raining.

• They have been living there since 1980.• I’ve been trying to ring you

since Friday.• She’s been talking on the

phone since I came here.

“for” or “since.”•Use for with periods (lengths of time),for example:•Ten minutes, three weeks, twenty years...

•Use “since” with times, dates or actions in the past, for example:

•Since 4 o’clock, since last Monday, since 3rdMay, since they arrived, since the end of the war.

•PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

•Use the Past Perfect-had +Past Participle-for an action which happened before another action(or time in the Past.)

Examples

•The plane landed a (4 o’clock). We arrived at (4.30).Later when we describe what happened, we say;

• “The plane had already landed when we arrived.”

•The first thing to happen is in Past Perfect-had landed. The second thing to happen is in the Past Simple-arrived.

More examples

• After he’d done her home work, he watched television.• The shops had already closed

before I got there.• As soon as they’d left, we went

to bed.

•You can also put the first thing to happen (the past perfect) at the end of the sentence:

•When the Police arrived, the thieves had gone.• By the time I rang her, she’d gone out.

•He died soon after he’d the operation.

- John was late. He had missed the bus.

• It makes no difference if the Past Perfect comes before or after the Past Simple. The meaning stays the same.eg;

•When the Police arrived, the thieves had gone.•The thieves had gone when the Police arrived.

•Instead of “a second action,” you can use the “a time” in the past.

Examples

•I had spent all my money by Friday.• At 8 o’clock, they still hadn’t arrived.

•Form the Past Perfect with had +the third part of the verb (the past participle).

Examples

• The plane had landed

•Form questions and negatives like this;

•Had they arrived when you came?•Had he already went to bed when you phoned?• -No, he hadn’t.

•On Monday, the letter still hadn’t arrived.

•PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

•Use the Pas Perfect Continuous (had +been + ...ing) when you talk about something which continued up to a time in the past.

Examples

• The runner continued to run for two hours. Then, at a time in the past he collapsed. When you describe what happened, you say:

•He had been running for two hours when he collapsed.

More examples

• I had been sleeping for seven hours when they woke me.•We had been driving for

4hours when we stopped for a cup of tea.

•Billy had been looking for the job for months when he finally got one.

•Form the Past Perfect Continuous like this:

IYouHe/She/ItWeYouThey

had (not) beenrunning.sleeping.working.

Had

Iyouhe/she/itweyouthey

beenrunning?sleeping?working?

•

FUTURE-“GOING TO.”

• The future is the time to come, “after now.” When you talk about what you plan to do or intend to do in the future, use “going to...”

•Form this future with the verb “be” + “going to”.

I’m(I am)You’re(you are)He’s(he is)She’s(she is)

going to sleep.

It’s(it is)We’re(we are)You’re(you are)They’re (they are)

sleeping.

Examples

•I’m going to get up early tomorrow.•She’s going to move to a new flat.

•Form the negative with “not” like this;

•I’m not going to marry him.•We’re not going to have holiday this year.

•Form questions and short answers like this;

•Are you going to get up today? -No, I am not.

-Yes, I am.

•Are you going to play tennis?

-Yes, we’re. -No, we aren’t.

•Is she going to marry him?-Yes, she is.-No, she isn’t.

•Is she going to marry him?

-Yes, she is.-No, she isn’t.

•Form questions with question words like this:

•Who are you going to meet?•What film are they going to see?

•When is she going to see him?•How are you going to answer this question?

•You can also use the future with “going to” when you can see that something is going to happen.

or when you think or understand that something is going to happen soon.

Examples

• It’s going to fall. •Peter is going to miss the bus.

-It’s going to rain.

• She’s going to have a baby.• We are going to get drunk.

• FUTURE-(SHALL/WILL).

•Use the future with “will” when you talk about what will probably happen in future. You can’t control or change it.

Examples•It will soon be summer.

•The next bus to Kigali will leave at 12.00noon.•The sun will rise tomorrow.

•You can shorten “will” when you speak like this;

I’ll we’ll he’ll they’ll...

•You can also use “shall’ in the first person, singular and plural.

Examples

•I shall need a new passport in November.•We shall be in Rubavu in an hour.

•When you speak, shorten “shall” as; I’ll we’ll .

•Form questions like this;

•Will you write to me?•Will there be a lot of people there?

•How much will it cost?•When will they arrive?

•Use shall in questions like this:

•Form the negative with “won’t.” This is short form for will not.

Examples

•I won’t finish this work today.•They won’t understand you.

• WILL OR GOING TO?

•The future with “will” and the future with “going to” often mean the same.

Exampls•It’ll be hot tomorrow. •It’s going to be hot tomorrow.

•What will happen?•What’s going to happen?

•Compare these sentences:

• He’ll be eighteen next week.• He’s going to have a party.

• In sentence “a”, we state a fact. We can’t control or change it. In sentence “b”, we are talking about his plans or intentions.

Other examples

(1)I’ll see him tomorrow. We always catch the same bus.

(2)I’m going to see him tomorrow at 7.30 outside the cinema.

• In sentence “1”, you mean that it’s certain or probable you will see him tomorrow, because you always catch the same bus.

•But, it’s not something you have decided or especially want to do. It will just happen anyway.

• If you say sentence “2” you mean you have decided or planned to see him tomorrow, for some reason, for example because you want to see the film together.

•Other uses of Will/shall.

•Use “will” or “shall” to make offers.

-Shall I turn on the television?

-We’ll help you. -Shall I carry that?

•In questions, you can only use shall with “I” and “we”.•Use “will” or “Shall” to make promises.

• I’ll write to you.• We won’t be late.

•Use will/shall to make threats:

• I’ll kill you.• I’ll tell your mother.

•Use will/shall to make requests and express willingness:

•Will you open the window, please?• Will you lend me 500F? -No, I won’t.

•Use will/shall to express decisions.

• It’ raining. I’ll take a tax.• The phone’s ringing. I’ll answer it.

•Use shall (not) will to make suggestions:

• Shall we go now?• Shall we sit down?

Will(+)IYouHe/She/It

‘ll(will) win.

WeYouThey

‘ll(will) win.

Shall(+)IWe

‘ll(shall) come.

Will(-)IYouHe/She/It

won’t(will not) win.

weYouThey

won’t(will not) win.

Shall(-)IWe

Shan’t(shall not) come.

Qns-WILL

WillIyouHe/she/it

Win?

Willweyouthey

win?

Qns-Shall

ShallIwe Win?

• Present Continuous for the Future.

•Use the present continuous when you talk about future arrangements or plans.

Examples•When are you leaving?•I’m meeting some friends at 8 o’clock.

•What are you wearing to the party?•Who are you going with?

•What time is he arriving?

• In most examples, the present continuous with a future meaning and the “be going to” future mean the same. Look at these two sentences;

•When are you leaving?•When are you going to leave?

•They mean exactly the same.

• Present Simple for future.

•You can use the present simple when you talk about travel arrangements, time tables and programmes.

Examples

•What time do we arrive?•The train gets to Mombasa at 12.48.

•The party starts at 9 o’clock.

...END...