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THE THREE MAJOR VERBS IN ENGLISH 
 

 Video Clip

Surely you recall in the previous lesson we looked at all possible verb tenses and forms and we decided that English verbs have several forms, and each verb tense uses a particular form. Here we will look at these tenses and forms and try to make sense out of them.  We will examine when and how we use each form.
 
These are the possible forms followed by two examples, a regular verb and an irregular verb:
Infinitive: To work- to eat
simple: work (s)- eat (s)
progressive: working - eating
past: worked - ate
past participle: worked eaten
Verb tenses are divided into three major times:
The Future
The Present
The Past
 
Each of these times has four different specific times:
 
The Simple
The Progressive
The Perfect
The Perfect progressive
 
We have looked at the simple and the progressive.  In this lesson we will examine the perfect tense in the present and past times. We will look at when, how, and why the perfect tense is used.
Again, remember that verb tenses reflect important information about the time of the action. To illustrate, let us examine the following chart:
 

TIME

ACTION

6:30 a.m.

Get up

7:00 a.m. Make breakfast
7:45 a.m. Go to school
9:00 a.m. Attend English class
12:15 p.m. Talk with Mary
12:30 p.m. Eat lunch
3:30 p.m. Study at the library
4:30 p.m. Go to work
 
Now let us ask some questions about the activities in the chart.
 
The present simple
 
Q. What does John do every day at 7:00?
A. John makes breakfast every day at 7:00.
 
The present progressive
 
Q. It is 9:00 now.  What is John doing now?
A. John is attending English class now.
 
The past simple
 
Q. What did John do yesterday?
A. John got up at 6:30, made breakfast at 7:00, went to school
    At 7:45, attended English class at 9:00, ate lunch at 12:15
    And went to work at 4:30.
 
The past progressive
 
Q. What was John doing yesterday at 12:15?
A. John was talking to Mary yesterday at 12:15.
 
The future simple
 
Q. What will John do tomorrow at 7:45?
A. John will go to school tomorrow at 7:45.
 
The future progressive
 
Q. What will john be doing tomorrow at 2:30?
A. John will be studying in the library tomorrow at 2:30.

Internet Links:

http://www.lang.uiuc.edu/r-li5/esl/     The simple present tense 
http://www.lang.uiuc.edu/r-li5/esl/     The simple past tense 
http://www.lang.uiuc.edu/r-li5/esl/     The past continuous 
http://www.lang.uiuc.edu/r-li5/esl/     The present perfect 
http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/#grammar     Various grammar exercises
http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/#grammar      Various grammar exercises  
http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/iverb1.html      Irregular verbs 
http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/vtr.html      Verb tense review 
http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/wordf1.html      Word forms

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