25/2/2016
The English Tense System by Viv Quarry
The English Tense System by Viv Quarry
(www.vivquarry.com)
The English tense system has three ASPECTS Simple, Continuous and Perfect.
SIMPLE TENSES usually indicate that a state is PERMANENT or HABITUAL.
CONTINUOUS TENSES refer to performance on one specific occasion and indicate that an
ACTIVITY is TEMPORARY. Continuous tenses can also show DURATION, REPETITION,
INTERRUPTION or that an activity is INCOMPLETE.
PERFECT TENSES form a LINK BETWEEN THE PAST & THE PRESENT or between the
PRESENT & THE FUTURE.
Perfect tenses are very common in spoken English, and usually talk about LIFE EXPERIENCE,
UNFINISHED SITUATIONS and PAST EVENTS RELEVANT NOW.
The English Tense system also has two VOICES ACTIVE AND PASSIVE.
Fill in this chart with the various tense forms of the verb 'to work'.
The ACTIVE VOICE.
TENSE
Simple
The Present
She
works
Continuous
The Past
The Future (Will)
The Present Perfect
The Past Perfect
The Future Perfect
Now fill in the missing words in this text:
Continuous tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb ___________ + the __'______'___ form, which
is also known as the present participle. Perfect tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb ___________
+ the ___________ ___________ .
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25/2/2016
The English Tense System by Viv Quarry
The PASSIVE VOICE.
Look at this sentence.
Renata speaks English very well.
Renata is the SUBJECT of the sentence, and English is the OBJECT of the sentence. This sentence is
Active. THE FOCUS OF THE SENTENCE IS ON THE SUBJECT (the person or AGENT).
Now look at this sentence.
English is spoken all over the world.
In this sentence the OBJECT OF AN ACTIVE SENTENCE becomes the focus or SUBJECT.
The PASSIVE VOICE is more common in FORMAL WRITTEN ENGLISH.
Normally in passive sentences, The AGENT (person) is NOT STATED. This may be because they
are:
UNKNOWN Eg. 'My car was stolen yesterday'. (We don't know who did it)
UNIMPORTANT Eg. 'The building was built in 1980'. (We aren't interested in who built it)
OBVIOUS Eg. 'He was arrested at 5pm today'. (Only the police can arrest people)
If it is necessary to mention the agent then BY is used. Eg. 'This book was written by my uncle'.
Now fill in the chart with the various passive tense forms for the verb 'to mend'.
TENSE
Simple
The Present
It is
mended
Continuous
The Past
The Future (Will)
NOT POSSIBLE
The Present Perfect
NOT POSSIBLE
The Past Perfect
NOT POSSIBLE
The Future Perfect
NOT POSSIBLE
Now fill in the missing words in this text:
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25/2/2016
The English Tense System by Viv Quarry
Passive tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb ___________ + the ___________ ___________ .
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