FIVE STARTER TENSES

IN ENGLISH

And see  Verbs - Introduction

These five ‘starter’ tenses will enable you to write and speak English at a good level. I admit that you will also learn the Present Progressive when you use the “informal future”, so that’s six. The other tenses can be left for future study.

There are two points to note about the ‘persons’ of the verbs, (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they)  - and please remember that 'persons' is a technical word used in grammar: the plural of 'person' is people.

1. “IT” – the third person singular – is very common in English because we do not give a gender to inanimate objects; no ‘le’ and ‘la’ as in French, no ‘die’ or ‘der’ as in German. Please see Definite and Indefinite Articles. This means you will use “it” very often.

2. “You” is the only word we have for the second person singular and plural. We have no distinctions for family, strangers, showing respect etc. Simply “you”.

1.  THE PRESENT TENSE:

Construction:

Generally we form the present tense by using the name of the verb (the infinitive without ‘to’).

To be’ is an exception as it is irregular:

In regular verbs we use the same word ( the name of the verb) for each person except for the very important THIRD PERSON SINGULAR which always adds ‘s’ at the end – in the present tense only.

‘to go’, ‘to do’ and ‘to have’ are exceptions

because the logical,  ‘gos’, ‘dos’ and ‘haves’ are not acceptable English. In these verbs the third person singular is

to go = he goes, she goes, it goes

to do = he does, she does, it does

to have = he has, she has, it has

The “s” on the third person singular in the present tense is so important that I’ve written a story about it: CLICK HERE.

Use:

For the present moment and generally. Examples  –

Present moment: I think you’re right.

I see the ships on the horizon.

Generally: I like apples.

(But I’m not eating one at the present moment).

We go to Cancun for our vacations.

(this refers to the past, the present and the future, but we’re not going at this moment).

2.  THE SIMPLE PAST

Construction:

Verbs in the simple past can be regular or irregular:

a)  Regular verbs

add –ed to the name of the verb. If the verb name ends in ‘e’ we add only the ‘d’. For example –

to walk – walked

to please - pleased

b)  Irregular verbs

are those where the word CHANGES or STAYS THE SAME. For Example:

1) The word changes –

You should always note new irregular verbs in these three parts as shown:

present/simple past/past participle.

2) The word stays the same – hit/ hit /hit;       bet/bet/bet

(a very small category)

You can learn which verbs are irregular, and what the changes are, by consulting lists published in text books or on the internet.

Except for the verb 'to be', the simple past of each verb is one word that applies for every 'person'. For example, once you know that 'taught' (pronounced 'tot') is the past tense of 'to teach', that is all: I taught, you taught, he taught, she taught, it taught. Very simple!

'to be' has two words in the simple past: 'was' or 'were'.

Use

We use the simple past for an event or events in the past which are finished and done with. Examples –

I walked to Cairo yesterday.

He was a little boy in 1998.

You were wrong about that.

They were in the Premier League until 2005.

3. THE FORMAL FUTURE

Construction:

The person (I, you, he etc.) + will + the name of the verb.

There are no exceptions.

I will walk to Paris tomorrow

You will go to a new school next week.

She will get a surprise in a minute.

They will arrive tonight.

Use:

We use this tense for any time in the future.

In speech we should use contractions in this tense, but not in formal writing.

The contractions of the formal future tense are:

I’ll, you’ll, he’ll, she’ll, it’ll, we’ll, you’ll they’ll.

Pronunciation: just remember to retain the original sound of: I, you, she, it, we, you, they and add L. See The Vowels.

If you don’t use contractions in your speech you will sound very formal. This may be all right if you are a native speaker or a teacher trying to be very clear, but if you’re a student you will sound as if you didn’t complete your English course.

4. THE INFORMAL FUTURE:

I don’t know an official name for this tense. I have a textbook that doesn’t even give it a place in a list of seventeen (17) tenses. But it is very popular and in common use.

Construction:

The person + the present progressive of ‘to go’* plus the infinitive of your principal verb.

The present progressive of ‘to go’ is –

This is the only tense of the five where you will use the infinitive. In other words, the only time when the word ‘to’ appears.

* the progressive form is in fact contained in the present tense, but this is complication we can leave for a later lesson.

Use

We use this tense for any time in the future. Examples  –

I’m going to visit her tomorrow.

They’re going to climb Mount Everest in 2017.

It’s going to be terminated in 2021.

We’re going to consider your request in April.

There is an idea that this tense is for the short term or immediate future whereas the formal future, using ‘will’ is for the long term.

This is pure fiction, as these examples and my fourth example below show.

And If you compare the formal future, phrases like, “I’ll be with you in a minute” are very common.

The distinction between the two future tenses is not about time,

it’s about formality.

As this a casual, informal tense we use contractions. It will sound strange if you say it in full. Examples are:

1.  I’m going to have lunch later.

2.  You’re going to laugh when you hear this.

3.  She’s going to be an airline pilot when she qualifies.

4.  I’m going to be a hundred years old before any human lands on the planet Venus.

There is another idea that the informal future is used to express intention. This may be so. A person may be more likely to say,

“I’m going to Hawaii on Monday” rather than -

“I’ll go to Hawaii on Monday.”

But this idea is not very convincing – it is certainly not strong enough to base examination questions on it. To my mind it’s a bit like saying that you can find a different meaning if a person says –

‘Hello!’ or ‘How do you do?’ ‘How are you?’ ‘ Hi!’  ‘Good day’  ‘Hi there!’  ‘Hiya’ ‘How’s it going?’  ‘Yo, bruv!’   Hey, my man!’ or any other salutation.

I wouldn’t like to lose three marks in an exam on a supposed difference between ‘Hello’ and ‘Hi’. The use of these greetings is not about English, it’s about social habits, customs and the generations.

For a full rant about this please see my article on Charles Dickens and the Student of English as a Second Language, especially Part 1 and  Part 2.

Pronunciation: It is not correct English to pronounce ‘going to’ as ‘GONNA’ but that is what you will hear very often, especially in America.

You will hear this (re the four examples above):

1.  I’m gonna have lunch later.

2.  You’re gonna laugh when you hear this.

3.  She’s gonna be an airline pilot when she qualifies.

4.  I’m gonna be a hundred years old before any human lands on Venus.

It is difficult to avoid using ‘gonna’ in speech but you should try. You certainly need to recognize this sound when listening to English.

5. THE PRESENT PERFECT:

Construction:

The person + the present tense of ‘to have’ + the past participle of your principal verb. Examples –

I have seen many things in my life.

You have said this before.

They have stolen the money.

We have visited Buckingham Palace.

Use

Strictly, it is used for an event or events in the past which may continue until the present day.

In fact it is often used as another simple past tense. In Spain, for example, (but not in Latin America) it almost replaces the simple past tense.

I have always thought he’s an idiot.

She has been admired for many years.

The waltz has been a popular dance for a long time.

They have said this every year.

He has eaten his dinner.

She has bought a new dress.

We have heard all this before.

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