Liana'Story: 03/18/16

1. Simple Past Tense

Simple past or past simple,sometimes called the preterite,is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used pricipally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Use the simple Past to express the idea that an actin started and finished at a specific time in past. Reguler English verbs form the simple past in –ed; homever there are a few hundred irruguler verb with different forms.

The simple past is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. Duration is not important. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past.

The term "simple" is used to distinguish the syntactical construction whose basic form uses the plain past tense alone, from other past tense constructions which use auxiliaries in combination with participles, such as the past perfect and past progressive.

· Basic simple past :

I/you/he/she/it/we/they helped

· Expanded (emphatic) simple past:

I/you/he/she/it/we/they did help

· Question form:

Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?

· Negative:

I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not (didn't) help

· Negative question:

Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they not help? / Didn't I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?

Formula :

S + Verb 2 + O

Examples:

(+) The term "simple" is used to distinguish the syntactical construction whose basic form uses the plain past tense alone, from other past tense constructions which use auxiliaries in combination with participles, such as the past perfect and past progressive.

· Basic simple past :

I/you/he/she/it/we/they helped

· Expanded (emphatic) simple past:

I/you/he/she/it/we/they did help

· Question form:

Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?

· Negative:

I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not (didn't) help

· Negative question:

Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they not help? / Didn't I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?

Formula :

S + Verb 2 + O

1. (+) He was in the class tommorow

(-) He was not (wasn't) in the class tommorow.

(?)He in the class tommorow?

2. I bought a new book at the bookstore yesterday.

3. Mr. Smith didnt come to class lastweek.

4. He watched a horror movie 3 days ago.

5. Did Ana sing my favorite songs?

2. Simple present tense

In English grammar, the simple present tense is a form of the Verb that refers to an action or event that is on going or that regularly takes place in present time. It is called ‘simple’ because its basic form consists of a single word (like write or writes), in contrast with other present tense forms such as the present progressive (is writting) and present perfect (has written).

The basic form of the simple present is the same as the base form of the verb, unless the subject is third person singular, in which case a form with the addition of -(e)s is used. The present simple of lexical verbs has an expanded form which uses do (or does, in the third person indicative) as an auxiliary verb. This is used particularly when forming questions and other clauses requiring inversion, negated clauses with not, and clauses requiring emphasis.

Formula : S + Verb 1 + O
Tobe: am, is, are, do, don’t, does, and doesn,t
Note: ‘Do’ for subject I, YOU, WE, THEY and ‘Does’ for subject SHE, IT, HE

Examples :

1. (+) She likes eating out

(-) She doesn’t like eating out

(?) Does she like eating out?

2. He goes to school every morning.

It mixes the sand and the water.
He tries very hard.
She enjoys playing the piano.

3. Present countinous tanses

Use the present countinous with Normal Verbs to express the idea that something is happening now, at this very moment. It can also be used to show that something is not happening now. The present continous tense is formed from the present tense of the verb be and the present participle (-ing form) of a verb.

Forming The Pesent Continuous

The present continuous of any verb is composed of two parts - the present tense of the verb to be + the present participle of the main verb.

(The form of the present participle is: base+ing, e.g. talking, playing, moving, smiling)

Functions Of The Present Continuous

As with all tenses in English, the speaker's attitude is as important as the time of the action or event. When someone uses the present continuous, they are thinking about something that is unfinished or incomplete

The Present Continuous is use :

1. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the present:

· for something that is happening at the moment of speaking:

I’m just leaving work. I’ll be home in an hour.

Please be quite. The children are sleeping

· for something which is happening before and after a given time:

At eight o’clock we are usually having breakfast.

When I get home the children are doing their homework.

· for something which we think is temporary:

Micheal is at university. He’s studying history.

I’m working in London for the next two weeks.

· for something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.

What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowdays? What sort of music are listening to?

· to show that something is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing quickly.

The climate is changing rapidly.

Your English is improving.

· for something which happens again and again:

It’s always raining in London.

They are always arguing.

George is great. He’s always laughing.

Note: We normally use always with this use.

1. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the future:

· for something which has been arranged or planned:

Mary is going to new school next term

What are you doing next week?

2. We can use the present continuous to talk about the past:

· When we are telling a story:

· When we are summarising the story from a book, film or play etc.

Formula :

S + Tobe + Verb-ing + O

Example:

1. (+)· You are watching TV.

(?) · Are you watching TV?

(-) · You are not watching TV

2. This coat feels nice and warm.

3. John's feeling much better now

4. She has three dogs and a cat.

5. She's having supper.

4. Past countinous tanses

Use the past continous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interruption. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the simple past. Remamber thins can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time. This sentence shows on going action (laughing) of a person which occurred in past.

Functions Of The Past Continuous

The past continuous describes actions or events in a time before now, which began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking. In other words, it expresses an unfinished or incomplete action in the past.

Structure of sentence

Positive Sentences

· Subject + auxiliary verb + Main Verb (present participle) + object

· Subject + was/were + (1st form of verb or base verb +ing) +object

If the subject is “he, she, It, I, singular or proper noun” then auxiliary verb “was” is used. If subject is “you, we, they or plural” then auxiliary verb “were” is used.

Examples:

She was crying yesterday.

They were climbing on a hill.

Negative sentences :

· Subject + auxiliary verb + NOT + Main verb (present participle) + object

· Subject + was/were + NOT + (1st form of verb or base verb +ing) +object
Rules for using auxiliary verb after subject are same as mentioned above.

Examples.

She was not crying yesterday.

They were not climbing on a hill.

Interrogative Sentences

· Auxiliary verb + Subject + Main verb (present participle) + object

· Was/were + Subject + (1st form of verb or base verb +ing) +object

The interrogative sentence starts with the auxiliary verb. If the subject is “he, she, It, I, singular or proper noun” then the sentence starts with auxiliary verb “was”. If subject is “you, we, they or plural” then the sentence starts with auxiliary verb “were”.

Examples.

Was she crying yesterday?

Were they climbing on a hill?

More Examples

Positive sentences
          They were laughing at the joker.
          He was taking exam last month
          You waiting for him yesterday
          She was working in a factory.
          It was raining yesterday.

Negative sentences
         They were not laughing at the joker.
         He was not taking exam last month
         You were not waiting for him yesterday
         She was not working in a factory.
         It was not raining yesterday.

Interrogative sentences
        Were they laughing at the joker?
        Was he taking exam last month?
        Were you waiting for him yesterday?
        Was she working in a factory?
        Was it raining yesterday?

Subject - Verb Agreement

Subjects and verbs must AGREE with one another in number (singular or plural). Thus, if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural.

In the present tense, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways: nouns ADD an s to the singular form; verbs REMOVE the s from the singular form.

Basic Principle: singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.
Basic Rule: A singular subject ( she, Bill, Car) takes a singular verb (is, goes, shines), whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Example:

The list of items is/are on the desk.

If you know that list is the subject, then you will choose is for the verb.

Rule 1:

A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of. This is a key rule for understanding subjects. The word of is the culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb mistakes.

Hasty writers, speakers, readers, and listeners might miss the all-too-common mistake in the following sentence:

Incorrect: A bouquet of yellow roses lend color and fragrance to the room.

Correct: A bouquet of yellow roses lends . . . (bouquet lends, not roses lend)

Rule 2:

Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verb.

Examples:
My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.

Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.
Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage decorations.

Rule 3. The verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it.

Examples:
Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes on that shelf.

Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on that shelf.

This rule can lead to bumps in the road. For example, if I is one of two (or more) subjects, it could lead to this odd sentence:

Awkward: Neither she, my friends, nor I am going to the festival.

If possible, it's best to reword such grammatically correct but awkward sentences.

Better:
Neither she, I, nor my friends are going to the festival.

OR
She, my friends, and I are not going to the festival.

Rule 4 :

As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.

Example: A car and a bike are my means of transportation.

But note these exceptions:

Exceptions:
Breaking and entering is against the law.

The bed and breakfast was charming.

In those sentences, breaking and entering and bed and breakfast are compound nouns.

Rule 5:

Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by such words as along with, as well as, besides, not, etc. These words and phrases are not part of the subject. Ignore them and use a singular verb when the subject is singular.

Examples:
The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly.

Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the cause of her shaking.

Rule 6:

In sentences beginning with here or there, the true subject follows the verb.

Examples:
There are four hurdles to jump.

There is a high hurdle to jump.

Here are the keys.

NOTE:

The word there's, a contraction of there is, leads to bad habits in informal sentences like

There's a lot of people here today, because it's easier to say "there's" than "there are." Take care never to use there's with a plural subject.

Rule 7:

Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit.

Examples:
Three miles is too far to walk.

Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.

Ten dollars is a high price to pay.

BUT
Ten dollars (i.e., dollar bills) were scattered on the floor.

Rule 8:

With words that indicate portions—e.g., a lot, a majority, some, all—Rule 1 given earlier in this section is reversed, and we are guided by the noun after of. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.

Examples:
A lot of the pie has disappeared.
A lot of the pies have disappeared.
A third of the city is unemployed.
A third of the people are unemployed.
All of the pie is gone.
All of the pies are gone.
Some of the pie is missing.
Some of the pies are missing

Pronouns

In grammer, a pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that may be substituted for a noun or noun phrase, which once replaced, is known as the pronoun’s antecedent. How is this possible? In a nutshell, it’s because pronouns can do everything that nouns can do. A pronoun can act as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, and more.

Without pronouns, we’d have to keep on repeating nouns, and that would make our speech and writing repetitive, not to mention cumbersome. Most pronouns are very short words. Examples include: He, She, They, It, We, Who

As mentioned, pronouns are usually used to replace nouns, however they can also stand in for certain adverbs, adjectives, and other pronouns. Anytime you want to talk about a person, animal, place or thing, you can use pronouns to make your speech or writing flow better.

Types of Pronouns

Pronouns can be divided into numerous categories including:

Indefinite pronouns – those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places
Personal pronouns – those associated with a certain person, thing, or group; all except you have distinct forms that indicate singular or plural number
Reflexive pronouns – those preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer, and ending in –self or –selves
Demonstrative pronouns – those used to point to something specific within a sentence
Possessive pronouns – those designating possession or ownership
Relative pronouns – those which refer to nouns mentioned previously, acting to introduce an adjective (relative) clause
Interrogative pronouns – those which introduce a question
Reciprocal pronouns – those expressing mutual actions or relationship; i.e. one another
Intensive pronouns – those ending in –self or –selves and that serve to emphasize their antecedents