PEL125 Lecture1 Tense

Tense
PEL125_ Week 1
Present Simple Tense
1.We use the present simple to describe things that are

always true, or situations that exist now and, as far as we
know, will go on indefinitely:
• It takes me five minutes to get to school.

• Trees grow more quickly in summer than in winter.
• Liz plays the violin brilliantly.
2.We use the present simple to talk about habits or things
that happen on a regular basis:
• I leave work at 5.30 most days.

• Each July we go to Turkey for a holiday.
3.We often use the present simple with verbs that perform
the action they describe:
• I admit I can't see as well as I used to. (= an admission)
•I refuse to believe that he didn't know the car was stolen. (=
a refusal)
Other verbs like this (sometimes called performative verbs)

include accept, acknowledge, advise, apologise, assume,
deny, guarantee, hope, inform, predict, promise, recommend,
suggest, suppose, warn.
4. We use the present simple to describe something that
we regularly do at a particular time.
•We usually watch the news on TV at 9.00. (= we start

watching at 9.00)
Present Continuous Tense
1.To talk about particular actions or events that have begun

but have not ended at the time of speaking,
For e.g.
• The car isn't starting again.
• 'Who are you phoning?' 'I'm trying to get through to Joan.'
.
We often use time expressions such as at the moment, at
present, currently, just, and still to emphasise that the action or
event is happening now:
2.When we describe repeated actions or events that are
happening at or around the time of speaking, we use the
present continuous:
• Why are you jumping up and down?

• I'm hearing a lot of good reports about your work these days.
3.We use the present continuous to imply that a situation
is or may be temporary.
• We're usually watching the news on TV at 9.00. (=

we're already watching at 9.00)
• Banks are lending more money (these days) to
encourage businesses to expand, (implies a temporary
arrangement)
We often prefer to use the present simple rather than the
present continuous with verbs describing states:
• I really enjoy travelling.
•The group currently consists of five people, but we hope to
get more members soon.
Common state verbs:

agree, assume, believe, belong to, contain, cost, disagree, feel,
hate, have, hope, know, like, look, love, own, prefer, realise, regret,
resemble, smell, taste etc.
Exception
Exception: We can use the present continuous with some state

verbs when we want to emphasise that a situation is
temporary, for a period of time around the present. Compare:
• I consider him to be extremely fortunate. (This is my view)

and
•I'm considering taking early retirement. (This is something
I'm thinking about now)
We use the present continuous when we talk about
changes, developments, and trends:
• The growing number of visitors is damaging the
footpaths.
• I'm beginning to realise how difficult it is to be a teacher.
While telling a story/joke, we often describe the main events using

the present (or past) simple and longer, background events using
the present (or past) continuous:
•She goes (or went) up to this man and looks (or looked)
straight into his eyes. She's carrying (or was carrying) a bag full
We use the present simple and present continuous in
commentaries (for example, on sports events) and in
giving instructions:
•King serves to the left hand court and Adams makes a

wonderful return. She's playing magnificent tennis in this
match...
•You hold the can in one hand. Right, you're holding it in

one hand; now you take off the lid with the other.
Differences
Answers
1) a is costing ( ‘at the moment emphasizes that this is
a temporary situation)
b cost
2) a enjoy/ love (stative verbs)
b am loving/ enjoying
Uses of Present Perfect
1. Actions started in the past and continuing in the present

• They haven't lived here for years.
• She has worked in the bank for five years.
• Have you played the piano since you were a child?
2. When the time period referred to has not finished

• I have worked hard this week.
• It has rained a lot this year.
• We haven't seen her today.
Actions repeated in an unspecified period between the past
and now.
• They have seen that film six times
• It has happened several times already.
Actions completed in the very recent past (+just)

• Have you just finished work?
• I have just eaten.
When the precise time of the action is not important or not
known
• Someone has eaten my soup!

• Have you seen 'Gone with the Wind'?
We use the past tense to talk about:
1. something that happened once in the past:

• I met my wife in 1983.
• We went to Spain for our holidays.
• They got home very late last night.
2. something that happened several times in the past:

• When I was a boy, I walked a mile to school every
day.
• We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
• They always enjoyed visiting their friends.
3. something that was true for some time in the
past:
• I lived abroad for ten years.

• He enjoyed being a student.
• She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.
PRESENT SIMPLE PAST
PERFECT TENSE
TENSE
Answers
2)Appeared ( time is specified)
3)Have reached ( something that happened in the past
affects the situation)
4)Has disappeared ( we don’t specify the time)
5)Agreed
6) wrote
Exceptions
• We use the present perfect when we talk about something
that happened in a period of time up to the present.
g. Science has made many major advances this century,
• We use the past simple to talk about something that happened

at a particular, finished time in the past.
e.g. Scientists made some fundamental discoveries in the
18th century
• We can use either the present perfect or the past simple
to talk about repeated actions or events. Let’s see how:-
 To suggest that the action or event might happen again,
we use the present perfect. Example : Timson has made 13
films and I think her latest is the best
 To suggest that it is finished and won't happen again, we use

simple past tense
Example : Timson made 13 films before she was tragically
killed in a car accident
We use the present perfect to talk about a state that existed in
the past and still exists now.
• I have known him most of my working life. (I am
still working)
We use the past simple if the state no longer exists.

• • I knew him when we were both working in Rome
Simple Past and Past Perfect
• We use the past simple rather than the past perfect when
we simply talk about a single activity or event in the past:
e.g. : I handed the letter to him.
• We use the past perfect when we say what we wanted

or hoped (etc.) to do, but didn't:
e.g. : I had wanted to visit the gallery before I left
Florence, but it's closed on Sundays.
• When we use a time expression (e.g. after, as soon as,
before, by the time (that), when) to say that one event
happened after another, we use past perfect for the event
that happened first and the past simple for the event that
happened second
E.g. After Ivan (had) finished reading, he put out the light.
But to emphasise that the second event was result of the first,
we prefer the past simple for both.
E.g. She became famous after she appeared on the TV
programme.
Past Perfect continuous and Past Perfect
• We use the past perfect continuous when we talk about the
continuity or duration of a situation or activity, and the past
perfect to talk about the completion of a situation or activity or its
effects
• If we talk about how long something went on up to a particular

past time, we use the past perfect continuous.
They had been travelling for about 36 hours.
If we talk about how many times something happened in a period
up to a particular past time, we use the past perfect tense.
I had heard the Sam many times before.

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Tense

1.We use the present simple to describe things that are

• It takes me five minutes to get to school.

• I leave work at 5.30 most days.

Other verbs like this (sometimes called performative verbs)

•We usually watch the news on TV at 9.00. (= we start

1.To talk about particular actions or events that have begun

• Why are you jumping up and down?

• We're usually watching the news on TV at 9.00. (=

Common state verbs:

Exception: We can use the present continuous with some state

• I consider him to be extremely fortunate. (This is my view)

While telling a story/joke, we often describe the main events using

•King serves to the left hand court and Adams makes a

•You hold the can in one hand. Right, you're holding it in

1. Actions started in the past and continuing in the present

2. When the time period referred to has not finished

Actions completed in the very recent past (+just)

• Someone has eaten my soup!

1. something that happened once in the past:

2. something that happened several times in the past:

• I lived abroad for ten years.

• We use the past simple to talk about something that happened

 To suggest that it is finished and won't happen again, we use

We use the past simple if the state no longer exists.

• We use the past perfect when we say what we wanted

• If we talk about how long something went on up to a particular

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