Verbs!

Verb forms
Review of tenses

1
Timeline
 Draw a timeline of your life. List 8-10
events on the time line.
 Make sure you list your future
graduation date! Moved to
Cali 2005
 Was Born Traveled
1978 to Europe Husband
School graduates
@ Oxford
1999

Started Got married

School 1983 2008 2
The Six English Verb Tenses
Three Simple Tenses Simple continuous
Present – You walk. You are walking
I run. I am running.
Past – You Walked You were walking.
I ran. I was running.
Future – You will walk. You will be walking.
I will run. I will be running.
Three Perfect Tenses Perfect continuous
Present perfect – you have You have been walking.
walked. I have been running.
I have run.
Past Perfect – You had walked. You had been walking.
I had run. I had been running.
Future Perfect– You will have You will have been walking.
walked I will have been running.
I will have run.
The Simple Present Tense
Expresses a habit or often repeated action.
Adverbs of frequency such as, often, seldom,
sometimes, never, etc. are used with this
tense.

She goes to work everyday.

They always eat lunch together.
On your handout, write one sentence that reflects
SIMPLE PRESENT: something you do often,
sometimes, never, seldom
The Simple Present Tense
This tense also expresses general truths or
facts that are timeless. Repetitive actions.

Snow falls in the December in Minnesota.

Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
 The Present Continuous
This tense is used to describe an action that is
occurring right now (at this moment, today, this
year, etc.). The action has begun and is still in
progress. It can be occuring now, but is temporary

Formed by adding
Is/are before the verb
and –ing to the verb

She is typing a paper for her class.

He can’t talk. He is fixing the sink right now.
On your handout, write one sentence that reflects
PRESENT CONTINUOUS: something that is occurring
right now.
 The Simple Past
We use the simple past to indicate exactly
when an action or event took place in the past.

I visited my sister yesterday.

We went out to dinner last night.
On your handout, write one sentence that reflects
SIMPLE PAST: something you did in the past that is
now completed (over, done).
 The Simple Past
The simple past is used to describe actions
and/or events that are now completed and no
longer true in the present.
Formed by adding
-ed to REGULAR Verbs –
see IRREGULAR Verb forms

I attended MJC in 1998. (I no longer attend MJC.)

I saw a movie every weekend last year.
I got my driver licence 3 years ago.
 The Past Continuous
The past continuous is often used with the
simple past to show that one action was in
progress when another action occurred.
Formed by adding
Was/were before the verb
and –ing to the verb

I was taking a bath when the doorbell rang.

They were eating dinner when the neighbors stopped by for a visit
 The Past Continuous
1.The past continuous is used to talk about an activity
that was in progress at a specific point of time in the
past.
2.Two different actions happened simultaneously.

I was studying for an exam while my mother was

cooking dinner.
We were walking in the park around 7 p.m. last night

On your handout, write one sentence that reflects

PAST CONTINUOUS tense.
 The Present Perfect
The present perfect is used to talk about an
event that was caused in the past and has an
effect in the present.
Formed by adding has/have
before the verb and –ed to
the REGULAR verb

He knows around town because he has lived in Modesto for two years.
(He began living in Modesto two years ago and that is why he knows how to
move around town .)
 The Present Perfect
The present perfect is also used to talk about
an event that was completed in the past, but
the specific time of the event is not important.
Formed by adding
has/have before the
verb and –ed to the
reugalr verb

I have seen that movie before.

He has already visited Vietnam.
(Specific dates and times are not mentioned.)

On your handout, write one sentence that reflects

PRESENT PERFECT tense.
 Simple Past or Present
ractice: Perfect?
1. I __________ to Mexico in 2002. (go)
2. I __________ deep sea diving a few times
(go).
3. The drummer in the band __________
percussions since he was five. (study)
4. It __________ the jury two hours to reach
their verdict yesterday.
5. Washington, D.C., _____________ the capital
of our country for many years. (be)
Present Perfect Continuous
This tense is used to describe the duration of
an action that began in the past and continues
into the present.

He has been studying grammar for an hour.

She has been cooking all day.
(He is still studying and she is still cooking.)
Present Perfect Continuous
This tense is also used to describe events that
have been in progress and have a result in the
present.
Formed by adding has/have +
be verb (been) before the verb
and –ing to the verb

She has been living in Taiwan for the last two

months, but she plans to move soon.
Present Perfect tenses
 Have or Has + the present participle
of the word
 Key words: since, for, just, already,
yet (present perfect simple); since,
for, recently, all day (present perfect
continuous)
 The Past Perfect
This tense describes completed events that
took place in the past before another past
event. Cause at some point in the past and
effect in a most recent past
had received it hit Formed by adding
had eaten my friend stopped by
has/have before the verb
and –ed to the REGULAR
verb

The Titanic had received many warnings they didn’t mind before it hit
the iceberg.
I had already eaten when my friend stopped by to visit.
 Past Perfect Continuous
This tense is used to emphasize the duration
of an action that was completed before
another action or event in the past.
Formed by adding
had been has/have + be verb(been)
driving she found the right office
before the verb and –ing
to the verb

She had been driving around the city for three

hours before she finally found the right office.
 The Future
Will and be + going + to are often used to
describe future actions.

Thomas will graduate (prediction)in June.

Maria is going to go ( intention)to Mexico next week.
 The Future
The simple present and present continuous are
also used to express future time. These are
often used used in connection with schedules
or future plans for a specific time.

The train leaves at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow.

She is meeting a new client at eleven o’clock.

 The Future Continuous
This tense is used to describe an event or
action that will occur over a period of time at a
specific point in the future.

Formed by adding at 10 a.m. tomorrow

[will have]+ing by the time you arrive

I will be teaching ESL 40 at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

They will be moving their furniture out of the house by the time you
arrive tomorrow.
 The Future Perfect
This tense is used to describe an event or
action that will be completed before another
event or time in the future. Cause and effect.

will have finished the exam class ends

We will have finished the exam by the time class ends tomorrow.
In two years from now I will have finished my degree
Future Perfect Continuous
This tense describes an action that has been in
progress for a duration of time before another
event or time in the future.

finishes law school

will have been living in the

U.S. for eight years

By the time he finishes law school, we will have

been living in the U.S. for eight years.
 Practicing with sequence
xercise 1
1. The program will continue only after the
coughing and fidgeting have__________ . (stop)
stopped
2. Because he was poor and unappreciated by
the music world when he died in 1791,
Mozart did not realize the importance his
music __________ in the future. (have)
would have
3. Dad will tell us tonight if he ____________ a
new car next month. will buy
 Practicing with sequence
xercise 1
4. Albert Einstein failed the entrance exam at the
Swiss Federal institute of technology because he
had never beena very disciplined student.
__________________
(be + never)

5. Einstein studied only subjects that he __________ .

(like)
liked

6. Cancer researchers think it’s likely that a cure for

will soon be
most cancers ____________ found. (be + soon)
Unnecessary Shifts in Tense
Read this paragraph. Identify the verb tenses. Revise
the paragraph to be a consistent tense .
 The customer demanded to see the
manager. He was angry
angry because
because
every jacket he tries on has
something wrong with it. A button
was missing on the first, the lining
did not hang properly on the second,
and the collar had a stain on the
third.
Past tense Present tense
Correct unnecessary shift
 The customer demanded to see the
manager. He was angry because
every jacket he tried on had
something wrong with it. A button
was missing on the first, the lining
did not hang properly on the second,
and the collar had a stain on the
third.
 Correcting Shifts

Charles dickens was a nineteenth-century author

whose work is well known today. One of the
reasons Dickens remains
remained so popular is that so
many of his stories are available not only as
books but also as movies, plays, and television
productions.
We all know
knew from our childhood the famous story of
uncle Scrooge and Tiny Tim.

We often see
saw a television version of A Christmas
Carol at holiday time.
Voice: Passive v. Active (pg 225)

 In the active voice, the subject is

doing something.
Subject Verb
 The committee
_________ made
_____ the decision.

 In the passive voice, something is

being done to the subject.

Subject Verb
 The decision was made by the committee.
_______ _________
Why choose one over the
other?
 In general, choose the active voice
to achieve direct, economical, and
forceful writing. Most writing
should be in the active voice.

 Choose the passive voice to de-

emphasize the actor or to avoid
naming the actor altogether.
It all depends on your
emphasis.
Emphasizes 1. Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy in
the assassin 1963.

Emphasizes 2. President John F. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey

the Oswald in 1963.
president

Emphasizes 3. President John F. Kennedy was shot in 1963.

the act
 How do you form passive?
 Subject acted upon +  The

The books
meals
race
are
have
was been
Verb to be + cooked
illustrated
won
past participle + (by
(by the
the chef)
by phrase (optional) artists)
runner)
Exercise
1. The wrong number
child dialed thewas dialed
wrong (by
number.
the child).
2. Thegrandmother
My sweater was verycrocheted very
carefully
carefully (by
crocheted themy grandmother).
sweater.
3. The tornado
Cherry Creekstruck Cherry
was struck byCreek
a
last spring.
tornado last year.
4. The leaves
The wind blew
were the leaves
blown across
across the
the yard.
yard (by the wind).
5. In the
In the seventies,
seventies, many
platform shoes
fashionable
were worn
young men by many
and women fashionable
wore
young men
platform and women).
shoes.
Subjunctive mood
 Indicative expresses fact
 Imperative expresses command
 Subjunctive expresses conditions
contrary to fact or expresses
urgency/demand:
 If I were you, I would drive home on
Sunday.
 I insist that he drive home on Sunday.
Should/Would, Used
to/Supposed to, can/could,
and will/would.
 Do not use more than one – can,
may, might, should, ought

 Do not follow with ‘of’ (not should

of, but should have)
 Can/could; will/would
 Could as the past tense of can
 Would as the past tense of will.

Used to/ supposed to

 Do not omit the final –d in the phrases
 I am use
usedto
to walking.
 We are suppose to meet him for
supposed to
dinner.
More help w/ Verbs?

 The BE Verbs
 Helper (Auxiliary) Verbs
 Has/Have
 Help me with verb tenses??!?!