Grammatica inglese

Present Simple

- Is formed with the infinitive of the verb

- Negative: don’t / doesn’t + verb

- Interrogative: do + sogg + infinitive

Uses

• Permanent facts
• Actions and situations that are generally true
• Routines, habits, timetables, schedules

- Time expressions: always, often, usually, normally, sometimes, occasionally, rarely, hardly ever

*** We use present simple not a future form with when, after, before, unless, in case, as soon as, until.

Present Continuous

- Affirmative: sogg + verb to be + verb-ing form

- Negative: sogg + verb to be not + verb-ing form

- Interrogative: verb to be + sogg + verb-ing form

Uses

• To talk about temporary actions that are happening now
• The situations may be in progress now
• The action may be a current trend
• To describe a fixed future arrangement
• To complain with always

- Time expressions: now, at the moment, nowadays, currently, these days, right now

*** I don’t use the present continuous with state verbs: appear, hear, look like, notice, see, seem, smell, sound, taste, dislike, fear, hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish, agree, believe, doubt, expect, feel, forget, imagine, know, realize, recognize, suppose, suspect, consist of, exist, cost, depend on, fit, measure, mean, need, satisfy, surprise, weigh.

Past Simple

- Affirmative: regular verbs + ed

- Negative: didn’t + infinitive

- Interrogative: did + sogg + infinitive

Uses

• Describe actions and states in a completed period of time
• Describe habitual actions in the past

- Time expressions: yesterday, the end of the year, the morning, last week

Past Continuous

- Affirmative: was/were + verb-ing form

- Negative: wasn’t/weren’t + verb-ing form

- Interrogative: was/were + sogg + verb-ing form

Uses

• Describe situations in progress in the past and emphasizes the duration of the action
• To give information about the background situation

- Time expressions: while, when, as

*** If we mean “at the time that,” we use when + past simple.

Present Perfect

- Affirmative: have + past participle

- Negative: hasn’t / haven’t + past participle

Uses

• To talk about a present situation which is connected to the past
• To actions performed in a time not yet completed (e.g., today I’ve bought a packet of cigarettes)
• Series of actions that happened in our life up to now (e.g., I’ve been to Singapore many times)
• To talk about a result in the present of a past event (e.g., I think I’ve set up the spreadsheet incorrectly)

- With ever and never + for (describe the length of the action) / since (describe the time since the action started)

- Time expressions: already, just (with something that happened a short time ago), yet, this morning, today, this month, so far, up to now, recently, lately, over the last few years

Present Perfect Continuous

- Affirmative: have/has + been + verb-ing form

- Negative: haven’t/hasn’t + been + verb-ing form

Uses

• Describe actions in progress from the past up to the present
• Emphasizes the length of time of the actions (e.g., I’ve been working on this report all the week)

- Time expressions: all day, for months, for ages, recently, over the last few years, since, for

*** If we give details of how many or how much, we don’t use the present continuous.

Past Perfect

- Affirmative: had + past participle

- Negative: hadn’t + past participle

Uses

• To show how clearly one past event happened before another past event (e.g., when we arrived at Sue’s office, she had left)
• With verbs of thinking: know, realize, remembered, be sure, think

- Time expressions: after, once, by, already, just, never, meanwhile

Past Perfect Continuous

- Affirmative: had + been + verb-ing form

- Negative: hadn’t + been + verb-ing form

Uses

• Describe an action that was in progress up to a certain point in the past (e.g., I’d been thinking of changing my job for a long time before I finally made the decision)
• Looks back at a past situation in progress

N.B. Use to describe a habit or repeated states action in the past. Normally, that situation is no longer true.

Would to it has the same rule of 'used to' but it doesn’t describe states.

Future

A) Will

• Used to make predictions (e.g., in June we will bring out two new models)
• To state facts about future events
• For instant decisions and thoughts that come into your head at the moment of speaking

B) Be Going To

• To make a connection between the present and the future
• To make predictions when there is evidence in the present situation (e.g., be careful! It’s going to fall)
• Can refer to near or distant time
• Use for decisions we have already made

C) Present Continuous

• To talk about things we have arranged to do

N.B. We use present continuous or present perfect (not will) for the future after these words: when, after, before, unless, in case, as soon as, until, by the time, the next time.

- We use the present simple when we talk about events in the future based on a fixed timetable, program, or calendar.

Future Continuous

- Affirmative: will + been + verb-ing form

- Negative: won’t + been + verb-ing form

Uses

• Describe an activity in progress in the future (e.g., where will you be working next month?)
• To compare activities now and in the future (e.g., next year we will be working in our Bassano office)
• To say something will definitely happen (e.g., we’ll be holding a meeting soon, so we can make a decision then)

Future Perfect

- Affirmative: will + have + past participle

Uses

• To look back from one point in the future to an earlier event or period of time (e.g., by the end of the year we’ll have sold around 200 units)

We use future with verbs like: expect, hope, intend, would like, plan, want.

Be due to for things that we expect to happen soon (e.g., he is due to be here).