Tenses- back to basics

[jenniferlewis]

Hi,

I am enrolling on a Celta course in the middle of November and have just completed the interview. I was under the impression that my knowledge of tenses was ok (12 tenses) but I do struggle to identify them and put them into action. Then the interviewer mentioned something about 4 levels ; i.e first, second, third, fourth and it completely threw me off guard. I am trying to do some research before I start and was wondering if you could recommend the best websites to use that outline things simply, I notice the web is full of such resources and I am getting very confused.

Many thanks in advance for your help

Jenny

[5jj]

I know something about tenses, but I do not know what the interviewer meant by 'levels'.

A book that will be invaluable for years in your TEFL career is Michael Swan's Practical English Usage, OUP. Swan's coverage of tenses (and many other things) is sound.

For a boring but thorough look at how the tenses are formed, try: http://www.gramorak.com/Articles/VerbForms.pdf

[Bennevis]

The Twelve Tenses of English

PRESENT (main verb)
I study English.
He studies English.

PAST (past tense of main verb)
I studied English.
He studied English.

FUTURE (will or shall + main verb)
I will study English.
He will study English.

PRESENT PERFECT (have or has + past participle of verb)
I have studied English.
He has studied English.

PAST PERFECT (had + past participle of verb)
I had studied English.
He had studied English.

FUTURE PERFECT (will or shall + have + past participle of verb)
I will have studied English.
He will have studied English.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE (form of "be" verb + "ing" form of main verb)
I am studying English.
He is studying English.

PAST PROGRESSIVE (past tense of form "be" verb + "ing" form of main verb)
I was studying English.
He was studying English.

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (will or shall +be + "ing" form of main verb)
I will be studying English.
He will be studying English.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (have or has + been + "ing" form of main verb)
I have been studying English.
He has been studying English.

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (had + been + "ing" form of main verb)
I had been studying English.
He had been studying English.

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (will or shall + have + been + "ing" form of main verb)
I will have been studying English.
He will have been studying English.

[5jj]

The Twelve Tenses of English

PRESENT (main verb)
PAST (past tense of main verb)
FUTURE (will or shall + main verb)

PRESENT PERFECT (have or has + past participle of verb)

PAST PERFECT (had + past participle of verb)

FUTURE PERFECT (will or shall + have + past participle of verb)

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE (form of "be" verb + "ing" form of main verb
PAST PROGRESSIVE (past tense of form "be" verb + "ing" form of main verb)

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (will or shall +be + "ing" form of main verb)PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (have or has + been + "ing" form of main verb)

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (had + been + "ing" form of main verb)

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (will or shall + have + been + "ing" form of main

That's the traditional picture. However, it should be noted that most grammarians today consider that English has only two tenses - the so-called present and past; the perfect and progressive (or continuous) forms are aspects.

Will (and shall) do not form the future tense of English. They are merely one way of expressing the future - there are several others.