help with tenses

[cyrus]

Hi, I am self studying English Grammar and one activity in my workbook is the need to define these sentences into the following Categories:

Past/Present/Future Perfect Simple
Past/Present/Future Progressive
Past/Present Future Perfect Progressive

Sentences are:

We had finished fishing before they arrived.
I met Brian as I was walking to the restaurants.
I had been cycling all night and was exhausted.
She had had that cat since she was twelve.
He walked to work every day.
I have been waiting for Tim over an hour.
He became a success in later life.
They will have finished their work before breakfast time.
I'll be waiting by the City Hall.


**please help i have been studying for one week and cannot understand**

 

[Lib]

The past simple is formed by adding 'ed' to regular verbs. Verbs with irregular pasts have to be learned sepatately e.g. go - went, eat - ate etc.
The present simple is formed with the present form of the verb, which looks very like the infinitive but takes an 's' in the third person singular - I live, he lives.
The future simple is (I suppose) formed with 'will + infinitive' - I will go, he will eat.
The progressive tenses are formed with 'be' (in past, present or future) + the -ing form of the verb - He is playing, they were writing, I'll be working.
The perfect tenses are formed with 'have' + participle. Past - I had done. Present - I have done. Future - I will have done.
The perfect progressive tenses are formed with 'have / had / will have + been + ing form. Past - I had been doing. Present - I have been doing. Future - I will have been doing.

Why don't you look at your sentences again and try to work out what tense they are in? Then post it and someone here will look at it for you.

 

[RonBee]

We had finished fishing before they arrived.

That one is in the past perfect tense. Finishing fishing was completed before their arrival.

Try composing some more sentences in past perfect tense.

8)

 

[cyrus]

Thank you for your help! I will look t the sentences again and label them according to your tips.

 

[cyrus]

hello again. here i tried to answer questions. let me know if there are wrong answers. thanks!


We had finished eating before they arrived.
*past perfect

I met Brian as I was walking to the restaurants.
*past progressive

I had been cycling all night and was exhausted.
*past perfect progressive

She had had that cat since she was twelve.
*past perfect simple

He biked to work every day.
*past simple

I have been waiting for Tim over an hour.
*present perfect progressive

He became a success in later life.
*past progressive

They will have finished their work before breakfast time.
*future perfect

I'll be waiting by the City Hall.
*future progressive

 

[Lib]

Very good Cyrus!
The first sentence is past perfect SIMPLE (just to be more exact)
The second sentence has two verbs, the first is past simple, the second is past progressive.
He became a success later in life ..... Do you really think this is progressive? Remember - be + ing = progressive.
The rest are perfect, as far as I can see.
I have been waiting for Tom over an hour. I suppose this is correct, but I'd say: I've been waiting for Tom for over an hour. Too many for's? What does Ronbee think?

 

[Tdol]

I agree with Lib- 'he became' is the past simple. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

I have not been able to find a definition for past perfect simple. How does that differ from past perfect?

https://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/past-perfect.html

 

[Anatoly]

I have not been able to find a definition for past perfect simple. How does that differ from past perfect?

https://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/past-perfect.html

Excuse me, gentlemen, would you mind if I offer some additional links? They seem to be visual aids to your remarkable lesson.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/learnit/learnitv210.shtml
http://grammar.englishclub.com/verb-tenses_past-perfect_u.htm
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/pastperfect01.html
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

 

[Lib]

Ronbee, I said 'past perfect SIMPLE' so that there would be no confusion. The past perfect can be 'simple' (I had done), or 'continuous / progressive' (I had been doing.

 

[Tdol]

We generally use the term 'simple' for the present and past. For the present and past perfect we generally don't bother- simply because of the number of words IMO. I only use it, like Lib, to be sure which ne we mean when necessary. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

I have not been able to find a definition for past perfect simple. How does that differ from past perfect?

https://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/past-perfect.html

Excuse me, gentlemen, would you mind if I offer some additional links? They seem to be visual aids to your remarkable lesson.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/learnit/learnitv210.shtml
http://grammar.englishclub.com/verb-tenses_past-perfect_u.htm
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/pastperfect01.html
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

That first one is good, although it threw me when the name "Michael" came up in one of the sentences. It is good that he used so many examples. All of them appear to be quite useful. (Still no past perfect simple.)

8)

 

[cyrus]

How about in the case of this sentence:

"He's been teaching French since 1984."

The "He's" is He has, right?

Where do I classify this sentence?

 

[Lib]

Yes Cyrus, he's been = he has been.
Remember:
have / has + past participle = present perfect
Be + ing = continuous / progressive
Your sentence is a mixture of the two: has + been + ing, so it's present perfect continouous/progressive.

 

[Tdol]

The present perfect progressive here denotes that the overall thing (teaching) has not finished, but some part of it (since 1984) has been completed. ;-)

 

[jwschang]

Hi, I am self studying English Grammar and one activity in my workbook is the need to define these sentences into the following Categories:

Past/Present/Future Perfect Simple
Past/Present/Future Progressive
Past/Present Future Perfect Progressive

Sentences are:

We had finished fishing before they arrived.
I met Brian as I was walking to the restaurants.
I had been cycling all night and was exhausted.
She had had that cat since she was twelve.
He walked to work every day.
I have been waiting for Tim over an hour.
He became a success in later life.
They will have finished their work before breakfast time.
I'll be waiting by the City Hall.


**please help i have been studying for one week and cannot understand**

The following may help you to understand tenses better.
1. Tenses are of 2 basic types (a) Simple (b) Compound
2. Simple tenses do not have a supporting verb, therefore, the Simple Present tense and Simple Past tense.
3. The Future tense is not a Simple Tense. It uses the supporting verb Will or Shall.
4. A compound tense comprises the main verb and at least one supporting verb (called auxiliary verb). E.g. Will (auxiliary) go (main verb).
5. In a compound tense, the Auxiliary Verb indicates TIME (Present, Past, Future), using the auxiliary's Present Form, or Past Form, or Will/Shall.
(a) Auxiliary BE: Present forms are AM/IS/ARE, past forms WAS/WERE
(b) Auxiliary HAVE: Present form HAVE/HAS, past form HAD.
(c) Auxiliary WILL/SHALL: Since it expresses a future time, we do not use it like BE and HAVE. The past forms WOULD and SHOULD are used to indicate not (just) Time but additional meanings like Intention, Compulsion, etc.
6. In a compound tense, the Main Verb indicates ASPECT (Infinitive, Continuous or Perfect) using the main verb's Infinitive Form, Continuous Participle Form, or Perfect Participle Form. E.g., using the verb GO:
(a) Future Tense: Will (aux) + Go (main, Infinitive)
(b) Present Cont Tense: Am/Is/Are (aux, Present) + Going (main, Cont Participle)
(c) Past Cont Tense: Was/Were (aux, Past) + Going (main, Cont Participle)
(d) Future Cont Tense: Will/Shall (aux) + Be (aux, Infinitive) + Going (main, Cont Participle)
(e) Present Perf Tense: Have/Has (aux, Present) + Gone (main, Perf Participle)
(f) Past Perf Tense: Had (aux, Past) + Gone (main, Perf Participle)
(g) Future Perf Tense: Will/Shall (aux) + Have (aux, Infinitive) + Gone (main, Perf Participle)
(h) Present Perf Cont Tense: Have/Has (aux, Present) + Been (aux, Perf Participle) + Going (main, Cont Participle)
(i) Past Perf Cont Tense: Had (aux, Past) + Been (aux, Perf Participle) + Going (main, Cont Participle)
(j) Future Perf Cont Tense: Don't worry about this one because it is rarely used.

 

[jwschang]

Hi, I am self studying English Grammar and one activity in my workbook is the need to define these sentences into the following Categories:

Past/Present/Future Perfect Simple
Past/Present/Future Progressive
Past/Present Future Perfect Progressive

Sentences are:

We had finished fishing before they arrived. (Past Perf):"fishing" is not part of the verb but is used as a noun (called Gerund).
I met Brian as I was walking to the restaurants. (Past Cont = Past Progressive, same thing different terminology).
I had been cycling all night and was exhausted. (Past Perf Cont).
She had had that cat since she was twelve. (Past Perf): the 1st "had" is the auxiliary indicating the Past; the 2nd "had" is the main verb meaning possessing something.
He walked to work every day. (Simple Past):"work" here is a noun, e.g. walked to school. It can also be a verb in the verb phrase "walked to work" at the factory.
I have been waiting for Tim over an hour. (Present Perf Cont)
He became a success in later life. (Simple Past)
They will have finished their work before breakfast time. (Future Perf)
I'll be waiting by the City Hall. (Future Cont): "I'll" is "I shall".


**please help i have been studying for one week and cannot understand**

Please see answers given after each sentence.

 

[jwschang]

The present perfect progressive here denotes that the overall thing (teaching) has not finished, but some part of it (since 1984) has been completed. ;-)

TDOL, a suggestion:
The definition of the various tenses can help to make their meanings clearer. For example, I would define the Present Perfect Continuous as a tense to express an action that IS CONTINUING at the present time and HAS BEEN IN CONTINUANCE since an earlier time.
I would add that this is a frequently used tense to express actions that tend to happen OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AND STILL GOES ON, such as live, do, work, study, come, go, wait, eat, sleep, wear, rain, snow, shine, feel, think, wonder, etc. E.g.,
I have been eating spicy food since young.
He has been sleeping since this morning.
She has been living (or has lived) in Urumuqi for two years now.
It has been raining for the past week.

 

[makaveli]

The present perfect progressive here denotes that the overall thing (teaching) has not finished, but some part of it (since 1984) has been completed. ;-)

TDOL, a suggestion:
The definition of the various tenses can help to make their meanings clearer. For example, I would define the Present Perfect Continuous as a tense to express an action that IS CONTINUING at the present time and HAS BEEN IN CONTINUANCE since an earlier time.
I would add that this is a frequently used tense to express actions that tend to happen OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AND STILL GOES ON, such as live, do, work, study, come, go, wait, eat, sleep, wear, rain, snow, shine, feel, think, wonder, etc. E.g.,
I have been eating spicy food since young.

Hi,

I think these example sentence's:

"I have been eating spicy food since I was young"

or:

"I have been eating spicy food from a young age" are maybe better?


Regards


Mak

 

[jwschang]

The present perfect progressive here denotes that the overall thing (teaching) has not finished, but some part of it (since 1984) has been completed. ;-)

TDOL, a suggestion:
The definition of the various tenses can help to make their meanings clearer. For example, I would define the Present Perfect Continuous as a tense to express an action that IS CONTINUING at the present time and HAS BEEN IN CONTINUANCE since an earlier time.
I would add that this is a frequently used tense to express actions that tend to happen OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AND STILL GOES ON, such as live, do, work, study, come, go, wait, eat, sleep, wear, rain, snow, shine, feel, think, wonder, etc. E.g.,
I have been eating spicy food since young.

Hi,

I think these example sentence's:

"I have been eating spicy food since I was young"

or:

"I have been eating spicy food from a young age" are maybe better?


Regards


Mak

I would say all 3 are OK. :wink: