THE PRESENT AND PAST TENSES : SUMMARY[i]

1. PRESENT SIMPLE

General information - facts /  / The newspaper says…
Water freezes at 0˚c.
Habit /  / John smokes.
Routine - repeated events /  / She leaves for work at 7.
She lives in Turin.
He always plays tennis on Thursdays.
Future /  / The train leaves in 10 minutes.

Time markers: (may be implicit)

every day/week/month - usually - often - sometimes

2. PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Action in progress now /  / Look ! It is raining.
Mary is trying to finish her work.
Temporary actions /  / At the moment, he is working in London.
Irritation /  / He is always talking during the lesson.
Future /  / The train is leaving in 10 minutes.

Time markers :

now - at the moment - currently - at present - temporarily

3. PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

Unfinished event - still true now /  / He has worked in Madrid since 1999.
Unfinished time /  / I have seen him twice this week.
General information /  / Volvo has created a safer car.
The result is important now /  / He has broken a leg. (Result : he can’t walk)

Time markers

just - recently - already - not yet
ever - never - so far - up to now / since 1999 - for 3 years
this week - this month

4. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Unfinished event/time - still true
NOW /  / He has been working in Madrid since 1999.

Time markers

for 10 years - for a long time - since 1999

1. PAST SIMPLE

Specific time finished /  / He graduated last year.
I saw her a couple of hours ago.
In 1865 Pasteur discovered the theory of microbes.
Event finished /  / She lived in Edinburgh for 13 years. (She no longer lives there)

Time markers:

yesterday - two days ago - last week - in 1970 - in the 18th century - during the war

2. PAST CONTINUOUS (OR PROGRESSIVE)

Action in progress at a specific
time in the past /  / Many people were travelling by plane in the 1950s.
Simultaneous action in the past /  / While he was washing the dishes, she was watching TV.
Action in progress as another
event happened /  / We were watching TV when we heard about the earthquake.
Interrupted action /  / While he was eating, the TV imploded.

Time markers:

while – when

3. PAST PERFECT SIMPLE (Past of present perfect simple)

The first of 2 past events /  / We had lived there for years when we moved.
Volvo had created a safer car. Still they went bankrupt.

Time markers:

after - as soon as - when

4. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS (Past of present perfect continuous)

The first of 2 past actions –
past action with duration /  / They had been living in Cairo for about 10 years when the war broke out.
Past action with duration –
stress on the action /  / He had been working on the problem for years.

Time markers :

when - after - for a long time - during this period

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UMONS – CLV IVL IVL

Grammar The present and past tenses: summary

[i] Adapted from: Blattes, S. (et.al.). 2004. Minimum Competence for Scientific English. Grenoble: EDP Sciences, pp. 70-72.