Занятие №1

Учитель Корякина Р.В.

Dear friend,

I am glad you have joined our Course of English. I am hopeful it will enable you to make good progress. Goodluck!

Lesson 1

Using the tenses in English correctly

Present Simple, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple

Tip: we use the Present Simple

  • for permanent situations (He lives in town. I work for an insurance company.);
  • for repeated actions or habits (I use my mobile every day);
  • for general truths (The Earth goes round the Sun. Matter consists of small particles. Summer follows spring.)
  • to tell stories, or summarize the plot of a film/a book (Our hero goes off to search for a treasure, which he eventually finds after dangerous adventures.)

Tip: we use the Present Continuous

  • for temporary situationsexisting for a period at the present time (He’s working very hard nowdays. They are staying with a friend at the moment.)
  • For situations which are changing during the present time (The weather’s getting hotter and hotter.)
  • For actions, or repeated actions or habits, occurring at the moment of speaking (I’m using John’s mobile phone because I left mine at home. You are eating too fast.)
  • To express annoying habits with words like always(You are always borrowing money!)

Mind you!With Pr. Simple always means “every time” (всегда):

I always complain if the service is bad in restaurants.(Явсегдажалуюсь ...= I consider it normal.)

With Pr. Continuous always means “too often” (вечно)

You’re always complaining that the waiters are rude. (Вечнотыноешь…= it is annoying)

Never … again is used only with Pr. Continuous:

I’m never speaking to you again! (Врусскомпроситсябуд. время, правда?)

Verbs generally not used in Present Continuous:

appearance:appear, resemble, seem; composition:consist of, contain, have;

connection: come from, concern, cost; existence: be, exist’

knowledge: forget, know, realize, understand; likes and dislikes: like, dislike, love, hate, prefer

needs and wants:need, want, wish; opinion: believe, doubt, imagine, suppose, think;

possession:belong to, have, own, owe, possess; senses: feel, hear, notice, smell, see, sound, taste.

Some of the verbs have different meaning when they are used in Present Continuous:

She is having an operation/ a good time/ a meal/ a bath. (= actively involved in)

They are thinkingof buying a cheaper car. (= considering)

I’m just thinking. (= at this moment); I’ m feeling exhausted/sick. (= physical reaction)

Are you seeing a lot of Mary these days? (= spending time with)

You are seeing/ are hearing things – there’s nobody at the window. (= imagining – то, чего нет)

I am seeing the manager tomorrow. (=meeting)

He is tasting the milk to see if it’s OK. (= checking the quality - пробует)

She is smelling the roses. (= is trying the smell of - нюхает)

The Blues Band is appearing at the Odeon on Saturday.(= performing)

Suzy is being very naughty. (= misbehaving, unusually)

He is weighing the potatoes on the scales.(= finding out the weight of, - взвешивает)

Present Perfect with always:

I have always dreamed of becoming a doctor. – Я всегда мечтал стать врачом. (Врусском – глаголвпр. времени). Compare: Ialwayswalktowork. – Явсегда хожу на работу пешком. (Врусском – наст. время)

Present Perfectdurative (with for, since, how long)

with the verbs be, have, know, seewhich can’tbe used in Continuous in their primary meaning:

How long have you known Tom? I haven’t seen Jane since morning. Have you seen The Twilight yet? Hello! I’ve been here for 20 minutes waiting for you. They‘ve had that house for fifty years.

! I have always lived here. (Гл. врус. – жил -пр. время). Also: I have lived here all my life.

Present Perfect resultative

When you have to choose between Pr. Perfect and Past Simple, just ask yourself a question: When?

If the moment in the past is not mentioned (and you say “I don’t know” to yourself), but the result is in present – use Pr. Perfect.

Compare: John has recently bought a car./John hasbought a car. – (When? - I don’t know, there is no information – then Pr. Perfect).

- John hasbought a car.

–Oh, really? Whendid he buy it? – Last week, I suppose. ( When? –Last week. – Past Simple)

Don’t forget about yesterday, last…, …ago, in …, When…? Where…?with Past simple. We can use It’s along time, two weeks, etc. + since + Past simpleto focus on the period: It’s ages sinceI saw Eva.

But! I haven’t seen Eva for ages.

When we speak about a period of time in the past: He was with the company for forty years. (from 1952 till 1992) - Past simple

Present Perfect is also used

  • for repeated actions in the past with words likeoften, rarely, seldom: Hehas often been to France.
  • with periods of time that have not finished yet: We’ve built twenty new schools this year. (= it is still this year.) He’s done a lot in his short life. ( = he is alive and young)
  • with expressions likejust, already, yet, ever, never, so far, often, before, still, recently, etc.

Remember about the sequence of tenses in indirect speech:

Mary told me that John had bought a car. Mary told me that John had bought a car a week ago.

Notice the difference between:

I’ve done my homework. (= result - сделал) – Pr. Perfect

I’ve been doing my homework since morning. (activity, duration - делаю) – Pr. Perfect Continuous

We often use Present Perfect Continuous with for, since, How long…?

These potatoes have been boiling for two hours. And the carrots have been boiling since three o’clock.

Task 1

IComplete the sentences using the proper tense of the verb given in brackets:

1. You (make) goulash using meat, vegetables and paprika. 2. I (sleep) on Niko’s sofa until I find a place of my own. 3. He (appear) to be friendly but I don’t know him very well. 4. Where he (come) from? 5. Do you know when the Browns (come) back from holidays?- Next Sunday. 6. The soup (taste) delicious. 7. I (consider) accepting that job in Crete. 8. I (shop, never)here again – they are so rude. 9. Hi, Nick! We (have) a great time here in London. 10. William (be) unusually nice to me. I wonder why? 11. When you (move) to Leeds? – I (live) here all my life. But my parents (live) in York for twenty years or so. They (come) to Leeds in 1995. 12. You (do) your homework yet? – Just a moment. I (finish).

IIChoose and underline the correct tense in the following sentences:

1. I am writing in connection with the advertisement which appeared/has appeared on 3 December. 2. I originally studied/have studied mechanical engineering at university and I graduated/have been graduating with a first class degree. 3. I now completed/have now completed a postgraduate degree in business and administration. 4. I’ve been trying/I’ve tried to find a permanent job for a considerable time. 5. Indeed, I have alreadyworked/I have already beenworking for several companies on a temporary basis. 6. In my first job, I was/have been responsible for marketing. 7. I’ve been applying/have applied for several posts this year but I still didn’t manage/have not managed to find what I am looking for. 8. The last job I applied/have applied for required applicants to speak some Japanese. 9. I started learning/have been learning Spanish a few months ago but I didn’t obtain/haven’t obtained a qualification in it yet. 10. I didn’t apply/have notapplied for a job with your company before. 11. I hopeв/have hoped that you would consider my application favourably. 12. However, I have been waiting/have waited for a reply for several weeks and I still have not received/did not receive any answer.

For doing this task you don’t need any explanations – let’s check your knowledge of vocabulary!

III. Fill in the gaps in the text with the correct form of the words in capitals:

I always wanted to be a great (1)………………………… .
I had these dreams of discovering a (2)……... new drug that would save the lives of hundreds of people.
Unfortunately, I was never very good at (3)…… at school and I kept producing these horrible smells and the teacher used to get very cross with me.
After a while,I decided I would become an (4)…… and design an amazing new (5)………. which would become a household name. My parents were quite encouraging, but told me to be a little more (6)………… and not quite so (7)………. .
A few weeks later I had a brilliant idea for a pen that, at least (8)………… , would write upside down. To my (9)…….., a friend of mine pointed out that it was not a new (10)…….. . / SCIENCE
REVOLUTION
CHEMIST
INVENT
PRODUCE
REAL
AMBITION
THEORY
DISAPPOINT
DISCOVER

P.S. Please make all the changes in this electronic variant of Task 1 and send it back to me. Type in the correct form in bold. Save Lesson 1 in a file and keep it.

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