1)Present Continuous Tense:
Key Words for Present Continuous Tense:
Now
Right
now
in
the present tense you have to add the letter (s) at the end of the main verb with the third person He/She/ it)
Key Words for
Simple Present Tense:
Sometimes
Always
Usually
On Fridays/Sundays/ (any other day names)
All the time
Seldom
Example:
-
I
go to school everyday. On weekends,
my sister likes to practice
some sports.
-
she
usually swims on Fridays.
-
They
watch TV sometimes. My
brother enjoys playing video
games; he seldom watches TV.
- It
usually rains in winter.
Regular Verbs:
verbs that end with d
or
ed
in the past tense or past
participle forms) (Irregular Verbs: verbs that don’t end with
ed or d
Key words for
Simple Past Tense:
Yesterday
Last
week/ month/ year
In
1990/1982
This
Morning
Regular
verbs:
I
lived
in London
in 1974.(live+d)
The students worked hard last week. (work+ed)
Irregular
verbs:
I ate pizza last night. (eat-ate-eaten)
I had lunch with my father yesterday.
(have-had-had)
I was born in 1980. (am-was)
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4)Future Time:
(be+going to+infinitive)& (Will)
Key words for
Future Time:
Tomorrow
Next day/week/month/year
On Friday/ Saturday/Sunday/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday
Soon
In 10 minutes/ two hours
How
to talk about an action that
will happen in the future, or near future, in addition to
predictions, in an informal (casual) way?
Use
(be going to) to
talk about informal future actions.
Use
(will) to talk about formal future actions.
A) Informal
future action:
Example:
I am + going to + live
in New York next year.
We
are + going to + play soccer next month.
B)
Informal near future action:
Examples:
I
am + going to + boil the
vegetable soon.
You
are + going to + have a hair cut next week.
He/She
is + going to + get
up at 5.30 am tomorrow.
The plane is + going to + take off in five minutes.
C) Predictions:
when you expect
something is going to happen both in the future and in the
near future.
It is cloudy. It is + going to +
rain.
He is
+ going to + be tall like his father when he becomes a man.
The baby is crying. She is
+ going to +be
sick.
Important
Note:
Never
say or write (I am going to
go to home tomorrow).
Say
and write (I am going to
go home
tomorrow).
However,
you can say and write (I am going to go to the movies tomorrow.)
5) Have to: (have + to + infinitive)
In addition to the interesting Irregular
verbs like (be, do, and have), we also have the irregular verb (have to). When you use (have to) in affirmative
(positive) sentences, it gives the same meaning as (must).
Example:
You
have to study hard for your
finals.
He/she has to get a tourist visa.
However, when you use (have to) in negative sentences
it does not give the same meaning as (must not) or (cannot)
Example:
You
don't have to bring a camera, you can buy one.
Don't say
You don't have to bring guns.
You say
You must not / cannot bring guns, it is illegal.
6) Any/Some
Use
(Any) with negative and questions.
Examples:
I don't have any money. Do
you have any money?
I don't
have any food. Does
she/he have any bananas?
Use
(Some) with affirmative (positive) sentences.
Examples:
I have
some money.
He/she
has some food.
7) Many/Much
Many
Use
many with plural nouns (countable nouns)
Countable
nouns (books, photographers, friends, students, chairs, tables, bottles,
suitcase.)
Do
you have many friends?
How
many students are going to the sport
hall?
There
are many people waiting
for the next train.
She
/he is going to give you many flowers
and balloons on your birthday.
How
many suitcases do you have? I have two suitcases.
Much
Use
much with uncountable nouns.
Uncountable nouns (money, luggage, water, food, work, sugar, flour, rice.)
Do
you buy much food?
How much money do you have?
How
much does it cost? It costs
too much money.
It is very expensive.
She/he
has too much work to do.
How
much luggage do you have? I have two
pieces of luggage.
8) Either/
Too
Either
Use
either after a negative verb.
Huda
doesn’t like meat. Athari
doesn't like
meat either.
Saoud
can't cook. Faisal can't
cook either.
Khaled doesn't watch TV.
He doesn't read newspapers either.
Too
Use too after a positive verb.
Nasser
enjoyed the movie. Muhammad
enjoyed it too.
Fahad
is a smart student. Ahmed
is
a smart student too.
Sara
wants to be a journalist.
Her friend Nada wants to be a journalist too.
Use definitely when you are
100 percent sure (100%).
Example:
I am definitely going to have
dinner with my father tonight.
Use probably when you are not
sure.
Example:
I will probably play tennis next
week.
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This
page was designed and created for my English 099 classes,
I taught, in the English Language Unit at the Faculty
of Art, in Spring 2001 - Last
updated: Spring 2004
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