Grammaire anglaise: les temps

GRAMMAR

THE PRESENT SIMPLE:is used for:

a/regular actions or events :

He plays tennis most weekends.

<b/facts: :

The sun rises in the east.

c/facts known about the future ::

We leave at 8.30 next Monday

d/thoughts and feelings about the time of speaking::

I don't feel very well.

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS::The Present Continuous is used for:

a/the time of speaking ('now'):

Sshh, I'm trying to hear what they are saying .

b/things which are true at the moment but not always:

We're looking for a new flat.

c/present plans for the future:

We're having dinner with them next week .

Look at these examples :

1.I don't usually have cereals for breakfast but I'm having some this morning because there is nothing else.

2.I often cycle to work but I'm taking the car this morning because it's raining very hard.

3.I'm thinking about having my hair cut short but I don't think my husband will be very happy about it.

4.My parents live in OURZAZAT but I'm just visiting it.

Note how, in all these examples, we use the present continuous to talk about events which are temporary/limited in time and the present simple to talk about events which are habits/permanent.

THE SIMPLE PAST: is used :

a/ to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the past.

b/We use it to talk about a specific point in time.

I saw her in the street yesterday.

He came back last Thursday.

We didn't agree to the deal.

c/We can also use it to talk about a period of time.

We lived in Japan for five years.

She was in London from Monday to Thursday last week.

When he was living in New York, he went to all the bars and clubs he could.

You will often find the past simple used with time expressions such as these:

Yesterday

three weeks ago

last year

in 2002

from March to June

for a long time

for 6 weeks

in the 1980s

in the last century

in the past

THE PAST CONTINUOUS:is used for:

a/to talk about past events which took place for a period of time.

b/It is used to emphasize the continuing process of an activity or the period of that activity. (If we want to talk about a past event as a simple fact, we use the past simple.)

1.While I was driving home, Richard was trying desperately to phone me.

2.Sorry, were you sleeping?

3.I was just making some tea. Would you like some?

4.I was thinking about her last night.

5.In the 1990s, very few people were using mobile phones.

c/We often use it to describe a "background action" when something else happened.

1.They were still waiting for the plane when I spoke to them.

2.He was talking to me on the phone and it suddenly went dead.

4.She was walking in the street when she suddenly fell over.

5.The company was growing rapidly before he became chairman.

6.We were just talking about it before you arrived.

7.I was having a cup of coffee when I remembered I was supposed to be in a meeting!

THE PRESENT PERFECT:is used :

a/when we want to look back from the present to the past.

We can use it to look back on the recent past.

1.I've broken my watch so I don't know what time it is.

2.They have cancelled the meeting.

3.She's taken my book. I don't have one.

b/When we look back on the recent past, we often use the words 'just' 'already' or the word 'yet' (in negatives and questions only).

1.We've already talked about that.

2.She hasn't arrived yet.

3.I've just done it.

4.have you spoken to him yet?

5.She's done this type of project many times before.

c/When we look back on the more distant past, we often use the words 'ever' (in questions) and 'never'.

1.Has he ever talked to you about the problem?

2.I've never met a famous singer.

THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS:is used to:

to talk about an action or actions that started in the past and continued until recently or that continue into the future:

a/We can use it to refer to an action that has finished

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