GRAMMAR - CONTRAST OF VERB TENSES II

I. PRESENT PERFECT

AFFIRMATIVE:  S+ have/has + Past Participle	NEGATIVE:  S + haven't/hasn't + Past Participle
I have seen  / I’ve  seen	I have not seen / I haven’t seen
You have seen  / You‘ve seen	You have not seen / You haven’t seen
He /She /It has seen – He’s / She’s / It’s seen	He /She /It has not seen – He / She / it hasn’t seen
We have seen  / We‘ve seen	We have not seen / We haven’t seen
You have seen / You’ve seen	You have not seen / You haven’t seen
They have seen / They‘ve seen	They have not seen / They haven’t seen

INTERROGATIVE:  Have/Has + S + Past Participle?

Have I seen?

Have you seen?

Has he /she /it seen?

Have we seen?

Have you seen?

Have they seen?

SHORT ANSWERS

Yes, subject pronoun + have / has.

No, subject pronoun + haven’t / hasn’t.

1. THE PRESENT PERFECT DESCRIBES THE INDEFINITE PAST:

I’ve seen this film before. You have worked hard lately. They've met my parents recently.

The past is indefinite because the time it happened is not important or unknown.

PAST SIMPLE → DEFINITE TIME. TIME EXPRESSIONS: last ..., yesterday, ago, in + year/decade/century:

I saw Mike last month. You met Jennifer two weeks ago. He watched TV yesterday.

PRESENT PERFECT →  INDEFINITE TIME. TIME EXPRESSIONS: so far, over the years, lately, recently, in the last ...

I’ve seen Mike in the last months. You’ve met Jennifer recently. He’s watched TV lately.

2. THE PRESENT PERFECT DESCRIBES PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

I've been to Manchester. She's written three books so far. They have always travelled a lot over the years.

3. ACTIONS BEGINNING IN THE PAST AND CONTINUING UP TO NOW:

I've lived here for several years. He’s always played tennis. You’ve visited me since 1990.

4. ACTIONS IN THE PAST WHICH HAVE CONSEQUENCES IN THE PRESENT TIME:

I’ve lost my keys and I can’t open the door! She has had the flu and she feels weak now.

PRESENT PERFECT PARTICLES

- EVER (“ALGUNA VEZ”) - QUESTIONS. After the subject: Have you (ever) travelled by plane? 

It is also used in AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES for emphasis:

(I) Superlative adjective..... have/has + ever + Past Participle:

It is the best song he has ever composed. 

(II) "It's/This is the first time... have/has + ever + Past Participle:

This is the first time I have ever been to the United States.

(III) Nobody /Nothing has + ever + Past Participle:

Nobody has ever spoken to me so rudely. Nothing like that has ever happened in my city.

- NEVER ("NUNCA") - AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES (negative meaning). Between the auxiliary verb and the past participle

I have never eaten snails.

- JUST ("ACABAR DE") - AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES. Between the auxiliary verb and the past participle: She has just written the email.

- ALREADY (“YA”) - AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES. Between the auxiliary verb and the past participle: We have already read that novel.

- YET (“YA”, “TODAVÍA”): NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. At the end of the sentence: Have you bought the book yet? No, I haven’t bought it yet. NEGATIVES: YET = STILL (after the subject). I still haven’t bought it.

DURATION -  FOR (“DURANTE”), SINCE (“DESDE”): At the end of the sentence.

- FOR + period of time: I’ve worked here for two years / He’s lived in NY for a long time.

- SINCE + starting point: I’ve worked here since 2010 / He’s lived here since he left college.

II. PAST PERFECT

AFFIRMATIVE:  S + had+ Past Participle	NEGATIVE:  S + had not (hadn't) + Past Participle
I had seen  / I’d  seen	I had not seen / I hadn’t seen
You had seen  / You‘d seen	You had not seen / You hadn’t seen
He /She /It had seen – He’d / She’d / It’d seen	He /She /It had not seen – He / She / it hadn’t seen
We had seen  / We‘d seen	We had not seen / We hadn’t seen
You had seen / You’d seen	You had not seen / You hadn’t seen
They had seen / They‘d seen	They had not seen / They hadn’t seen

INTERROGATIVE:  Had + S + Past Participle?

Had I seen?

Had you seen?

Had he /she /it seen?

Had we seen?

Had you seen?

Had they seen?

SHORT ANSWERS

Yes, subject pronoun + had.

No, subject pronoun + hadn't.

1.  IT DESCRIBES AN ACTION THAT HAPPENED BEFORE ANOTHER ACTION IN THE PAST.

Before the police arrived, the robber had left the bank.// After I had turned off the computer, I went to bed.

EARLIER ACTION (PAST PERFECT) + LATER ACTION (PAST SIMPLE)

2. TIME EXPRESSIONS:  

BEFORE / BY (THE TIME) / WHEN / UNTIL + Past Simple
AFTER / AS SOON AS + Past perfect
ATTENTION: BECAUSE + Past Perfect - I apologized to Jane on Tuesday because I had been rude to her on Monday.

GRAMMAR - CONTRAST OF VERB TENSES I

PRESENT SIMPLE: FORM	PRESENT CONTINUOUS: FORM
I / we / you / they speak he / she / it speaks I / we / you / they do not ( don’t) speak he / she / it does not (doesn’t) speak Do I / we / you / they speak? Does he / she / it speak?	I am speaking he / she / it is speaking We / you / they are speaking I am not (‘m not) speaking he / she / it is not (isn’t) speaking We / you / they are not (aren’t) speaking Am I speaking? Is he / she / it speaking? Are we / you / they are speaking?
EXCEPTIONS WHEN ADDING ‘S’                                    EXCEPTIONS WHEN ADDING ‘ING’
After o, ch, sh or s, add es. Example: do - he does, wash - she washes After a consonant, the final consonant y becomes ie. (but: not after a vowel) Example: worry - he worries but: play - he plays	Silent e is dropped. (but: does not apply for -ee) Example: come - coming but: agree - agreeing After a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled.  Example: sit - sitting After a vowel, the final consonant l is doubled in British English (but not in American English). Example: travel - travelling (British English) but: traveling (American English) Final ie becomes y. Example: lie - lying

USE	USE
- Habits and permanent situations - General or scientific facts - Timetables and programmes. - Stative verbs: Emotions and feelings: LOVE, LIKE, DISLIKE, HATE, HOPE, PREFER, WANT Thought and opinion: THINK, BELIEVE, FORGET, KNOW, REMEMBER, UNDERSTAND, (DIS)AGREE, MEAN, RECOGNISE, REALISE, SEEM, SUPPOSE Perception and senses: SEE, HEAR, FEEL, SMELL, TASTE, SOUND, TOUCH Possession: HAVE, OWN, BELONG Prices and measures: COST, MEASURE, WEIGH	- Actions at the moment of speaking - Progressive actions in an extended present - Temporary actions - A definite plan for a near future - Special cases: A stative verb which indicates action: “What are you thinking?” (It indicates activity, not state) With “ALWAYS” to complain about something: “You’re always leaving the door open!”
TIME EXPRESSIONS	TIME EXPRESSIONS
- Adverbs of frequency (after the main verb but before “to be”): Always/usually/often/sometimes/ occasionally/ seldom/rarely/ never - Time expressions (at the beginning or end of the sentence): every day / week / month / year once a day / week / month / year twice a day / week / month / year 3 times a day / week / month / year on + days of the week in the plural in the morning/afternoon/evening at night, at two o’clock How often …?	-now / right now / at the moment - today / tonight / tomorrow - this morning / week / month / year - these weeks /months / days -next day / week / year / Saturday - at present, nowadays, currently

PAST SIMPLE: FORM	PAST CONTINUOUS: FORM
Affirmative: Irregular verbs: 2nd column of irregular verbs (I spoke) Regular verbs: verb + ed (I talked) Negative: didn’t + infinitive Interrogative: Did + subject + infinitive?	I / he / she / it was + V-ing We / you / they were + V-ing  I / he / she / it was not (wasn’t) + V-ing We / you / they were not (weren’t) + V-ing Was I / he / she / it + V-ing? Were we / you / they + V-ing?
EXCEPTIONS WHEN ADDING 'ED' : when the final letter is e, only add d. Example: love - loved after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled. Example: admit - admitted final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelled after a consonant, final y becomes i. (but: not after a vowel). Example: worry - he worried but: play - he played	EXCEPTIONS WHEN ADDING 'ING' : silent e is dropped (but: does not apply for -ee) Example: come - coming but: agree - agreeing after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled. Example: sit - sitting final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelling final ie becomes y. Example: lie - lying

USE	USE
- Completed actions in the past. - Actions that took place at a specific time in the past (i.e. description of a past event). - Consecutive actions in the past (i.e. the main events in a story).	- Long actions which were in progress when a short action happened. -  Actions which were in progress at a concrete moment in the past. - Various actions which happened simultaneously in the past
TIME EXPRESSIONS	TIME EXPRESSIONS
- ago - yesterday, the day before yesterday - last day / week / month / year -in + year (in the past) - then - when + time clause (in the past)	- while + time clause (in the past) - as + time clause (in the past) - yesterday morning / afternoon / evening - at + hour (past time) - all day (yesterday)