VERB TENSES DEVELOPED by SUE MCINTOSH 2015 Finite

VERB TENSES DEVELOPED by SUE MCINTOSH 2015

Finite Verbs A finite verb has: a Subject: someone who is doing the action I He Number: singular or plural jumps Tense: past, present or future

Action or state of being A finite verb can be a doing word/action I work A finite verb can be a state of being I am happy. A verb can often be two, three or four words: The child had been having a great day, when she arrived at my house.

Exercise 1 1. Say whether the following words are finite verbs or not. If the verb is not finite, change it to finite. 1. 1 Running down the street, collecting leaves. 1. 2 She is a very animated person. 1. 3 The rain trickles down the window pane. 1. 4 How am I involved in the experience? 1. 5 I staring open-mouthed; even today, I still don’t know exactly how to describe the feeling I had then.

Exercise 1: Points to note A participial phrase (e. g. “ running down the street”) needs an auxiliary verb and a subject to make it finite. Subject Auxiliary/helping verb Participle I am running The infinitive to describe : has no subject , number or tense. Therefore it is not a finite verb. To make it finite, you need to add a subject and other verbs (e. g. ‘I can try’).

TABLE OF THE 12 TENSES SIMPLE CONTINUOUS PERFECT PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS I work. I am working. I have worked. I have been working. PAST I worked. I was working. I had worked. I had been working. FUTURE I will work. I will be working. I will have worked. I will have been working.

Present simple I know First person You know Second person She, he it knows Third person 1. Habitual or routine actions. He plays rugby every week. 2. Permanent situations and facts. The earth is round. 3. Commentaries. Botha passes to Abdool, who scores a try. 4. Directions and instructions. First you turn to the right; then you go left. 5. Newspaper headlines. Bus plunges off road. 6. Present stories. I look into the window and see a person with a knife.

Activity 1: Twenty Questions Guess my profession. A philatelist.

Activity 2 Give directions from your school to your home using the present simple tense. Homework : Murphy Pg 2 -3 Unit 1 Present simple

Present continuous tense I am working. The verb to be+ present participle 1. To talk about an action that is in progress at the time of speaking. Please be quiet. I am talking on the phone. 2. To talk about a temporary action that is not necessarily in progress at the time of speaking. I am reading a good novel at the moment. 3. To emphasize very frequent actions. She is always cooking when I arrive.

Present continuous tense 4. Background events in a present tense story So I’m standing when a policeman there chatting comes in. 5. To describe developing situations. It’s getting late. 6. To refer to regular action around a point of time. He’s usually playing at this time.

Present continuous tense RED LETTER VERBS: These are never used in the continuous form like love want believe hate understand hear own owe seem appear wish mean remember

Activity 3 Mime an action. Class guesses the activity using present continuous tense. Are you building a square? Homework Murphy Pg 4 -9 Present continuous and present simple.

The present perfect Relates the past to the present. I /he have/has worked in Africa. 1. Finished actions that happened at an indefinite time. I have eaten snails. 2. Completed past actions that are unfinished. It has snowed a lot today. (The snow has stopped, but it is still today. ) 3. Something which began in the past , and is still true now. We have lived in Durban for 5 years. 4. Past action with present results. Oh no, I have cut my finger.

Activity 4 Change the furniture: Send one learner outside the classroom while you change the position of an item of furniture. On his/her return, the learner asks present perfect questions. (Have you moved the rubbish bin? ) U 2 Song: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. Homework: Murphy Pg 14 -17 Present Perfect 1

Present perfect continuous Past activities continuing into the present. I have been dancing. 1. For an action which began in the past and continues into the present, when we want to say how long it has continued. I haven’t been sleeping well for two weeks. 2. To describe a recently finished, uninterrupted activity which has a present result. I’m tired because I have been working hard all day.

Activity 5 People Bingo. Find a person who has been: a. On Facebook the longest_____ b. Reading a book for more than two weeks___ a. At your school for more than 5 years______ Homework : Murphy Pg 18 -21 Present Perfect Continuous

The Past Tenses 2. 1 The Past simple An action completed in the past or within a specific time. 1. For a past action when the time is given. I walked to town yesterday. 2. When time is asked about. When did you go to the movies? 3. When the action clearly took place at a definite time. We sold our house a long time ago.

Activity 6 Interview Role play One participant acts as interviewer asking present perfect and past simple questions. How long did you work for Spur? Have you ever written a newsletter? Another learner answers the questions. Homework : Murphy Pg 24 -29 Present perfect and past simple with “for” and “since”

2. 2 The past continuous Past tense of “be”+ present participle. I was working. 1. For interrupted past actions. While I was talking on the phone, the doorbell rang. 2. Gradual development that took place in the past. The tides were changing. 3. Descriptions. The sun was shining.

Activity 7 Telling stories using the past simple and past continuous. Tell the story of the boy and girl in the picture using the past simple or past continuous tenses. Homework: Murphy Pg 10 -13 Past Simple, Past Con

2. 3 The past perfect The past tense. I had worked. Completely finished actions. After we had cleaned the garage, he decided to rest. When and after are often used to show that a past action had completely finished before another action in the past started.

Activity 8 The final situation: Look at the picture. Guess how this situation happened using the past perfect tense. Homework: Murphy Pg 30 -31 Past perfect

2. 4 Past perfect continuous Subject had been verb+ing I had been running, so I was out of breath. To talk about longer actions in the past that had been going on continuously up to the past moment we were thinking about. Before coming to the meeting, he had been preparing his notes. Past perfect stresses completed actions. Past continuous stresses that action happened around a time. Homework : Murphy Pg 32 -33 Past perfect continuous

Modal verbs: will and can in the past Correct the errors in these sentences: 1. The young boy told Harold he will come back in a week. 2. The king announced that he can become king if he liked. can* could will* would

Revision exercise: Past tenses Correct the verb tense errors. Name the correct tense. Explain why you made the changes. 1. In class they were talking as if they knew each other for a lifetime. 2. He was sixteen but he never kissed a girl before. 3. They use to pick on Andrew who is the most popular guy in town. 4. She liked him because she’s been around and she knows that he is every girl’s dream guy. 5. That hitted her very hard.

The future tenses The present simple The bus leaves in twenty minutes. The present continuous I am meeting him for tennis tomorrow. Be going + the infinitive It’s going to be sunny tomorrow. are all forms used to express the future.

3. 1 Future simple I will/shall verb I will see you later. Shall is used for making suggestions More formal. Will shows stronger intention.

3. 1 Future simple 1. Future facts and certainties. She will be 60 in June. 2. Promises. I will see you at the movies. 3. Predictions. It’ll clear up before tomorrow. 4. Assumptions/speculations. They ’ll have to sell the car, I expect. 5. Spontaneous decisions. I’ll get my wallet. 6. Threats. You’d better leave or I’ll lose my temper.

Activity 9 If you were lost in the desert, what 5 items would you take with you? Use all 6 future tense verbs in a group discussion until you come to consensus. Song: That’ll be the day by Buddy Holly Homework: Murphy Pg 38 -43 Future

3. 2 Future continuous I will be waiting for you. 1. To say that something will be in progress at a particular moment in the future. This time tomorrow, I will be in Berlin. 2. To predict the present. Candy will probably be working now. 3. For polite enquiries concerning other people’s plans, but not to influence the listener’s intentions. Will you be coming to the baby shower? 4. To refer to future events that are fixed or decided. He will play the sonata next week.

Activity 10 Role Play: In pairs, try to get out of a date with someone you are really not interested in. A: Can I see you on Friday? B: No, I’ll be studying. A: . . .

3. 3 Future perfect I will have lived here for 3 years. To say that something will have been done, completed or achieved by a certain time in the future. The bricklayer says he will have plastered the wall by Friday.

Activity 11 A spy novelist writes 400 page books. She writes 10 pages a day and takes no holidays. Use the future perfect to answer the following questions: 1. How many pages will she have written after 10 days? 2. A month? 3. A year? 4. Ten years? 5. How many pages will she still have to write after 39 days? Sydney Sheldon, Frederick Forsyth Homework: Murphy Pg 48 -49 Will be doing/ Will have done

3. 4 Future perfect continuous I will have been living here for 3 years. To say how long something will have continued by a certain time. By next year, I will have been studying for 8 years.

Activity 12 Murphy Pg