Present and Past; Simple and Progressive

Simple Present and Present Progressive

Simple Present and Present Progressive: Affirmative, Negative, Question Forms

Verbs Not Usually Used in the Progressive (Stative Verbs)

Simple Past Tense

• At one particular time in the past.
• My grandfather had lived in a small village in Italy when he was a child.

Simple Past vs. Past Progressive

Unfulfilled Intentions: Was / Were Going To

Perfect and Perfect Progressive Tenses

Regular and Irregular Verbs (Four Principal Parts)

Irregular Verb List

Present Perfect: Since and For

Present Perfect: Unspecified Time and Repeated Events

Have and Has in Spoken English

Present Perfect vs. Simple Past

• Simple Past: if a specific time is mentioned, or the situation began and ended in the past
• Past Progressive: otherwise

Present Perfect Progressive

• Present Perfect focuses on the result or completion of an action
• Present Perfect Progressive focuses on the duration or proocess of an action

Past Perfect

• The Simple Past is for actions that began and ended in the past. We need the Past Perfect to clearly show which of two past actions happened first. It's the earlier past.
• Think of the past as a timeline. The Simple Past marks one point on that line. The Past Perfect marks a point before that point. It creates order and clarity.

Had in Spoken English

Past Perfect Progressive

Future Time

Simple Future: Forms of Will and Be Going To

Will vs. Be Going To

When be going to expresses a prior plan, it is often also possible to use the present progressive with no change in meaning. There is no difference in meaning between these sentences: I am going to meet Larry at Alice's Restaurant at six. I am meeting Larry at Alice's Restaurant at six.

• Prediction: A statement about what you believe will happen in the future, often based on your opinion or current trends. The outcome is outside of your control.

  • Example: "I think it is going to rain this afternoon." (You can't control the weather.)

• Prior Plan: A statement about a future action that you have already decided to do. The outcome is within your control.

  • Example: "I am going to buy an alarm for my rice cooker tomorrow." (This is your personal plan.)

• Willingness: A spontaneous decision or offer made at the moment of speaking, usually expressed with will.

  • Example: (Sees someone struggling with bags) "I 'll help you with that!" (A spontaneous offer of help.)

• use will not or won't with an inanimate object: In this case, won't isn't being used to talk about the future. It's used to express refusal or a strong negative result in the present moment.

Expressing the Future in Time Clauses

Using the Present Progressive and the Simple Present to Express Future Time

We use the Present Progressive and the Simple Present for the future to express a higher degree of certainty than other future forms. They show that a future event is not just a prediction or a casual intention, but a fixed arrangement or a scheduled fact.

The Present Progressive: For Definite, Personal Plans

We use the Present Progressive (I am doing) to talk about future events that are already arranged and confirmed. Think of these as appointments in your calendar. It's stronger and more definite than be going to.

• Nuance: it signals a fixed personal arrangement.

The Simple Present: For Official Timetables & Schedules

We use the Simple Present (it does) to talk about future events that are part of a fixed, public schedule or timetable. These are things we can't change personally.

• Nuance: It treats a future event as an unchangeable fact.

Future Progressive

the Future Progressive (will be + verb-ing) can be used to talk about a future action that is planned or expected to happen as part of a normal routine, even if you're not specifying an exact moment it will be in progress.

The Normal Course of Events

Instead of picturing an action happening at a specific future time (like "I will be sleeping at midnight"), this usage treats the future action as a more casual, expected event. It often implies, "This will happen anyway, without any special arrangement."

It's a subtle but common way to make inquiries or statements about the future sound more indirect and polite.

Example: Will you be going to the shops later?

• What it means: Are you planning to go to the shops as part of your normal routine later?
• What it doesn't mean: At a specific moment later, will I find you in the middle of the action of going to the shops?

Future Perfect and Future Perfect Progressive

Subject Verb Agreement

Final -s/-es: Use and Spelling

Basic Subject-Verb Agreement

Collective Nouns

Using Expressions of Quantity

"A Group of" vs. "A Number of"

• A group of students is...
  • Subject: The singular collective noun a group
  • Focus: The group as a single entity or unit. The verb agree with the singular group
• A number of students are...
  • Subject: The plural noun students
  • Focus: The individual student themseleves. The phrase a number of just tell you how many student (i.e. many). It acts like an adjective.

Using There + Be

• Sometimes the expression of place is omitted when the meaning is clear. For example, There are seven continents. The implied expression of place is clearly in the world.
• We need the there + be structure to introduce the existence or location of something for the first time in a conversation or text. Its main job is to say "Hey, I want you to know that something exists."

Some Irregularities

• The word people has a final -s (peoples) only when it is used to refer to ethnic or national groups: All the peoples of the world desire peace.

Nouns

Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns

Nouns as Adjectives

We use nouns as adjectives for two main reasons: efficiency and specificity.

Conciseness and Efficiency

Using a noun as an adjective is often much shorter and more direct than using a longer descriptive phrase. Language naturally seeks the most efficient way to express an idea.

• Instead of: "a park for cars"
• We say: "a car park"
• Instead of: "a soup made with vegetables"
• We say: "vegetable soup"
• Instead of: "the station for the bus"
• We say: "the bus station"

This structure packs more information into fewer words, making communication quicker and clearer.Learn more.

Specificity and Creating New Concepts

Sometimes, using a noun as an adjective creates a new, specific concept that is more than just the sum of its parts. It often refers to a well-established, recognized item.

• "A book store" isn't just any store that happens to have books; it's a specific type of retail business dedicated to selling books.
• "Chicken rice" isn't just any plate of rice that happens to have chicken with it; it's a specific, famous Singaporean dish with its own unique preparation method.
• A computer virus" is a very specific type of malicious software, not a biological virus that affects computers.

Possessive Nouns

Count and Noncount Nouns

Nouncount Nouns

• To express a particular quantity, some noncount nouns may be preceded by unit expressions: a spoonful of sugar, a glass of water, a cup of coffee, aq quart of milk.