English Grammar and Composition chapter 4: Verbs and Tenses

04 Verbs and Tenses

4/1: Present Tense

You have already learned about verbs and tenses in your earlier classes. This unit focuses on some of the verb forms, especially tenses and modals that often cause confusion and difficulties for our students learning English.

The simple present

A . Read the following text and then underline all the verbs in the simple present tense.

Mr. Selim Ahmed and his wife Laila Banu live in a small independent house in the suburb of Khulna town. They are in their mid-forties. Mr. Ahmed is a writer. Unlike his neighbours and friends, Mr. Ahmed mostly stays and works at home. That is not to say that he works less and enjoys more free time than anybody else. He tries to follow a strict schedule and usually works for ten to twelve hours a day. Every day with the break of the dawn he sits down at his desk and starts writing on his computer. In the afternoons, he often helps his wife in her garden. Sometimes he goes for long walks in the countryside. But he always comes back before dusk.

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Grammar point

Form: The simple present is formed by a main verb without an auxiliary:

I teach English at a college. She works in a bank.

Making a question in the simple present:

When we make a question in the simple present with the verb be, we put the subject after the verb: He is a writer. Is he a writer?

With other verbs, we add the auxiliary do/does before the subject and the main verb (in the infinitive): He teaches English. Does he teach English? They live in Khulna. Do they live in Khulna?

If we are using an auxiliary or modal (is, will, have, can, etc.) in a question, we put the subject after the auxiliary or modal:

He is reading. Is he reading? He can swim well. Can he swim well?

Making a negative: To make the negative of be, we can add not or n’t to the main verb: I am a teacher. I am not a teacher.

He is an artist. He is not/isn’t an artist. They are friends. They are not/aren’t friends.

To make negatives of other verbs, we use do not/does not plus bare infinitive:

I play football. I do not play football. He works in a bank. He does not work in a bank.

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Use

We use simple present for:

-facts and descriptions:

Milk is white. I am a teacher. She likes romantic movies.

-situations we see as long- term or permanent:

Tanim lives in Dhaka. He works in a business firm.

-habits and repeated actions:

She takes the bus to work. She usually visits her parents on Fridays.

-schedules and time-tables:

The train leaves at 7 a.m. tomorrow. The exams start next week.

-statements about the future after ‘when’ and ‘if’:

When/If I see her tomorrow, I’ll tell her everything.

Note: When we use the simple present to talk about something which happens frequently or regularly, we often use a frequency adverb such as often, always, usually, once a week, etc. , e.g.

He always reads the newspaper in the morning.

She often cooks meals for her room-mate.

Activity 1 Read the text in Presentation (A) again and find sentences with verbs in simple present that talk about:

facts and description

situations not expected to change

repeated or frequent events

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Activity 2 Write questions for the following answers.

Mr. Ahmed is a writer.

He usually gets up early in the morning.

No, he mostly works at home.

Mrs. Ahmed grows vegetables in her garden.

They are in their mid-forties.

Activity 3 The words in the following sentences are jumbled up. Arrange the words in proper order to make meaningful sentences.

often to library the he goes

romantic she novels reads usually

football once a week play we

Activity 4 In the left- hand column below, there are eight sentences in the simple present. In the right-hand column, there are eight contexts. In the blanks, write the letter of the statement that goes with each sentence.

__ 1. He goes jogging in the morning every day. a. present situation

__ 2. Oil floats on water. b. habits

__ 3. The train to Sylhet leaves at 11 a.m. c. routine actions

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__ 4. She collects coins. d. general truths

__ 5. … and … yes Mushfequr makes a boundary! e. statements about the future after when/if

__ 6. They work in a garments factory. f. schedule/timetables

__ 7. I’ll explain it to her when she comes back. g. newspaper headlines on recent events

__ 8. The President meets the EU delegates. h. commentaries on sports or current events.

4/2: The Present Continuous

A . Read the text below and underline the verbs in present continuous.

Figure

Description: Mr. Ahmed and Mrs. Ahmed in a garden. Mrs. Ahmed sits on a tree stump; Mr. Ahmed stands beside a tomato bed holding a tool, with the plants in the foreground.

This afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Ahmed are working in the garden. The weather is lovely. Mrs. Ahmed is sitting on a tree stump while Mr. Ahmed is cleaning the weeds from the tomato beds nearby. Mrs. Ahmed looks happy. Mr. Ahmed is spending a lot of time with her helping in the garden these days. They are talking about their daughters Maya and Sneha who are coming home for a week’s vacation from Dhaka tomorrow. The train arrives at 8 in the morning. Mrs. Ahmed is telling her husband not to tell the girls anything about her garden. She wonders how surprised and happy they will be when they see her gorgeous tomatoes and the lettuce!

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Grammar Point

Form The present continuous is formed by the auxiliary verb be (am, is, or are) plus the -ing form of the main verb:

It is raining. Rina and Karim are listening to music.

Making questions and negatives in the present simple:

To make a question, we usually put the auxiliary verb be before the subject: He is studying. Is he studying?

The boys are swimming. Are the boys swimming?

Note: But if what, who, how many, etc. is the subject, then we put the subject before the auxiliary:

Who is coming for dinner tonight? What is bothering you?

To make a negative in the present continuous, we can add not or n’t to the be verb:

I am not/I’m not doing anything. We/you/they are not/aren’t working.

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Use

We use the present continuous to talk about

• things which are happening now:

I’m having lunch right now. Laila is talking on the phone.

• things which are happening during this period of time, but not necessarily at the moment:

She is working very hard these days. She is attending a training programme.

• repeated events:

My two sons are always fighting. She is always losing things.

• things that people plan to do in the future:

Rina is going to the museum tomorrow.

We are leaving for London next week.

Activity 1 Read the passage in Presentation-A again and discuss in pairs in what sense each of the verbs in the present continuous has been used.

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Activity 2 Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the appropriate form (simple present or the present continuous) of the verbs in the brackets:

a. I usually ______ (enjoy) Chinese food, but I ________ (not/enjoy) this meal.

b. Can you drive?

No, but I __________ (learn) now. A friend ________(teach) me.

c. On weekends Karim usually______ (take) his children to the amusement park, but today he _______ (take) them to the zoo.

d. Why that man ______ (stand) in the middle of the road?

He _______ (try) to get across. He _______ (wait) for a gap in the traffic.
Why  he _______ (not use) the subway?
Lots of people _______ (not bother) to use the subway. They prefer to risk their lives crossing here.

e. You _______ (go) out tonight?

No, I _______ (stay) home. A friend _______ (come) to watch TV.

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