Simple Past tense

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Present Perfect

• We use the Present Perfect to talk about an action that happened in the past and has a result in the present: I´ve forgotten his name. (I can´t remember it now.) She hasn´t washed the car. (It isn´t clean now.)
• We often use already, yet and just.
• Already means "before now": I´ve already told her.
• Yet means "up to now". We use it in negative sentences and questions: I haven´t asked Sam yet. Have you asked Sam yet?
• Just means "a very short time ago": I´ve just spoken to her.
• Already and just come after have/has. Yet comes at the end of the sentence or question.
• We can use the present perfect to talk about experiences in our lives up to now: I´ve never been to India. I´ve worked in a hotel.
• We often use never and ever when we talk about experiences in our lives. We use never in statements and ever in questions: I´ve never been to India. Have you ever been to India?
• We can use the present perfect to talk about something that started in the past and continuous in the present: I´ve known Jack for six months. (I met him six months ago and I know him now.)
• We often use for and since: we use for to say how long something has continued: I´ve been here for a week.; we use since to say when something began: He´s been a student here since September. (He became a student in September and he is a student now.)

FORM:  Have / Has + a verb in the Past Participle

Affirmative:

I/You/We/They have been to Europe.

She/He/It has been to Europe.

Negative:
I/You/We/They haven´t been to the USA.

She/He/It hasn´t been to the USA.

Question:

Have I/you/we/they been to the USA?

Has she/he/it been to the USA?

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

Present Continuous

We use the Present Continuous to talk about something that is happening now, at exactly this moment. We often use it with time words and phrases like now, right now, at present, at the moment, Listen!! or Look!!: She is working at the moment.

Affirmative:
I am working.
She/He/It is working.
You/We/They are working.

Negative:
I´m not working.
She/He/It isn´t working.
You/We/They aren´t working.

Question:
Am I working?
Is she/he/it working?
Are you/we/they working?

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3

Past Simple of "be".

• We use the past simple of be to talk about the past.
• We often use these time expressions with the past simple: yesterday, last night/week/month/year, two hours/days/weeks/months/years ago, in January, in 2007:

 "They weren´t at the café yesterday."   "He wasn´t at home last night."

Affirmative:

I / She / He / It was

You / We / They were

Negative:

I / She / He / It wasn´t (was not)

You / We / They weren´t (were not)

Questions:

Was I/she/he/it?

Were you/we/they?

Short answers:

Yes, I/she/he/it was.                                            Yes, you/we/they were.

No, I/she/he/it wasn´t.                                         No, you/we/they weren´t.

You will be able to practise this tense later in another entry.

Present Simple (DO / DOES)

We use the present simple:

• to talk about something that is always or usually true: I live here.  Children ask a lot of questions.
• to talk about habitual actions: She often phones me.  They play football every day.
• in affirmative sentences, we add -s or -es in the third person singular (he, she, it): I live / He lives / We watch / She watches / They fly / It flies
• in negative sentences we use: I / You / We / They don´t live in Mexico.  He / She / It doesn´t live in Uruguay.
• in questions we use: Do you / I / we / they live in Mexico?  Does he / she / it live in Uruguay?

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Definite and Indefinite articles.

We use a / an with a singular noun when we talk about something for the first time . We use the with a singular or plural noun when we talk about something for the second time:

• There´s a shirt here and a sweater. The sweater´s Rob´s and the shirt´s mine.
• Here are my shirts and sweaters. The shirts are clean but the sweaters are dirty.

We use a /an when we talk about a thing but we do not say which thing it is:

• She works in a shop in London.

We use the when it is clear which thing we mean because there is only one:

• I live near the post office.

We use a / an when we:

- talk about a person´s job: Jenny´s a teacher.

- describe something or someone with the verb be: That´s a good book.

We use the with:

- musical instrumets: Rob plays the piano.

- the names of cinemas, theatres, museums and hotels:

the Picturehouse, the Globe Theatre, the British Museum, the Hilton Hotel

We do not use a / an / the with:

- sports and games: We sometimes play football.

- school subjects: I like Biology.

- meals: When´s dinner?

- the names of streets: Baker Street

- the names of countries, cities and towns: Japan, Rome, Cambridge 

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

For more information about "Indefinite articles" watch the video below.