The Present Simple (Indefinite) Tense, страница 4

3.  Present time actions in progress in reported speech after the reporting verbs like say, tell, ask, wonder, etc in the Past Simple (according to the rules of Sequence of Tenses).

Direct Speech	Indirect (Reported ) Speech
1. Jim asked: «Is it freezing hard?» 2. Mike asked: «What are you cooking for dinner, mum?»	1 . Jim wondered if it was freezing hard. 2.  Mike asked his mum what she was cooking for dinner.

Compare the use of the Past Simple (Indefinite) and the Past Continuous (Progressive) tense-forms.

1. It was a cold winter night. It was snowing hard and I wanted to get back home quickly.

2. Jack fell off the ladder when he was painting the ceiling.

3.  Yesterday evening we waited for him in the office for nearly an hour. We gave up in the end and went home.

4.  What were you doing on the corner last night around 9 o'clock? - I was waiting for a bus to go down town.

5.  When I opened the envelope I was delighted to see a pic­ture of my friend's family.

6. 1 dropped my bag when I was running for a bus.

7. Peter was wearing a white shirt and grey trousers when I saw him.

A. The Future Simple Tense

FORMATION

The Future Simple (Indefinite) tense is formed with the help of the auxiliary shall/will and the Infinitive of the main verb without to.

Affirmative			Negative			Interrogative
I	shall	work	I	shall not	work	shall	I	work?
you he she it	will		you he she it	will not		will	you he she it
we	shall		we	shall not		shall	we
you they	will		you they	will not		will	you they

Contractions

'll = will (shall) shan't = shall not won't = will not

USAGE

The Future Simple (Indefinite) denotes:

1. A predicted future action, a happening which is ine­vitable and out of anybody's control.

Next year I'll be 18.

Spring will come soon.

In 100 years' time there will be a lot more people than there are now.

Reference to the future is typically indicated by adverbials of time such as tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in a week (month, year), next year, in 2008, etc. Sometimes reference to the future is clear from the situation.

Spring has come, so the snow will start melting, the birds will come back home.

2. An action which the speaker regards as possible, pro­bable or likely to happen in future.

I'm sure he'll get better.

I don't think I'll go out tonight, I'm too tired.

No doubt you'll enjoy the performance.

I don't think Ann will pass her exams easily. She was idling away her time during the term.

Do you think they'll win the match?

I'll probably be a bit late this evening.

3. An action decided on spontaneously, out of circumstan­ces (i.e. an action which is not part of a plan).

Don't lift the suitcase. I'll help you.

It looks like rain. I'll take my umbrella then.

It's Kate's birthday tomorrow. - Is it? O.K. I'll send her a card this afternoon.

What would you like to drink? - I'll have a coke, please.

4. Conditional sentences. When you return home you'll notice a lot of changes.

It's pouring down. We'll get wet through if we go out.

When you see Jane again, you won't recognize her.

E. The Future Continuous (Progressive) Tense

FORMATION

The Future Continuous (Progressive) Tense is formed with shall/will be + the Present Participle.