Иностранные языки \ Практическая грамматика английского языка

Практична граматика англійської мови для першокурсників. Частина II: Навчально-методичний посібник з граматики, страница 25

e.g. Mary was not exactly listening but she heard every word her parents were saying.

  1. To make sentences sound more emphatic the auxiliary verb ‘did’ is used in affirmative sentences,

e.g.  Boris did come to see us off yesterday though he had thought he wouldn’t be able to. = Борис все же пришел проводить нас вчера, хотя думал, что не сможет этого сделать.

  1. For future actions in adverbial clauses of time and condition according to the sequence of tenses.

                  e.g. Trisha promised to come the next day if nothing unexpected happened.

                         I asked my sister to call me as soon as she came home.

  1. Questions to the subject are asked without the auxiliary verb ‘did’ and with the direct order of words,

e.g.  Who came to your birthday party on Saturday? – Derek and Simon did.

  1. The past simple is used with the following time expressions (adverbial modifiers of time):

·  last  + night/ week/ month/year/ century/ Tuesday

·  in 1997/in spring/ winter/ summer/ autumn                         

·  three days/ weeks/ years + ago

·  yesterday/ the day before yesterday          

·  then    

·  the other day

·  When …?       Where …?     How long ago ... ?

·  when/ after/ before + subordinate clause of time

·  for a time;

·  once upon a time

PAST INDEFINITE AND PRESENT PERFECT COMPARED

Russian/Ukrainian students tend to confuse Past Indefinite and Present Perfect.

  • Remember that the use of tense forms in English always depends upon the situation.

·  What cannot help?  -  Translation into your native language can either help you choose the right tense or let you down as there are fewer tense forms in Russian or Ukrainian than in English.

·  What can help? – adverbial modifiers of time and context.

·  How? - adverbial modifiers of time can be either reliable markers or unreliable.

·  The table given below may help you to avoid making mistakes in the use of these two tenses. In the table reliable markers are in bold.

Past Indefinite

(fact in the past)

Present Perfect

(result for the present moment)
  1. I saw Peter yesterday.
  2. I saw Peter at 5 o’clock today. (exact time)
  3. I saw Peter this morning. (It is evening now.)
  4. I saw Peter last month.
  5. I saw Peter a month ago.
  6. I saw Peter for 5 minutes only.
  7. I saw Peter just now.
  8. I last saw Peter in 2001. (exact time)
  9. When did you see Peter last?
  10.  Where did you see Peter last?
  11.  I saw Peter recently.
  12.  I once saw Peter in our street.
  13.  I saw Peter when he was coming out of the theatre. (exact time)
  14.  I haven’t seen Peter since he changed his job. (conjunction ‘since’ + time clause)
  15.  I didn’t see Peter for a time but then met him again.
  16.  Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman…
  1. I have seen Peter today.
  2. I have seen much of Peter lately.
  3. I have seen Peter this morning. (The morning is not over yet.)
  4. I have seen much of Peter in the past 2 months.
  5. I haven’t seen Peter so far.
  6. I haven’t seen Peter for the last three years.
  7. I have justseen Peter.
  8. I have seen Peter 3 times today. (repeated action)
  9. Have you ever seen Peter Brown?
  10.  Have you seen Peter recently?
  11.  I have seen Peter Brown before.
  12.  I haven’t seen Peter since winter. (preposition ‘since’ + …)
  13.  Peter changed his job and I haven’t seen him since then. (preposition ‘since’ + …)
  14.  Peter moved house and I haven’t seen him since (ever since). (adverb ‘since’)

**TASK 34.  Below there are video shop descriptions of 4 films.

Step 1. Imagine that you have already seen these films and are telling your friend about them. Use the past tense.

Film 1.

Скачать файл