PRESENT PERFECT
Formula :
Formula :
[has/have + past participle]
[has/have + not +
past participle]
We use the present perfect to say that an action
happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important.
You CANNOT use the present perfect with specific time expressions such as:
yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan,
at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the present perfect with
unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times,
before, so far, already, yet, etc.
Examples:
- I have seen that movie twenty times.
- I think I have met him once before.
- There have been many earthquakes in California.
- People have traveled to the Moon.
- People have not traveled to Mars.
- Have you read the book yet?
- Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
- A:
Has there ever been a war in the United States?
B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.
Present
Perfect Continous
Formula :
[has/have + been + present
participle]
[has/have + Not been+
present participle]
|
Positive
|
Negative
|
Question
|
|
I have been sleeping.
|
I have not been sleeping.
|
Have I been sleeping?
|
|
You have been sleeping.
|
You have not been sleeping.
|
Have you been sleeping?
|
|
We have been sleeping.
|
We have not been sleeping.
|
Have we been sleeping?
|
|
They have been sleeping.
|
They have not been sleeping.
|
Have they been sleeping?
|
|
He has been sleeping.
|
He has not been sleeping.
|
Has he been sleeping?
|
|
She has been sleeping.
|
She has not been sleeping.
|
Has she been sleeping?
|
|
It has been sleeping.
|
It has not been sleeping.
|
Has it been sleeping?
|
We use the present perfect continuous to show that
something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five
minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all
durations which can be used with the present perfect continuous.
Examples:
- They have been talking for the last hour.
- She has been working at that company for three years.
- What have you been doing for the last 30 minutes?
- James has been teaching at the university since June.
- We have been waiting here for over two hours!
- Why has Nancy not been taking her medicine for the last three days?
You
can also use the present perfect continuous WITHOUT a duration such as
"for two weeks." Without the duration, the tense has a more general
meaning of "lately." We often use the words "lately" or
"recently" to emphasize this meaning.
Examples:
- Recently, I have been feeling really tired.
- She has been watching too much television lately.
- Have you been exercising lately?
- Mary has been feeling a little depressed.
- Lisa has not been practicing her English.
- What have you been doing?
Past Perfect
Formula
:
[had + past participle]
[had + not + past
participle]
|
Positive
|
Negative
|
Question
|
|
I had finished.
|
I had not
finished.
|
Had I finished?
|
|
You had
finished.
|
You had not
finished.
|
Had you finished?
|
|
We had
finished.
|
We had not
finished.
|
Had we finished?
|
|
They had
finished.
|
They had not
finished.
|
Had they finished?
|
|
He had
finished.
|
He had not
finished.
|
Had he finished?
|
|
She had
finished.
|
She had not
finished.
|
Had she finished?
|
|
It had finished.
|
It had not
finished.
|
Had it finished?
|
The past perfect expresses the idea that something
occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something
happened before a specific time in the past.
Examples:
- I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.
- I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.
- Tony knew Istanbul so well because he had visited the city several times.
- Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?
- She only understood the movie because she had read the book.
- Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.
- We were not able to get a hotel room because we had not booked in advance.
- A:
Had you ever visited the U.S. before your trip in 2006?
B: Yes, I had been to the U.S. once before.
With non-continuous verbs and some non-continuous
uses of mixed verbs, we use the past perfect to show that something started in
the past and continued up until another action in the past.
Examples:
·
We had had that car for ten years before
it broke down.
·
By the time Alex finished his studies,
he had been in London for over eight years.
·
They felt bad about selling the house
because they had owned it for more than forty years.
Although the above use of past perfect is normally
limited to non-continuous verbs and non-continuous uses of mixed verbs, the
words "live," "work," "teach," and
"study" are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT
non-continuous verbs.
Unlike with the present
perfect, it is possible to use specific time
words or phrases with the past perfect. Although this is possible, it is
usually not necessary.
Example:
- She had visited her Japanese relatives once in 1993 before she moved in with them in 1996.
Past
Perfect Continous
Formula :
[had been + present
participle]
[had + not been + present
participle]
|
Positive
|
Negative
|
Question
|
|
I had been
listening.
|
I had not been
listening.
|
Had I been listening?
|
|
You had been
listening.
|
You had not
been listening.
|
Had you been listening?
|
|
We had been
listening.
|
We had not
been listening.
|
Had we been listening?
|
|
They had been
listening.
|
They had not
been listening
|
Had they been listening?
|
|
He had been
listening.
|
He had not
been listening.
|
Had he been listening?
|
|
She had been
listening.
|
She had not
been listening.
|
Had she been listening?
|
|
It had been
listening.
|
It had not
been listening.
|
Had it been listening?
|
We use the past perfect
continuous to show that something started in the past and continued up until
another time in the past. "For five minutes" and "for two
weeks" are both durations which can be used with the past perfect
continuous. Notice that this is related to the present perfect continuous;
however, the duration does not continue until now, it stops before something
else in the past.
Examples:
- They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived.
- She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business.
- How long had you been waiting to get on the bus?
- Mike wanted to sit down because he had been standing all day at work.
- James had been teaching at the university for more than a year before he left for Asia.
- A: How long had you been
studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara?
B: I had not been studying Turkish very long.
Using the past perfect
continuous before another action in the past is a good way to show cause and
effect.
Examples:
·
Jason was tired
because he had been jogging.
·
Sam gained
weight because he had been overeating.
·
Betty failed the
final test because she had not been
attending class.
Subject
– verb agreement
FORMULA:
|
Singular
Subject + Singular Verb (s/es/ies)
|
|
Plural
Subject + Plural Verb
|
Just as pronouns must agree with their antecedents
in person, case, and number, verbs also must agree with their subjects in
person and in number.
The first person subject is the person or persons
speaking in a sentence (I, we). The second person subject is the person or
persons addressed (you, you). The third person subject refers to the person or
thing spoken about and may be any noun or third-person (he, she, it, they).
Verbs agree with their subjects in number.
Therefore, a singular subject takes a singular verb; a plural subject takes a
plural verb.
Example:
- The window is open.
- Many computers are innovated from day to day.
- Some companies need a manager who has multiple
skills.
- A child cries for ice-cream.
NOTE: Verbs have an
opposite rule if we compare to nouns. Nouns always change their form when they
are plural and keep the same form when they are singular. But for verbs, they
always change their form when they are singular and keep the same form when
they are plural.
Compare:
- A cat eats grilled fish. (cat is singular noun,
eats is singular verb)
- Too many people want to visit Angkor Wat. (people
is plural noun, want is plural verb)
WARNING: Mistakes in subject-verb agreement are
sometimes made in the following situations:
1) When words come between the subject and the verb
2) When a verb comes before the subject
3) With indefinite pronouns
4) With compound subjects
5) With who, which, and that
1) Words between the subject and the verb
Words that come between the subject and the verb do
not change subject-verb agreement.
Example:
One of the crooked politicians was jailed for a month.
2) Verb before the subject
A verb agrees with its subject even when the verb
comes before the subject.
Example:
Lumbering along the road were six heavy trucks.
3) Indefinite pronouns
The following words, know as indefinite pronouns, always
take singular verbs.
|
One Word
|
Body Word
|
Thing Word
|
|
one
anyone
everyone
someone
|
nobody
anybody
everybody
somebody
|
nothing
anything
everything
something
|
|
each
either
neither
|
Example:
Everyone keeps silent when the teacher arrives.
NOTE: Both always takes a plural verb.
Example:
- Neither of those last two books on the list is
required for the course.
- Both of these belts no longer fit.
- Each of these children needs to be inoculated
against polio.
4) Compound subjects
Subjects joined by and generally take a plural verb.
Example:
Ambition and good luck are the keys to his success.
NOTE: When subjects
are joined by either ..or/neither …or, not only …but also, the verb agrees with
the subject closer to the verb.
Example:
Neither the plumber not his helpers work on weekends.
5) Who, which, and that:
ç Who, which or that standing for a singular noun
takes a singular verb.
Example:
- A student who studies English at NIS is Mr.
Sokha’s son.
- A sharp pain that begins in the lower abdomen may
signal appendicitis.
ç Who, which or that standing for a plural noun
takes a plural verb.
Example:
- Animals which were arrested in the forest are in
the zoo now.
- The heavy trucks that thunder past my Honda make
me feel as though I’m being blown off the road.
Source : Marjorie Fuchs, Bonner Margaret, Grammar
Express for self study and classroom use , Addison Wesley Longman 2OO1
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