Overview of tenses:
1. Simple present: use for habits, customs, general truths:
She wakes up at 7:00 every morning and goes for a run.
Americans have a feast on Thanksgiving every year.
Facebook is the most popular social networking site.
2. Present continuous: use for an activity that is happening at the moment or for a temporary activity going on during a certain time period. We can also use it to talk about current trends:
We are reviewing verb tenses now.
You are taking ESL 265 this quarter. Many of you are taking other classes too.
During Covid, we are studying online.
Many young people are spending a lot of time on Tiktok.
3. Simple past: use for actions which began and ended in the past:
Last year, Mark Zuckerberg spoke to congress about problems with Facebook.
She got a ticket last summer for parking in a red zone.
After Amy Chua’s daughter came in 2nd place, she had to do 2,000 problems for practice.
Write a sentence with “after” about what you did last weekend. Use an adverb clause.
After I finished taking my math exam last weekend, my family went out for dinner.
After our class finished, I biked around 10 miles.
After I finished my homework, I browsed Facebook for a while.
After I finished my job, I studied for my exam.
After the rain was over, I met my friend who is my classmate.
My English skills have improved a lot since I took ESL classes. (time relationship)
I figured out that after I ate my food, I realized that it was not enough.
Last weekend, after I took my mother to her work place, I also went to work.
After I walked around my house yesterday, I had lunch and started working.
4. Past continuous: use to show that an action was happening at a certain time in the past
Mr. Smith was driving too fast, so the police pulled him over and gave him a ticket.
While he was driving, he heard their sirens. He heard their sirens while he was driving fast.
My family was watching a movie when I got home last night. Did they wait for me? No.
Compare this to: My family watched a movie when I got home last night. Did they wait? Yes, they waited.
While I was driving to the airport last week, I saw a bad accident.
Write a sentence with “while” or “when” and the past continuous about your life.
While I was studying, it started to rain. While I was studying, it was raining.
My wife was doing Yoga when I came back home yesterday.
While I was sleeping last night, I received a call from my supervisor.
I preferred to eat meat more than vegetables when I was a teen .
While we were dancing, she filmed us.
5. Future: use to talk about future actions
We will have our final in December.
You are going to have several more writing assignments this quarter.
After he gets his second vaccine, he will feel much safer.
6. Present perfect/present perfect continuous: use to link a past action to the present time with for/since
I have worked at De Anza for 25 years.
I have been teaching at De Anza for 25 years.
She has been studying Spanish since middle school. Is she still studying Spanish? Yes.
You have written several paragraphs since the beginning of the quarter. Do you have to write more? Yes.
Many women have been hired as CEOs at companies in recent years.
Since he moved to the US, he has learned a lot of English.
Her daughter has made a lot of new friends since she joined Facebook.
7. Past perfect: use to show that an action happened before another action in the past
The class had finished the quiz by the time the late student arrived.
Was he able to take the quiz or was the quiz over? It was over.
When I got home, they had left. Did I see them? No, they were long gone.
How is this different than?
When I got home, they left. Did I see them? Yes, they said “hi” to me and then drove off.
When I got home, they had watched a movie. Could I watch the movie with them?
When I got home, my family watched a movie. Could I watch the movie with them?
Here is an example of mixing tenses:
Topic: What have you noticed about parenting styles in the US?
Since I moved to the US, I have noticed a difference in how parents and kids interact with each other. Parents in the US seemmore easy-going than in my native country. They don’t have as many rules, and the kids often get to decide what activities they want to take part in. For example, my neighbor wanted her daughter to play violin. However, her daughter wanted to learn guitar. When my neighbor found this out, she signed her up for guitar lessons. The daughter has been playing guitar for several months now. Everyone seems happy about this.
***What tenses are used in this paragraph? Why is each tense used?
Pre-reading questions for “Amy Chua Is a Wimp” by David Brooks
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