English times with examples in the tables. English Tenses

Is it easy to learn English in several lessons, as the numerous calls of the army of teachers who consider themselves to be experts in education promise? The experience of an even larger army of students, who are learning English for beginners, shows that not everything is as easy as promised. And the first stone in the study of English grammar, about which all beginners start to stumble, immediately throws down the aplomb and the ambitions of future linguists.

Such strange English times

With examples in the tables acquainted zealous Russian-speaking students of English courses, starting to learn the rules of English verb. What a strange phenomenon this part of speech in English grammar! What a system of incomprehensible word forms, which must express an action in this or that time interval! And why is it necessary, when everything is so clear in one's native language: one present, one past and one future.

How many times in English grammar?

However, in such simple English, through which half the world communicates, and another quarter wishes to learn this, there are as many as twelve temporary forms of the verb only in an active voice. So, present time in English differently expresses the moment of time in reality. Native speakers, without thinking about grammar, will use one form of the verb when they talk about what they do always, sometimes, often or usually, and the other, if it is important for them to emphasize that they are doing something at a given time. In the first case, they will use that cell of their innate grammatical memory, where verbs in the form of the present simple (Present Simple) are collected, and in the second - present Continuous.

For a Russian-speaking student, it is important to understand that the action in question can be one-time or stretched in time, it can just happen or happen normally, as always, rarely or often. Each such action in English requires the use of the verb in a strictly defined form. In the Russian language, the nuances of relative time are determined lexically, the participants of the dialogue specify in words how and when the action takes place: now, usually, often, from a certain moment or during a certain period.

Currently, "our" and "someone else's"

Those who explain English times to dummies know that the most obvious thing to understand is the rule, relying on their native language. For example, we say "I (now) watch TV" or "I (usually) watch TV after dinner." In both expressions, the verb "I look" is used in the form of the present tense. But it's quite another matter if the Englishman speaks the same phrases. He will say: I am watching television and I watch television after dinner. The very forms of the verb without additional lexical means show that in the first case the action takes place now, this minute, and in the second the action is repeated, ordinary, daily.

Grammatical time system

It is not easy to understand the meaning of the verbal variety in the expression of temporal strata of reality in the English language. Only a small example of the use of different forms of the present time is already puzzling the student. But there is a past and a future.

Such an abundance of times surprises Russian-speaking students who are just beginning to storm the whims of the English verb. But later they even have to taste to do numerous exercises for English times, honing the skills of proper usage in the flow of conversational speech. Practice shows that it is easiest to learn the temporary forms of the verb in the system. So, placing English times with examples in tables, it is easier to understand their grammatical layering.

Apartment house for English verb

There are four floors in this house. Each floor is a grammatical time: Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous. On each floor are three apartments, each of which was inhabited by tenants - the word forms of the present, past and future. An example for resettlement is the wrong verb "drink (drink)" and the correct "watch (watch)".

Presented English times with examples in the tables give a systematic idea of the variety of verbal word forms. Beginners to learn the topic should practice with different English verbs, substituting them in the table cells. But in order to correctly use temporary forms in speech, written and spoken, this is not enough. It is important to understand the situation in which the speaker is located. Each verb form accurately points to a point in time, and not absolute, but relative.

How to solve the problem of grammar

Effective exercises are translations of phrases from mother tongue to English. So you can easily learn the rules of English times with reliance on native grammar. It is important to understand why a particular wordform is required in this context, and also to see lexical and grammatical signals, which will prompt which window to look into.

"What are you doing in the evenings?"

- Usually I watch TV.

- What are you doing now?

"I drink tea and watch TV."

"What did you do yesterday when I called?"

- When you called, I was watching TV.

- I'll call you tomorrow at 5. What will you do?

- Tomorrow at 5 I will watch TV.

Here is an example of a dialogue that, when translated, requires the use of six forms of the verb time, two of which are the present, two past and two future. What are these forms? English times with examples in the tables will help those who want to learn difficult rules and apply them in practice.

In the Russian version there are words-hints: "usually", "in the evenings", "now", "tomorrow". And also an indication of one action in relation to another: "When you called, I watched TV," "Tomorrow (when you call) I will watch TV." Look at the table and solve this grammatical problem.

Learn the meaning of English times from the lower floor of the "Perfect Continuous" will also help phrases from the dialogues in Russian.

"Have you been watching television for a long time?"

- I watch TV from 5 o'clock (within two hours).

- When you called (yesterday), I watched TV for two hours (c 5 hours).

- Tomorrow, by the time you come, I'll be watching TV for two hours (from 5 hours).

How to say in English?

In English lessons for beginners, as more vocabulary is accumulated, more and more complex grammatical exercises are included. But already from the first lessons the concept of times is given. First about simple - from the groups Simple and Continuous, then the use of the times of groups Perfect and Perfect Continuous is worked out. Easier language is assimilated in speech situations. That's why no rule in the box will replace a practical training. Material for this is around: on the street, at home, at work. Everywhere you can train the skill "And how would I say it in English."