Tense and Time
Tense and Time
It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time.
For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
- I hope it rains tomorrow.
"rains" is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow)
Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:
- If I had some money now, I could buy it.
"had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)
The following examples show how different tenses can be used to talk about different times.
| TENSE | TIME | ||||||
| past | present | future | |||||
| Present Simple | I want a coffee. | I leave tomorrow. | |||||
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| Present Continuous | I am having dinner. | I am taking my exam next month. | |||||
| |||||||
| Present Perfect Simple | I have seen ET. | I have finished. | |||||
| Present Perfect Continuous | I have been playingtennis. | ||||||
| We have been working for four hours. | |||||||
| Past Simple | I finished one hour ago. | If she loved you now, she would marry you. | If you came tomorrow, you would see her. | ||||
| Past Continuous | I was working at 2am this morning. | ||||||
| Past Perfect Simple | I had not eaten for 24 hours. | ||||||
| Past Perfect Continuous | We had been workingfor 3 hours. | If I had been workingnow, I would have missed you. | If I had been workingtomorrow, I could not have agreed. | ||||
| Future Simple | Hold on. I'll do it now. | I'll see you tomorrow. | |||||
| Future Continuous | I will be working at 9pm tonight. | ||||||
| Future Perfect Simple | I will have finished by 9pm tonight. | ||||||
| We will have been married for ten years next month. | |||||||
| Future Perfect Continuous | They may be tired when you arrive because they will have been working. | ||||||
| In 30 minutes, we will have been working for four hours. | |||||||
+ نوشته شده در ساعت 19:14 توسط Haadi Saeedi
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