PRESENT AND PAST TENSES (SIMPLE AND CONTINUOUS)

PRESENT SIMPLE	PRESENT CONTINUOUS	TENSES
-s / -es /-ies  3rd person singular don´t /doesn´t  / Do / Does ...?	be in present + -ing form -ing spelling rules:  having, running, beginning, travelling, dying…	FORM
· routines, habits: We rarely do homework at school ·general truths: Water boils at 100ºC ·states (STATIVE VERBS): Sorry, I don´t understand you ·future meaning with schedules /timetables: The lesson starts in five minutes	·actions happening now: We´re studying English right now ·a temporary situation: This year, I´m doing ballet ·a complaint with the adverb always: You´re always interrupting ·a plan for near future: We´re going to the cinema this afternoon.	USES
· frequency adverbs (position): I am never late at school / He seldom goes out at night. ·temporal expressions(position): I play tennis twice a week / Everyday, they meet to chat ·How often?	·temporal expressions denoting the present: now, at the moment, today, these days, at present... ·Stative verbs when denoting activity: She is thinking about leaving the school.	EXPRESSIONS

   STATIVE VERBS

-feelings and emotions: like, dislike, love, hate, prefer, want, enjoy, hope

-opinion and thoughts: think, believe, know, remember, forget, understand, guess

-perception and senses: hear, see, smell, sound, taste, touch, feel

-prices and measures: cost, measure, weigh

-possession: have, own, possess

*Some of these verbs are used in the present simple and continuous:

       -I think this is a wonderful film.     (“think” means “believe”®STATE)

         -He´s thinking about leaving school. (“think” means “planning”®ACTIVITY)

PAST SIMPLE	PAST CONTINUOUS	TENSES
-ed  regular verbs / 2nd column irregular verbs din´t  + infinitive/ Did + infinitive...?	be in past + -ing form -ing spelling rules:  having, running, beginning, travelling, dying…	FORM
· completed actions in the past (states, facts, actions):      I was very excited.      I lived there for 6 years.     The company made 100 people redundant last year. · repeated actions in the past:      They had a meeting every two days.	·completed action in the past to emphasize the continuity of the action:     Everybody was talking about it all evening.     They were really trying hard but couldn't do it.	USES
· When we use both pasts in the same sentence, we use the past continuous to talk about the "background action" or “interrupted action” and the past simple to talk about the shorter completed action (interrupting action). It was raining hard when we left the building. I was reading the report when you rang.	· When we use both pasts in the same sentence, we use the past continuous to talk about the "background action" or “interrupted action” and the past simple to talk about the shorter completed action (interrupting action). As / While It was raining hard, we left the building. As / While I was reading the report, you rang.	CONTRAST

USED TO

used to work there.

I didn´t use to work there.

Did you use to work there?

We use this structure to express something which usually happened in the past and no longer occurs now:

I used to play tennis a lot, but now I´m too lazy.

It is also used for past situations that no longer exist:

We used to live in a small village, but now we live in Milan.

Used to + verb is always past. For present, we use present simple:

Past He used to smoke we used to live there used to be.

Present He smokes we live there is.

BE/GET USED TO SOMETHING

Jane is American, but she has lived in Britain for three years. When she first drove a car in Britain, she found it very difficult because she had to drive on the left instead of on the right. Driving on the left was strange and difficult for her because:

She wasn´t used to it. (No estaba acostumbrada) She wasn´t used to driving on the left.(No estaba acostumbrada a conducir por la izquierda.)

After a lot of practice, driving on the left became less strange: She got used to driving on the left. (Se acostumbró a conducir por la izquierda)

Now after three years, driving on the left is no problem for her: She is used to driving on the left. (Está acostumbrada a conducir por la izquierda)

WOULD + INFINITIVE

This structure can be used to epress past habits but it is less frequent than the past simple and used to.

When I was younger, I would play tennis after school.