彬彬一網通：英文文法-1：Verbs and Tenses

小學及初中英文文法

系列一： Verbs 、Tenses、Prepositions

I. Verbs in Simple Sentenses

A simple sentence contains a Subject + a Predicate (or verb part)

Verbs can either be Verb to Do or Verb to Be.

1. For Verb “to Do” :

A verb may be transitive (vt), then, there should be an object after the verb.

Subject Verb to Do Object

e.g. They destroy the box.

A verb may be intransitive (vi), then, there should be no object after the verb.

Subject Verb to Do Object

e.g. My heart aches.

The same verb can be transitive and intransitive

Subject Verb to Do Complement Object

e.g. He opened (vt) the door.

The door opened. (vi)

He sings a song.

He sings loudly.

2. For Verb “to Be” :

There is no object after the verb to be.

Subject Verb to Be Complement Object

e.g. You are clever.

The meeting is at 2:30 p.m.

II. Tenses

1. Simple Present

Durative Verbs: show actions or states through time (or period of time).

Punctual Verbs: show actions at a specific point of time.

i. The Present tense is NOT usually used to describe present time.

ii. The Present tense is the tense for:

a) Descriptions: e.g. Mother cooks our meal everyday.

b) Definitions: e.g. Recession is a period where national

outputs falls for a few months or more.

c) Statements of general truth: e.g. A gas expands when heated.

d) Habitual action: e.g. I get up early in the morning.

e) Something scheduled to happen:

e.g. The next train leaves at two o'clock in the morning.

f) Commentary: Leo kicks the ball to John.

g) Instruction: Turn the light off when you go to sleep.

h) Caption in newspaper: Mainland's FDI falls again.

iii. Present Tense extends from the past, through the present and into the Future.

iv. iv. Adverbs of frequency are common time markers in the present tense:

a) always,

b) usually,

\ c) often,

d) sometimes,

e) occasionally,

f) seldom,

g) rarely,

h) hardly ever,

i) never.

The present tense describes activities and states which are generally and

universally true. The present tense is the tense for description, definition, and

statements of general truth. As the time line shows, the present tense extends from

past time, through the present and into the future. Durative verbs, which show states

through time, are verbs like live, want, and be.

Sometimes the present tense is also called the present habitual.. It is used

for repeated, habitual actions. The marks on the time line represent punctual verbs,

or actions at a specific point in time. These are repeated again and again through time.

Adverbs of frequency are common time markers in the present tense.

They tell how often an action is repeated: always, usually, often, sometimes, occasionally,

seldom, rarely, hardly ever, never. The word ever is used in questions.

Description of People：

Secretary

A secretary writes letters, answers the telephone, and meets people.

She uses a typewriter or computer every day. She puts papers away in the

file cabinet. She stands between her boss and his visitors. She helps her

boss to plan his time and to finish the work.

Teachers

Teachers work in schools. They help their students to learn. They order

books, explain lessons, give homework, and correct papers. At the end

of every term, they grade their students.

Porter

A porter is a hotel worker who carries the bags of the travelers. He shows

the hotel guests to their rooms, and they usually give him some money for his help.

Chef

A chef works in a hotel or in a restaurant. He plans the meals and cooks the

food. He often has helpers to cut vegetables, to bake bread, and to prepare the meat.

Artist

An artist uses paper, pens, pencils, and paint to make pictures. She draws

pictures for books and magazines. Her pictures are easy to understand. The

drawings help to explain the ideas in the book.

Firefighter ( Fireman)

A firefighter tries to prevent fires by inspecting buildings. He asks people to

make their houses safe from fire. When a fire starts, he rides to the

building in a fire engine. Firefighters hurry to put out fires and to save people.

Construction worker

A construction worker puts buildings together. He measures wood and cuts

it into pieces. He carries bricks and metal parts. He follows a building

plan to make houses, apartments and stores. Sometimes he repairs buildings, too.

Musician

A musician usually works with other musicians to make music. Musicians

play together in an orchestra. They practice playing their instruments every day.

They read new music and play it until it sounds good.

Businessman

A businessman works in an office. He plans business activities. He prepares reports

and goes to meeting. He learns about buying, selling, and producing things.

A businessman must hire workers to help him.

Fashion Models

Fashion models show us the newest styles of clothes. They put on new

clothes and stand in front of cameras. Pictures of models appear in newspapers

and in magazines. People see the pictures and want to buy the clothes.

Fashion models collect pictures of themselves in a book.

Description of a Holiday

Hallowe’en Is A Holiday For Children

Hallowe’en is an autumn holiday that Americans celebrate every year. It means

”holy evening,” and it comes every October 31, the evening before All-Saints Day.

However, it’s not really a church holiday; it’s a holiday for children.

Every autumn, when the vegetables are ready to eat, children pick large orange

pumpkins, Then, they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. It looks like

there is a person looking out of the pumpkin! These lights are called jack-o’-lanterns,

which means “Jack of the lantern.”

The children also put on strange masks and frightening costumes every Hallowe’en.

Some children paint their faces to look like monsters. Then they carry boxes or bags

from house to house. Every time they come to a new house, they say “Trick or treat!

Money or eat!” The adults put a treat money or candy in their bags.

Some children think of other people on Hallowe’en. They carry boxes for

UNICEF (The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund). They ask

for money to help poor children all around the world. Of course, every time they

help UNICEF, they usually receive a treat for themselves, too.

2. Simple Present Progressive (Continuous) Tense

The present progressive tense is used for actions going on in the moment of speaking and for actions taking place only for a short period of time. It is also used to express development and actions that are arranged for the near future.

Be + Verb + ing

e.g. The girl is holding a book

Signal words: at the moment,

just, just now,

now, right now

this (this week, this month …), these days and

also today and tonight

a) For actions in progress at the moment of speaking:

e.g. He is working at the moment.

b) For temporary situations/ actions

e.g. My son is studying English at Santa Monica College.

c) For planned actions (+ future adverbial reference):

e.g. We are spending next summer in Canada

d) For repeated actions with adverbs (like always, forever):

e.g. She is always helping people.

e) General Questions about plans

e.g. Are you doing anything tonight?

f) Action taking place only for a limited period of time

e.g. I am coming home.

Pollution Is Spoiling The Air You Breathe

Pollution is hanging like a brown cloud over New York today. Dirt and smoke

are pouring from cars and factories. Pollution is spoiling the air we breathe, and

it’s harming out health.

New York has a big problem these days. The city has dirty air. The air smells

bad, and it looks ugly. Pollution is a health problem, too, because it’s hurting people’s lungs.

This man thinks that pollution is dangerous. He doesn’t like the air, so he isn’t breathing it.

He’s wearing a gas mask. He’s smelling a flower, and it smells good, but he doesn’t know it.

He’s touching the flower with his mask, and the flower feels soft, but he doesn’t know it.

He’s listening for birds, but he doesn’t hear any. He’s looking for beauty, but he

doesn’t see any. He believes that pollution is coming between us and the beauty of nature.

He’s trying to show his ideas with the gas mask. He wants people to work together now

and to make the air cleaner soon.

Note: Verbs which describe mental states or mental activity or conditions of things, cannot

take any continuous tense. They take present tense instead. They are:

Be ; Believe; Feel

Hate; Have; Hear

Know ;

Like; Love

Need;

Own ;

See

Think (believe; Think about has a different meaning and can take continuous tense)

Understand;

want

Verbs of Condition Which Do Not Take Continuous Tenses:

Appear (seem) ; Be

*Feel (when used with no object)\

look (appear)

seem

*smell (when used with no object)

sound ; *taste (when used with no object)

* When these verbs are used with objects, they have a different meaning. With objects, they

are active verbs and can take continuous tenses.

3. Present Perfect Tense.

Have (or has) + Past participle

e.g. They have gone to the party.

positive: I have spoken (He/has spoken.)

Negative; I have not spoken (He has not spoken.)

Question: Have I spoken? (Has he spoken?)

( Note: list of irregular verbs, 3rd column). For regular verbs, just add “ed” to

the end of the verb.

It describes the actions have been completed before the present time. These actions have

effect on the present situation. The time markers are: already, just, and not yet.

e.g. She has just put on her sweater.

He has already asked her to find another job.

She has not yet paid for the house

Present perfect tense describes:

i) Actions beginning in the past and continuing up to the

present moment ( with the time references like before, ever, since,

never …before, up till now, so far etc.)

e.g. I have lived here since 1980.

I have never tasted any poison.

ii) Actions which happened at an unspecified time in the past.

e.g. Have you passed your driving test?

iii) Action which happened in the past with references to recent time,

like just, recently, already, still, yet.

e.g. I have just eaten.

iv) Repeated/habitual actions

e.g. I have seen him on TV several times

This Woman Has Lost Her Job

Mrs. Clark and her daughter Sarah have been out shopping, and they’ve just returned home.

They bought Sarah a new sweater, and she’s already put it on. It’s so new that they haven’t even

removed the tag yet.

Mrs. Clark has just opened a letter, and she’s lost her job! For the past year she’s worked

as a private secretary for a rich musician. Now the musician has decided to stop working,

and he’s asked Mrs. Clark to find another job. Mrs. Clark is the only money earner in the family,

since her husband is no longer living.

The letter has upset Mrs. Clark very much. She’s crying. She’s recently bought a new house,

a new car, and many new clothes for her job. She hasn’t paid for them yet. Now she may not be

able to pay for them, because she hasn’t saved much money.

Sarah has heard the bad news, but she really doesn’t understand much about money.

She’s more worried about her mother. Mrs. Clark has never cried in front of her daughter before.

It’s Difficult to Say Good-Bye

People often travel to other places to study or to work. Ralph is going to get on the train

and travel to a new job. He’s saying good-bye to his girl friend Stella and her brother Tom.

The three friends have known each other for many years. They’ve been neighbors since

they were children. Ralph has lived next door to Stella and Tom for fifteen years.

They’ve visited each other almost every day.

Stella and Ralph have been an important part of each other’s lives, so it’s difficult to say

good-bye. They’ve studied journalism together, and they’ve worked as reporters for a small

town newspaper. Now Ralph has a job working for a big city newspaper 500 kilometers away.

Ralph and Stella will miss each other very much, but Ralph will come home again on his vacations.

The present perfect continuous tense also describes an activity or an state that

began in the past and have continued to the present. The activity or state has not stopped at the

present time; it is still happening.

4. The present perfect Continuous tense

Have (or Has) + Been + Verb + ing

Are Buses As Easy To Use As Cars?

When the weather is cold, it's not very much fun to wait for a bus. These people have been standing

on the corner for fifteen minutes. They've been watching the traffic, looking for the bus, and hoping it

will come soon. They've been talking about the bus and complaining about the weather. Most of them

feel cold. One smart man has been drinking coffee to say warm.

Traveing on buses decreases pollution, but people often would rather drive their cars. Many people

aren't used to the bus schedules, and they don't like to wait.

On the other hand, many people have been taking the bus every day for many years. They're used

to it. They say the bus has been coming on time every day, and they've never been late to work. In

addition, they haven't needed a parking place in all that time. Buses are very convenient when you're

used to them.

5. Simple Past Tense.

VERB + ed ( for regular )

Auxiliary = did ( for questions )

Positive : I spoke

Negative: I did not speak

Question: Did I speak

Note: ( list of irregular verbs, 2nd column). For regular verbs, just add “ed”at the end of the verb.

The simple past is used to talk about activities or situations that

began and ended in the past (e.g. yesterday, last night, two days ago, in 1990)

e.g. Mary walked downtown yesterday.

I slept for eight hours last night.

i) To talk about things that happened in the past with

time specified:

e.g. I stayed in that hotel last week.

He phoned a few minutes ago.

ii) To talk about the general past and about regular actions or past habit:

e.g. My friends often visited me when I was in the United

States.

I smoked 10 cigarettes a day till I gave up.

Lightning Struck The City Last Night

Lightning struck twice last night during a rainstorm. One flash of lightning hit at 9:10, and

the second hit at 9:20. We heard the sound of thunder and we smelled the lightning in the air.

The first flash struck our neighbor’s chimney. The chimney was very tall, and it acted

like a lightning rod. It pulled the lightning to it. When the lightning struck, it tore out a whole

row of bricks. Our neighbors said it sounded like glass was breaking when the bricks fell.

The second flash hit another neighbor’s tree. It tore the bark off the tree. Because

it was raining, the tree didn’t start to burn. However, our neighbor said that the lightning

killed the tree.

We were lucky. The lightning missed our house. And we were all happy that nobody was hurt.

5B. Compare Simple Past to Present Perfect:

With the Simple Past, we have to say or imply when something happened.

e.g. I finished the job yesterday/ an hour ago, etc.

With Present Perfect, we do not say exactly when something happened.

e.g. I have finished the job. I have just finished the job.

5C. Present Perfect Progressive:

Use it to describe:

a) Something has been in progress throughout a period:

e.g. I have been typing all day

I have been studying all morning.

b) Some verbs such as learn, lie, live, rain, sit, sleep,

Stand, study, wait, work etc. which suggest continuity

e.g. I have been waiting here for two hours.

I have been working here since 1987.

6. Use of Simple Past Perfect

i) We often need the past perfect for the event that happened first to avoid ambiguity.

(We use the past perfect to refer to “an earlier past”, that is to describe the first of two actions):

e.g. When I arrived, she had left ( i.e. before I got there)

The patient had died when the doctor arrived.

(First the patient died. Then, the doctor arrived.)

We often introduce the past perfect with conjunctions like when, after, as soon as, by the time that.

We use adverbs like already, ever, never …before.

The Sinking of Titanic

In 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg on its first trip across the Atlantic, and it sank four

hours later. At that time, the Titanic was the largest ship that had ever traveled

on the sea. It was carrying 2207 people, but it had taken on enough lifeboats for

only 1178 people. When the passengers tried to leave the ship, only 651of them

were able to get into lifeboats.

The Carpathia was 58 miles away when the Titanic called on the radio for help. It arrived

two hours after the great ship had gone down, and it saved 705 people. Some of the survivors

had been in the icy water for hours when they were saved. Most of the passengers hadn't lived

that long; 1502 people had lost their lives.

Through the whole tragedy, the Calfornian was only ten miles away. Its officers were close

enough to see the Titanic, but they didn't understand the situation. They never received the

Titanic's call for help, and they didn't come to the rescue until too late.

Nobody had prepared for such a tragedy. Nobody had believed that the Titanic could sink.

The steamship company had thought that its ship would be completely safe in all situations.

They'd followed an old rule for the number of lifeboats, so they'd supplied lifeboats for only

half the people. The passengers had not yet received their lifeboat numbers, nor had they

practiced lifeboat drill before the accident. Many of them had not even dressed warmly, for

the ship had hit the iceberg late at night, and they didn't believe they were in danger.

The ship had already received six ice warnings on its radio when it struck the iceberg.

Novertheless, it had not changed its direcction or its speed. It was impossible ato change

direction quickly enough when the iceberg came in sight. When the Titanic hit the iceberg,

the radio officer on the Californian had just gone to bed. He'd tried to warn the officers on

the Titanic about the ice before he'd gone to bed, but the officers hadn't listened.

After this accident, ocean travel changed. Now there are always enough lifeboats for everybody.

Ships don't go so far north in winter, and they watch carefully for ice. Radio officers work 24 hours

a day. A tragedy like the sinking of the Titanic should never happen again.

(contractions: I'd --- I had / I would ； He's --- He is / has ； She's --- She is / has ；)

7. Past perfect progressive tense

It describes an activity or a state which began in the past and lasted until a second activity

in the past.

e.g. It had been snowing for an hour when I started to drive home.

a) To describe actions in progress throughout a period in the past

e.g. She was very tired. She had been typing all day.

b) Some verbs like learn, lie, live wait, work suggest continuity.

e.g. I had been waiting for two hours before he arrived.

c) To describe some repeated actions.

e.g. He had been planning every night for a month.

d) To draw conclusions.

e.g. Her eyes were red. It was clear she had been crying.

I Had Been Wearing My Seatbelt

The snowstorm in our city last week wasn't a large one, but it caused many accidents.

The snow started to come in the late afternoon. I saw it through the window of the office

building where I work as a secretary. It had been snowing for an hour when I started to drive

home.

The cars had been driving slowly because of the dangerous roads. It was slippery snow that

froze when it hit the roads. Earlier, the snow had been melting, but by evening it was staying

on the roads. Police cars had been checking the traffic regularly.

I’d been driving for twenty minutes when the accident happened. My heater hadn’t been

working, and the snow had been freezing on my window, so I couldn’t see well. I’d been stopping

to clean my window every few minutes. I’d just started the car again when my tires started to

slip. The car slipped onto the side of the road. When it hit the hill, it turned over and stopped.

I felt and looked to see if I was hurt, but I wasn’t. I’d been driving quite slowly, and luckily

I’d been wearing my seatbelt. It was very quiet, with just the sounds of music and falling snow;

I’d been playing the radio. Soon the police came to help me, and I was able to reach home in

another hour.

8. Simple Future Tense

The future tense with will describes actions, activities, and states in the future.

Will + Verb

The Car of The Future

Optimists think that car companies will soon solve all our problems by producing the Supercar.

Tomorrow's car will be bigger, faster, and more comfortable than before. The Supercar will have

four rooms, color TV, running water, heat, air conditioning, and a swimming pool. Large families

will travel on long trips in complete comfort. If gas is in short supply, optimists promise that the

car of the future will come in any color.

Common time markers use combinations with next ( next tyear, next week, next month)

with in ( in the future, in two years, in ten days), with from now ( ten years from now,

six weeks from now).

i) Use ‘shall’ and ‘will’ to make predictions.

e.g. It will rain tomorrow.

ii) To show intentions/ promises.

e.g. I will buy you a car.

iii) To make requests/invitations.

e.g. Will you hold the door for me, please?

iv) To make offers.

e.g. Shall I get your books for you?

v) To make suggestions.

e.g. Shall we go out for dinner together?

vi) To make threats.

e.g. Just wait! You’ll regret this!

vii) To refer to the future:

We use ‘will’ with all persons (I, you, he, she, etc.)

e.g. I will see you tomorrow ( or I’ll see you tomorrow.)

Negative short forms : will not = won’t ; shall not = shan’t

e.g. I won’t see you tomorrow.

viii) To say what will happen for events that have been arranged:

e.g. The wedding will take place at St. Andrew’s on June 27^th.

ix) To express expectations or hopes:

e.g. I hope she’ll get the job she’s applied for.

Verb to " Be" + Going to + Verb

Helicopters To The Rescue

Helicopters have rescued many people. Helicopters can move in very small spaces. They can

remain in one place in the air to make a rescue. For example, when the cars hit each other, several

people were hurt. They need medical help immediately. The rescue workers are going to give first

aid to all injured people. They're going to carry the injured people to the helicopter. The pilot of

the helicopter is going to take them to the closest hospital. There the people are going to receive

medical help.

Some time markers describe events that are going to happen in the near future:

soon, right away, in just a minute.

e.g. Rescue workers will carry injured people to the helicopter soon

Helicopter pilot will take injured people to the nearest hospital right away.

9. The Future Continuous Tense

When The Tornado Hits

A tornado is about to strike this family’s farm. It’s moving quickly towards them, but

luckily they’ve already seen it coming. The family is rushing into the storm cellar where

they’ll be safe under the ground.

When the tornado hits, they’ll be sitting in the storm cellar. They won’t be moving

around; they’ll be hiding in the safest part of the cellar. The mother will still be holding

the baby, but the animals will probably be running around, making noise.

10.10. Future Perfect Tense

Will + Have + Past Participle

Future perfect tense shows a completed first action before a second action in the future.

e.g. The mechanics will have checked the car when it leaves the pit

Pit Stop At The Race Track

Cars in auto races move at very fast speeds around the track. Some of the races are hundreds

of miles long. The drivers try to keep their cars near top speed the whole time. Of course, high

speeds are very hard on the cars. Often parts break or wear out during the race.

The race driver depends on the other man on his team, the mechanics who take care of the

car. Mechanics never race, but they share in the joy of winning. Their job is to make sure the

car will last long enough to finish the race. An old saying goes, “To finish first, first you must finish.”

The driver is pulling off the race track, into the pit. The mechanics

are already running to help. When the driver enters the race again, the mechanics will have put

fuel in the car. They’ll have changed some of the tires. They’ll have checked the oil. Perhaps

they’ll have added more oil. They’ll have repaired any problems in the car. The driver will

not have rested long, though – the mechanics will have finished all this work in less than one minute!

Marathon Race

Today at 7:30 a.m., 840 runners began their marathon race around the city. Most of them will stay in the race to the end.

Now it's ten o'clock, and the winner has just crossed the finish line. His time was two hours,

30 minutes, and 25 seconds.

The man with the stopwatch is clocking the race. He'll have clocked a different finishing time every few minutes for two hours, when the last runner comes in.

The other runners are still racing. They'll finish the race at different times. Some will have run

for three hours; Some will have run for three and one-half hours.

When they finish, they'll be very tired. The street were closed to traffic, so they won't have run into

any any cars.

He will have run for three hours by the time he finishes.

He will have clocked a different finishing time.

( Note: The future perfect tense can describe a state, a state, an activity, or a period of time before

a second action in the future. Usually two time markers appear in these sentences:

one for the length of time, and one for the endpoint.

Every few minutes for two hours when the last runner finishes. )

(frequency) (duration) (endpoint)

11. Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Will + have been + Verb + ing

Too Little， Too Late

This morning at five o'clock, the Green MountainRestaurant caught on fire. Nobody noticed

the fire until six o'clock, when the house next door started to burn. Firefighters came from all over

the area. They began to fight the fire at seven o'clock. Now it's eight o'clock, and the fire is still

going strong. The firefighters are working hard, but they haven't brought the blaze under control yet. Every few minutes they call for more help.

Fire Chief Brown Says that in another hour they'll have put out the fire in the house. At that time, the house will have been burning for three hours. Half the house will be gone. Chief Brown is afraid that the fire in the restaurant may go on until ten o'clock. Before it's out, the restaurant will have been blazing for five hours.

Firefighters will have been fighting the fire in the restaurant for three hours. The fire

will have been burning too long. By the time the fire is under control, nothing will remain of the restaurant. The firefighters will have been working with all their strength, but it will have been

too little and too late.

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