Is it easy to learn English in a few lessons, as promised by the numerous calls of the army of teachers who consider themselves experts in the field of education? The experience of an even larger army of students, cramming English lessons for beginners, shows that not everything is as easy as promised. And the first stone in the study of English grammar, which all beginners stumble upon, knocks down immediately the aplomb and ambitions of future language users.
Such strange English times
Diligent Russian-speaking students of English courses are getting acquainted with examples in the tables, starting to master the rules of behavior of the English verb. What a strange phenomenon this part of speech in English grammar! What a system of obscure word forms that must express action in a given time interval! And why is this necessary when everything in the native language is so clear: 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 wants to learn this, there are as many as twelve temporary forms of the verb only in active voice. So, the present in English expresses the moment in time differently in reality. Native speakers, without thinking about grammar, will use one form of the verb when they talk about what they always do, sometimes, often or usually, and another, 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 - the present long (Present Continuous).
For a Russian-speaking student, it is important to understand that the action in question can be simultaneous or extended in time, it can just happen or usually, as always, rarely or often. Each such action in English requires the use of a verb in a strictly defined form. In the Russian language, the nuances of relative time are defined lexically, the dialogue participants specify with words how and when the action occurs: now, usually, often, from some point or during a certain period.
The present is “ours” and “alien”
Those who explain the English times for dummies know that it’s best to understand the rule based on their native language. For example, we say “I (now) watch TV” or “I (usually) watch TV after dinner.” In both expressions, the verb “look” is used in the form of the present tense. But it’s a completely different 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 is happening right now, this minute, and in the second the action is repeated, ordinary, daily.
Grammar system of time
It is not easy to understand the meaning of verb diversity in the expression of temporary layers of reality in the English language. Only a small example of the use of different forms of the present tense puzzles the student. But there is still the past and the future.
Such an abundance of times surprises Russian-speaking students who are just beginning to storm the whims of the English verb. But subsequently they even have to taste doing numerous exercises for the English times, honing the skills of proper usage in the flow of colloquial speech. Practice shows that it is easiest to master the tense forms of the verb in the system. So, placing English tenses with examples in tables, it is easier to understand their grammatical layering.
Apartment house for English verb
This house has four floors. Each floor is a grammatical time: Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous. On each floor there are three apartments, in each of which tenants have settled - word forms of the present (Present), past (Past) and future (Future) time. An example for resettlement will be the irregular verb “drink” and the correct “watch”.
English Times. English tenses | Present | Past | Future |
Simple | I drink tea I drink tea (always, often ...)
I watch television | I drank tea I drank tea (yesterday ...)
I watched television | I will drink tea I will drink tea (tomorrow ...)
I will watch television |
Continuous | I am drinking tea I'm drinking tea right now)
I am watching television | I was drinking tea I was drinking tea (at that moment in the past when you called ...)
I was watching television | I will be drinking tea I will drink tea (at some point in time in the future)
I will be watching television |
Perfect | I have drunk tea I drank tea (just, already ...)
I have watched television | I had drunk tea I drank tea (already, at some point in the past)
I had watched television | I will have drunk tea I'll already have some tea (at some point in the future)
I will have watched television |
Perfect continuous | I have been drinking tea for 2 h.
I have been watching television since 5 o'clock | I had been drinking tea for 2 h.
I had been watching television since 5 o'clock
| I will have been drinking tea for 2 h.
I will have been watching television since 5 o'clock
|
The presented English tenses with examples in the tables give a systematic idea of the variety of verb word forms. Beginners to master the topic should practice with different English verbs, substituting them in the cells of the table. But in order to correctly use temporary forms in speech, written and colloquial, this is not enough. It is important to understand the situation in which the speaker is. Each verb form accurately indicates a point in time, and not absolute, but relative.
How to solve a grammar problem
Effective exercises are translations of phrases from the native language into English. So you can easily learn the rules of English times, relying on native grammar. It is important to understand why this or that word form is required in this context, as well as to see lexical and grammatical signals that will tell you which window to look at.
“What are you doing in the evenings?”
“I usually 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 watched TV.
“I'll call you tomorrow at 5. What will you do?”
- Tomorrow at 5 I will watch TV.
Here is an example of dialogue, which in translation requires the use of six forms of the verb tense, of which two forms of the present, two past and two future. What are these forms? English times with examples in the tables will help those who wish to master difficult rules and put them into practice.
In the Russian version there are hint words: “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”. Take a look at the table and solve this grammatical problem.
The phrases from the dialogues in Russian will also help to understand the meaning of English times from the lower floor “Perfect Continuous”.
- Have you been watching TV for a long time?
- I watch TV from 5 o’clock (for two hours).
- When you called (yesterday), I watched TV for two hours (from 5 hours).
- Tomorrow, by the time you arrive, I will be watching TV for two hours (from 5 o’clock).
How to say in English?
English lessons for beginners with the accumulation of vocabulary include increasingly complex grammar exercises. But already from the first lessons the concept of times is given. First about the simple ones - from the Simple and Continuous groups, later use of the times of the Perfect and Perfect Continuous groups is worked out. Easier language is acquired in speech situations. This is why no rule in the box can replace practical training. The material for this is around: on the street, at home, at work. Everywhere you can train the skill "And how would I say this in English."