The Perfect Progressive Tenses of The Verb (series 1.C6)

       

          

          After discussing simple tenses of the verb, perfect tenses, and continuous tenses. Next are the Perfect Progressive or Perfect Continuous Tenses of the verb.
          Remember when we say, perfect, it means 'complete'(the action has been completed), and progressive means 'unfinished' (the action is not yet finished and continues in the present, and may continue in the future).

Present Perfect Progressive > also known as the perfect present continuous, an action that started in the past and is continuing at the present time. This is formed using

     has/have been + verb with -ing

Examples:
                  She has been reading the novel for two weeks now.
                  You have been playing that game since last year.
                   I have not been seeing Julie lately.
                   Susie has been playing piano since she was a child.

Past Perfect Progressive > also known as the past perfect continuous, an action that started in the past but continued up to another time in the past. This is formed using

      had been + verb with -ing

Examples:
                  I had been telling you to stop smoking since last year.
                  They had been creating unrest in the neighborhood for 3 years.
                  We had not been cleaning our home since last month.
                   Patrick and Liza had been dancing until Patrick died a year ago.       


Future Perfect Progressive > also known as the future perfect continuous, an action that begins sometimes in the past but is expected to continue up until a point in the future. This is formed using

       will have been + verb with -ing

Examples:
                  In January, I will have been teaching at my school for ten years.
                  He will have been waiting for two hours by the time his girlfriend arrives.
                  You will not have been working in the office for 3 months.
                  Even though the TV show will have been airing for another year, it will continue with its new time slot.


** Progressive tenses use action verbs only and not stative verbs. Stative verbs are state of being that does not show qualities of change. It includes emotions, possessions, and thoughts.

English 101: The Continous Tenses of the Verb (series 1.C5)

          *image credit www.tes.com

     Previously, I have written here the simple tenses of the verb then followed by the perfect tenses of the verb, now we will proceed to continuous tenses also known as progressive tenses of the verb.  Continuous tenses of the verb show an action that is in progress was in progress or will be in progress at a certain period. Continuous tenses are formed by the 'be'-verb + -ing form of the verb. 

Be-verbs: 

am,  is, are + -ing form of the verb = for present tense

was, were + -ing form of the verb = for past tense

will be + -ing form of the verb = for future tense

Past Continuous Tense > it indicates a continuing action that was happening at some period in the past.

Examples:
     1) I was playing mobile games when I heard the sad news.
     2) At the stroke of the clock, they were singing joyously in the place.
     3) She was laughing hard until she fell off the stage.
     4) You were sleeping when she arrived.


Present Continuous Tense > it indicates that an action is still happening now, always happening, and may continue to happen in the future.

Examples:

     1) Eejay is washing the dishes while he plays music from his mobile phone.
     2) I am thinking of what to prepare for today's lunch.
     3) The PlanetShakers are going to perform live at Araneta Coliseum.
     4) Are we taking this jacket on our way to Baguio City?


Future Continuous Tense > indicates an action that will happen in the future and will continue to happen at the expected length of time.

Examples:
     1) He will be sleeping the whole day after all his tasks.
     2) I will be talking at a conference this Friday.
     3) We will be taking Diane and Joan to the party.
     4) Susan and Peter will be joining us later this afternoon.

** Present and Future Continuous use action verbs only and not stative verbs. Stative verbs are state of being that does not show qualities of change. It includes emotions, possessions, and thoughts.

English 101: The Perfect Tenses of the Verb (series 1.C4)

     After detailing the Simple Tense of the verb, we now go to perfect tenses. Perfect Tense is another set of verb tenses. Perfect tenses are actions already completed. As the word implies, perfect means  "completely done" or "made complete". So what's the difference between simple and perfect tenses? The perfect tense is used when the time of an action is not specified, while the Simple tense is used when the details of the time or place of action are given. For perfect tenses, we have the Present Perfect Tense, Past Perfect Tense, and Future Perfect Tense.

It is important to know the regular and irregular verbs with their equivalent past participle in constructing a sentence with perfect tense.

Present Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the present. It is used to express an action that has just or already happened, how often the action has happened, or to emphasize a past action's result or consequence.

Forms: he /she /it /singular subject noun = has + past participle of the verb ;
            I /you /we /they /plural subject noun = have + past participle of the verb

Examples:
          1) She has blown her hair already.
          2) It has happened twice.
          3) Pete has discussed a new lesson.
          4) I have just bought a new cellphone.
          5) We have gone here many times.
          6) The basketball players have shown their best in that game.


Past Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the past. It is used to show an action that has happened before another action happened in the past.

Forms: subject(s) = had + past participle of the verb

Examples:
     1) They had won the game when he fell.
     2) He had studied the layout before he arrived at the meeting.
     3) The children were sad since she had left the convent.
     4) The men build this dam because the plants had been dying from drought.

* the italicized words are the actions in the past, while the underlined words are the actions completely done in the past before another action.
* conjunctions such as when, before, and since, because are also used to show action in the past perfect tense.


Future Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the future. It is used to show that an action will have been completed at some time in the future.

Forms: subject(s) = will /shall + have + past participle of the verb

Examples:
     1) You shall have arrived by 5:00 in the morning.
     2) He will have been here for three weeks to finish the work.
     3) Joy and Kate will have known each other this coming week.
     4) Won't they have stayed here tomorrow night?

*won't = will not

English 101: Simple Tenses of The Verb (series 1.C3)

     Verbs should be studied thoroughly along with subject nouns for they are the basic foundation in constructing a grammatically correct sentence. The time constraints involved in accomplishing the "action word" should be checked if it agrees with the time the action has or had been done. The verb should also agree with the subject noun in a sentence. Tenses tell us about the time when a certain action has been made or happened. The confusion of some students lies in identifying when to add 's' to a verb and what are the regular and irregular verbs. The best strategy for the latter is to memorize all of them, that's why I provided a link where to find this list of regular/irregular verbs. But first, let's start by identifying the Basic Tenses - Present, Past, and Future.

A) Present tense expresses the following actions or conditions:
          -action happening at the present moment
          -an action that happens habitually
          -a present condition
       
* we usually take the base form of a verb when we refer to the plural subject; if the subject is singular, we add "s" to the base form of the verb.
* the am, is, are linking verbs are used when referring to a present condition.

Examples:
     1) The alarms simultaneously ring every morning.
            (plural subject=alarms; verb=ring;
                    every morning=time referred to as habitual)
               
     2) The boys run towards the gate.

     3) We are the facilitator of the event. (are=stating present condition)

     4) Jenny goes home from Manila every summer. 
            (singular subject=Jenny; verb=goes;
                    every summer=time referred to as habitual)
   
     5) The smoke comes from the basement.

     6) She is the mother of the future king.

     7) I am the owner of this site.


B) Past tense expresses action or state-of-being that took place in the past.

* the past tense form of a verb (regular/irregular) is used (see the list)
* the past action uses the time to express past action, i.e.,
yesterday, last time, for, the actual date
* the was, were linking verbs are used to express the state-of-being in the past

Examples:
     1) The man waited for his lady for two hours.
             (take note of the verb-waited & the time-for two hours)

     2) She went to the grocery.

     3) Tom and Jerry played outside yesterday.

     4) Last night, I met my former classmate inside the mall.

     5) The President signed a peace treaty.


C) Future tense expresses an action that would take place sometime in the future. It also expresses a prediction or gives an order.

* the auxiliary verbs will or shall is added along with the base form of a verb
* actual future date or predictors can be used, i.e., soon, next, on

Examples:
    1) The Red Warriors will play against the Green Archers on Sunday.

    2) We shall have to abide by these camp rules.

    3) Will you please stop talking?

    4) The election will be on May 9.

    5) You shall not kill.

    6) Deniece and William will soon get married.

* shall is being used as a future predictor of the action in which the subject has an obligation or responsibility to do the stated action.

Also, check other topics under this category/label, just click the topic link:
Parts of Speech,  Kinds of Nouns,  Singular and Plural Nouns,  Uses of Nouns,  Kinds of Pronouns,  Kinds of Verbs, Characteristics of Verb.

#verb #verbtenses #simpletenses #presenttense #pasttense #futuretense #regular/irregularverb #English101 #grammar #sentenceconstruction

English 101: Characteristic of Verbs (series 1.C2)

Determining what transitive and intransitive verbs are is just one of the students' difficulties in studying English subjects. And this topic would easily enable them to understand another difficulty, identifying the active and passive voice of a verb. 

For previous topics in this series, click the link below:
Parts of Speech
A. Nouns/Kinds of Nouns
     1. Singular and Plural Nouns
B. Pronouns/Kinds of Pronouns
C. Verbs/Kinds of Verbs

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

image credit to teachers. onlineenglishexpert.com

A verb is transitive when a person or thing directs the action toward someone or something. The receiver of the action is the object of the verb.

Examples;

1) He composed an emotional song. (the action 'composed' is directed toward something which is 'song')
2) Mother bakes my birthday cake. (the action 'bakes' is directed toward something which is 'cake')
3) She helped the old man in crossing the street. (the action 'helped' is directed toward someone which is the old man)
4) The AFP send their military men to Basilan. (the action 'send' is directed toward someone which is the military men)

A verb is intransitive when the doer of the action does not direct the action toward someone or something.

Examples:

1) The sky darkened in the east.
2) Father already left from his office.
3) The glass broke.
4) Tinay fell.

CLICK HERE for Exercises

Active and Passive Voice

Voice tells whether the subject of the sentence is the doer or the receiver of the action.

The verb is in the active voice if the subject performs the action.

Examples:
1) Mother gave me a new dress. (the subject 'mother' performs the action 'gave')
2) He played the basketball game fair and square.

The verb is in the passive voice if the subject receives the action.

image credit to grammar.about.com

Examples:
1) I was given a new dress by Mother. (the action 'given' is received by the subject 'Mother')
2) The basketball game was played fair and square by the team. (the action 'played' is received by the subject 'team')
3) The messenger was sent to the office.

CLICK HERE for Exercises



            

English 101: The VERB (series 1.C1)

     This is my 6th writing about Parts of Speech in English 101, the Verb. This is the third part of the speech that is being discussed here, after Nouns and Pronoun. A verb is a word that expresses an action or state of being. Action verb denotes an action word such as clap, tap, walk, dance, talk, jump, etc. The linking verb denotes a state of being such as am, is, was, are, or we. We also have what we call the helping verb used with the main verb to form verb phrases.

*credit image to tes.com lessons

Action Verbs > show either a physical or mental action.
    Examples: His plane landed at NAIA two hours ago. (physical action)
                      She always hopes for the best in us. (mental action)

Linking Verbs > used to connect the subject of a sentence with a noun or an adjective identifies or describes the noun or pronoun.

Helping verbs:  be, been                 have, has, had        
                          do, does, did         will, would
                          shall, should         can, could
                          may, might           must

* some words seem to look like an action verb but are used in a sentence as a linking verb.
        Examples:
               appear       get        remain     sound
               become     grow     seem        stay
               feel            look      smell       taste

How do distinguish action words used as linking verbs?
>> Try to replace the word with the actual linking verb, if the thought of the sentence does not lose its sense, it means it is a linking verb,

Examples:  The baby feels agitated when he arrived.
          *The baby is agitated when he arrived.
                 (the word 'feels' is a linking verb)

                   The baby feels the drop of water on his face that made him laugh.
           *The baby is the drop of water on his face that made him laugh.
                      (the word 'feels' is an action verb here since when we replace the actual linking verb, it does lose its sense)