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be general truths or scientific facts. In addition, with appropriate expressions of time, the simple present can be used to indicate a scheduled event in the future.
The examples of the use of the simple present tense are; “ I have breakfast every day at 08.00 a.m.”
“ He now lives in San Diego.”
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The Present Progressive indicates actions or conditions that are ongoing or continuous in the present. The examples of the present progressive are as follows;
“ The children are playing in the backyard this afternoon.” “ He is sleeping right now.”
The Present Perfect indicates actions or conditions begun in the past and either completed at some unspecified time in the past and continuing in the
present. The examples of this tense are as follows; “ My father has told me many stories of his childhood.”
“ I have already eaten.”
The Present Perfect Progressive indicates that an ongoing actions or condition begun in the past is very likely to continue into present. The examples
of this tense are as follows; “ I have been studying for two hours.”
“ Since I have been taking vitamins regularly, I have had no colds.”
2 The Past Tense Form
The Simple Past indicates actions or conditions that occured at a specific time and do not extend into the present. The examples of this tense are as follows;
“ It snowed yesterday.” “ I watched the television last night.”
The Past Progressive indicates continuing actions or conditions in the past, often with specific limits. The following examples will show the use of this tense;
“He was sleeping when i arrived.” “My brother was playing football when I came home.”
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Andrea Lunsford Robert Connors, The ST. Martin’s Handbook, New York: ST
Martin’s Press, p. 198-199.
The Past Perfect indicates actions or conditions that were completed by a specific time in the past or before some other past action or condition occured.
The examples about this tense are as follows; “I had already eaten when they arrived home.”
“I had already gone when they called me.”
The Past Perfect Progressive indicates continuous actions or conditions in the past that began before a specific time in the past or before some other past
action or condition began. The following examples will show the use of this tense such as;
“ I had been studying for two hours before my friend came.” “When they returned to Venice, the Polos had been travelling for almost twenty-
five hours.”
3 The Future Tense Form
The Simple Future indicates actions or conditions that have yet to begin. The examples of this tense are as follows;
“The exhibition will come to Washington in September.” “I shall graduate the year after next.”
The Future Progressive indicates continuing actions or conditions in the future. The examples of this tense are as follows;
“The loans will be coming due in the next two years.” “He will be sleeping when we arrive.”