Study

Review of Tenses

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  • for habits, repeated actions, facts and things which are generally true.
    Present Simple (Example: I usually do my homework in the evening./ She writes crime stories.)
  • for reasons (after because).
    Past Perfect (Example: I decided to walk home because I had forgotten my bus pass.)
  • to focus on present states which started in the past and have continued up to the present.
    Present Perfect (Example: I've lived here since I was a child.)
  • for temporary situations.
    Present Continuous (Example: I'm studying English in Cambridge this semester, but normally I work in Milan.)
  • for actions and events that happened before a particular moment in time.
    Past Perfect (Example: We had already eaten when John came home.)
  • to talk about completed past actions and states.
    Past Simple (Example: I lost my phone last week, but then I found it in my car.)
  • to focus on past completed actions which are recent (often with "just") or which have a connection with the present.
    Present Perfect (Example: I've posted your letter.)
  • for actions in progress now (at the moment of speaking) or around now.
    Present Continuous (Example: Sorry, I can't talk now - I'm doing my homework./ She's writing a book about her life.)
  • for actions or events in progress at the time of a shorter, past simple action.
    Past Continuous (Example: He phoned while I was doing my homework.)
  • for experiences in our life without saying when they happened.
    Present Perfect (Example: I've seen this film three times.)
  • with state verbs for short-term states, verbs of preference and verbs of the senses.
    Present Simple (Example: I want to go home.)
  • to describe actions that were in progress at a particular moment in the past.
    Past Continuous (Example: John was playing tennis at three o'clock.)