Me and my phone - grammar overview
Grammar
Simple Past, Present Perfect and Past Perfect
When talking about verb tenses, it is important to keep apart Form and Use.
The use of the verb tenses sometimes diverges from Dutch.
In this section, three verb tenses are treated:
simple past, present perfect and past perfect.
simple past
Forms of Simple Past
- For regular verbs, just add 'ed' to the infinitive.
- For irregular verbs, use the past form (see list).
| |
Positive |
Negative |
Question |
| All pronouns |
I worked |
I did not work |
Did I work? |
| |
We spoke |
We did not speak |
Did we speak? |
Exceptions in spelling when adding 'ed'
| Exceptions in spelling when adding ed |
Example |
| after a final e only add d |
love - loved |
final consonant* after a short, stressed vowel**
or / as final consonant after a vowel is doubled |
admit - admitted
travel - travelled |
| final y after a consonant becomes i |
hurry - hurried |
*: consonant = medeklinker; **: vowel = klinker
The verbs 'to have' and 'to be' are highly irregular.
TO HAVE
| Positive |
Negative |
Question |
| I had |
I did not have |
Did I have? |
| You had |
You did not have |
Did you have? |
| We had |
We did not have |
Did we have? |
| They had |
They did not have |
Did they have? |
| He had |
He did not have |
Did he have? |
| She had |
She did not have |
Did she have? |
| It had |
It did not have |
Did it have? |
TO BE
The verb "be" is also irregular in the Simple Past.
Unlike other irregular verbs, there are two Simple Past forms: "was" and "were."
It also has different question forms and negative forms.
Always remember NOT to use the auxiliary* "did" with "to be".
| Positive |
Negative |
Question |
| I was |
I was not |
Was I? |
| You were |
You were not |
Were you? |
| We were |
We were not |
Were we? |
| They were |
They were not |
Were they? |
| He was |
He was not |
Was he? |
| She was |
She was not |
Was she? |
| It was |
It was not |
Was it? |
Uses of Simple Past
The simple past expresses an action in the past taking place once, never or several times.
It can also be used for actions taking place one after another or in the middle of another action.
- action in the past taking place once, never or several times
Example: He visited his parents every weekend.
- actions in the past taking place one after the other
Example: He came in, took off his coat and sat down.
- action in the past taking place in the middle of another action
Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang.
- if sentences type II (If I talked, ...)
Example: If I had a lot of money, I would share it with you.
Beware of Double Dutch!
One specific use of the Simple Past's use deserves your attention: Speakers of English use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Dutch uses the Tegenwoordig Voltooide Tijd in those cases.
EXAMPLES
| English |
Dutch |
| I saw a movie yesterday. |
Ik heb gisteren een film bekeken. |
| I didn't see a play yesterday. |
Ik heb gisteren geen theatervoorstelling bezocht. |
| Last year, I travelled to Japan. |
Vorig jaar ben ik naar Japan gereisd. |
| Last year, I didn't travel to Korea. |
Vorig jaar ben ik niet naar Korea gereisd. |
| Did you have dinner last night? |
Heb je gisteren gedineerd? |
| She washed her car last week. |
Ze heeft haar auto vorige week gewassen. |
Signal Words of Simple Past
- yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday
- If-sentence type II (If I talked, ...)
present perfect
Form of the Present perfect
The Present Perfect consists of the Present Tense of the verb 'to have' combined with the Participle form*.
Forming the Participle form
- For regular verbs, just add 'ed' to the infinitive.
- For irregular verbs, use the participle form.
| |
Positive |
Negative |
Question |
| I/you/we/they |
I have worked |
I have not worked |
Have I worked? |
| |
I have spoken |
I have not spoken |
Have I spoken? |
| he/she/it |
He has worked |
He has not worked |
Has he worked? |
| |
He has spoken |
He has not spoken |
Has he spoken? |
*: participle = (voltooid) deelwoord
Uses of Present Perfect
The present perfect simple expresses an action that is still going on or that stopped recently, but has an influence on the present. It puts emphasis on the result.
- puts emphasis on the result
Example: She has written five letters.
- action that is still going on
Example: School has not started yet.
- action that stopped recently
Example: He has cooked dinner.
- finished action that has an influence on the present
Example: I have lost my key.
- action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking
Example: I have never been to Australia.
Signal Words of Present Perfect
- already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now.
Specific time expressions?
You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. See the image below for the difference between past simple and present perfect.
Unspecific time expressions?
We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.
Beware of Double Dutch!
Actions started in the past and continuing to the present time are expressed with the Present Perfect Tense in English. In Dutch, we use the Onvoltooid Tegenwoordige Tijd.
EXAMPLES
| English |
Dutch |
| I have been living in the Netherlands for five years. |
Ik woon vijf jaar in Nederland. |
| How long have you been living in the Netherlands? |
Hoe lang woon je in Nederland? |
| Up to now, he has worked for a small company. |
Tot nu toe werkt hij bij een klein bedrijf. |
present perfect extra
It is useful to distinguish two uses of the Present Perfect Tense.
- Unspecified Time Before Now
- Duration From the Past Until Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)
Use 1 Unspecified Time Before Now
We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important.
Examples:
- I have seen that movie twenty times.
- I think I have met him once before.
- There have been many earthquakes in California.
- People have travelled to the Moon.
- People have not travelled to Mars.
- Have you read the book yet?
- Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
What is an unspecified time before?
The concept of "unspecified time" can be very confusing to English learners. It is best to associate Present Perfect with the following topics:
- Topic 1 Experience
- Topic 2 Change Over Time
- Topic 3 An Uncompleted Action You Are Expecting
- Topic 4 Multiple Actions at Different Times
Topic 1: Experience
You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, "I have the experience of..."
You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain experience.
The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.
Examples:
- I have been to France.
This sentence means that you have had the experience of being in France. Maybe you have been there once, or several times.
- I have been to France three times.
You can add the number of times at the end of the sentence.
- I have never been to France.
This sentence means that you have not had the experience of going to France.
Topic 2: Change Over Time
We often use the Present Perfect to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.
Examples:
- You have grown since the last time I saw you.
- The government has become more interested in arts education.
- My English has really improved since I moved to Australia.
Topic 3: An Uncompleted Action You Are Expecting
We often use the Present Perfect to say that an action which we expected has not happened.
Using the Present Perfect suggests that we are still waiting for the action to happen.
Examples:
- James has not finished his homework yet.
- Susan has not mastered Japanese, but she can communicate.
- Bill has still not arrived.
- It hasn't stopped raining
Note that Dutch uses the Onvoltooid Tegenwoordige tijd in some of those cases:
- James is nog niet klaar met zijn huiswerk/
- Susan beheerst het Japans niet,
but:
- Willem is nog niet aangekomen
- Het is nog niet opgehouden met regenen / Het regent nog steeds.
Topic 4: Multiple Actions at Different Times
We also use the Present Perfect to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times.
Present Perfect suggests the process is not complete and more actions are possible.
Examples:
- The army has attacked that city five times.
- I have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.
- She has talked to several specialists about her problem, but nobody knows why she is sick.
- We have had many major problems while working on this project.
Use 2 Duration From the Past Until Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)
With Non-Continuous Verbs (= verbs that need no -ing to express the Progressive. Examples are: to be, to need, to exist, to own, to want) we use the Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now.
"For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect.
Examples:
- I have had a cold for two weeks.
- She has been in England for six months.
- Mary has loved chocolate since she was a little girl.
Note that Dutch uses the Onvoltooid Tegenwoordige Tijd in those cases:
Ik ben al twee weken verkouden/Ze is al zes maanden in Nederland/Mary houdt van chocola van jongs af aan.
past perfect
Forms of Past Perfect
The Past Perfect Tense is formed by using the Past Simple Tense of the verb 'to have' with the participle.
- For regular verbs, just add 'ed' to the infinitive.
- For irregular verbs, use the participle form.
| |
Positive |
Negative |
Question |
| All pronouns |
I had worked |
You had not worked |
Had she worked? |
| |
We had spoken |
He had not spoken |
Had they spoken? |
Use of Past Perfect
Signal words
- already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day (with reference to the past, not the present)
- If-Sentence type III (If I had talked,...)
The past perfect simple expresses an action taking place before a certain time in the past, or it expresses that someting did NOT happen in the past, and therefore something else did not, either.
Actions taking place before a certain time in the past
Examples:
- Before I came here, I had spoken to Jack.
- I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.
- I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.
- Tony knew Istanbul so well because he had visited the city several times.
- Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?
- She only understood the movie because she had read the book.
- We were not able to get a hotel room because we had not booked in advance.
- A: Had you ever visited the U.S. before your trip in 2006?
B: Yes, I had been to the U.S. once before.
Actions that did NOT happen in the past (Conditional Sentences Type III)
Examples:
- If I had seen him, I would have talked to him. (But I did not see him, so I did not talk to him either)
- If I had owned a car, I would have driven to work. But I didn't own one, so I took the bus.
- She would have traveled around the world if she had had more money. But she didn't have much money, so she never traveled.
- I would have read more as a child if I hadn't watched so much TV. Unfortunately, I did watch a lot of TV, so I never read for entertainment.
- Mary would have gotten the job and moved to Japan if she had studied Japanese in school instead of French.
- If Jack had worked harder, he would have earned more money. Unfortunately, he was lazy and he didn't earn much.
- A: What would you have done if you had won the lottery last week?
B: I would have bought a house.
irregular verbs
To use the simple past, present perfect or past perfect correctly, you will need to know the irregular verbs by heart.
Learn the list and their meanings.
Irregular verbs
