43 topics
Beyond habits vs now: present continuous also covers temporary situations and changing trends; present simple covers permanent states and stative verbs.
Scheduled events (transport, films, classes) take the present simple, even when they refer to the future.
Use the present continuous for planned future arrangements, especially when a time is mentioned.
Form: have / has + past participle. Use it for past actions or states with a connection to now: experience, recent events, results, or unfinished time periods.
"Ever" and "never" cover life experience. "Just" = a moment ago. "Already" = sooner than expected. "Yet" = used in questions and negatives.
Use "for" with a length of time (for two years). Use "since" with a starting point (since 2020, since Monday).
Present perfect = connection to now, no specific past time. Past simple = finished time, often with a time marker.
Watch out: Never combine present perfect with a finished time: not "I have seen him yesterday."
The default tense for telling a story or reporting a finished action with a clear time in the past.
The past continuous (was/were + -ing) sets the scene; the past simple is the main event that interrupts. Often linked with "when" or "while".
Form: had + past participle. Use it to show that one past action happened before another. "When I arrived, she had already left."
Use "used to + verb" for past habits or states that are no longer true. Negative: "didn't use to" or "never used to".
Watch out: Do not confuse with "be used to" (= be accustomed to).
Use "will" for spontaneous decisions, offers, and predictions without evidence. Use "be going to" for plans and evidence-based predictions.
In future time clauses, use the present simple, even though the meaning is future.
Watch out: Avoid future tense after "when/until": "when I will get home" is wrong.
"Have to" and "must" express obligation; "must" feels more personal. "Don't have to" = no obligation; "mustn't" = prohibition.
Use "should" for advice and weak obligation. The negative "shouldn't" suggests something is a bad idea.
All three express present or future possibility. They are roughly interchangeable, though may is slightly more formal.
"Can" is informal, "could" is more polite, "may" is most formal. Use them to ask for or give permission.
Use "be able to" when "can" is not possible (e.g., perfect tenses, infinitives, future). For a specific successful achievement in the past, we often use "was/were able to"; in negatives, "couldn't" is also common.
Pattern: if + present simple, present simple. Use it for facts and general truths. "If" can usually be replaced by "when".
Pattern: if + present simple, will + verb. Use it for real future possibilities.
Pattern: if + past simple, would + verb. Use it for imaginary or unlikely present/future situations. In formal or careful English, "were" is often used instead of "was" in hypothetical if-clauses, especially with I/he/she/it.
Form: be + past participle. Use the passive when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious. Add "by + agent" to mention the doer.
When reporting what someone said, the tense usually "shifts back" one step. "I am tired" becomes "She said she was tired."
"Tell" needs a personal object (tell someone something). "Say" does not (say something to someone).
Use "to + verb" to express a person's purpose ("I went to buy bread"). Use "for + noun" for the beneficiary or intended use. Use "for + -ing" mainly to describe the function of a thing.
Memorize which verbs take which: want/decide/hope + to-infinitive; enjoy/finish/avoid + -ing. Some verbs take either with little difference (like, love, prefer).
Verbs like give, send, show, lend, tell, offer can take two objects. Order: person + thing, OR thing + "to/for" + person.
Pattern: make / let + object + base verb (no "to"). "Help" can take base verb or to-infinitive.
Stative verbs (know, believe, want, love, own, seem) describe states. They are normally not used in continuous tenses.
Watch out: "I am knowing" is wrong; use "I know."
A phrasal verb = verb + particle (turn on, look after). Separable: object can go between (turn the light on). Inseparable: object always after (look after the kids).
Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself...) refer back to the subject when the subject and object are the same person.
Use "some-" in affirmative sentences and offers; "any-" in negatives and questions; "no-" with positive verbs (negative meaning); "every-" for all.
"Too" + adjective = more than wanted. "Enough" goes before nouns and after adjectives/adverbs. "Most" + plural noun = the majority.
Use them to identify a noun. "Who" for people, "which" for things, "that" for both, "where" for places. No comma before a defining clause.
When the relative pronoun is the object of the clause, you can drop it.
Use "So + auxiliary + subject" to agree with a positive statement, "Neither + auxiliary + subject" to agree with a negative one.
Adverbs follow similar rules: faster, more carefully, the most often. Irregular: better, worse, further.
Use "as + adjective/adverb + as" to compare equals. "Not as...as" = less.
"Although" introduces a contrasting clause. "However" links sentences. Time connectors: when, while, before, after, as soon as.
Common ones: across, along, over, through, towards, into, out of. They describe direction and path.
"On time" = punctual. "In time" = with enough time. "At the end" = at the final point. "In the end" = finally / after all.
In subject questions, no auxiliary is needed: "Who called?" not "Who did call?". Prepositions usually stay at the end of the question.
After introductory phrases (Could you tell me, Do you know), the word order changes to statement order: no inversion, no do/does/did.
Read bilingual short stories and notice these structures in real sentences.
