Tense and Aspect; Preposition

Tense and Aspect

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular verbs form their past form and the past participle by adding -ed to the base form.

Examples: talk – talked watch – watched

Irregular verbs form their past form and past participle without adding -ed to the base

form.

Examples: do – did sing – sang

Source: Lester, Mark. McGraw-Hill Education Handbook of English Grammar & Usage. McGraw Hill Professional, 2018.

Tense is a verb-based technique used to convey the timing of an action or state in relation to the time of speaking, as well as occasionally its continuation or completion.

There are three verb tenses: present, past, and past participle.

· Present Tense

Simple Present Tense talks about present or habitual actions.

Example: Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

Progressive Present Tense involves actions happening in the present while the doer is speaking

Example: Water is already boiling when I got the pasta.

Present Perfect Tense is for actions just done or still in effect.

Example: Water has boiled a minute ago.

· Past Tense

Simple Past Tense - talks about actions completed in the past.

Example: I finished my homework.

Progressive Past Tense - pertains to actions completed before some other past action.

Example: I was still finishing my homework when you called.

Present Perfect Tense - are for actions just done or still in effect.

Example: I had finished my homework since this weekend.

· Future Tense

Simple Future Tense - talks about actions to be done in the future.

Example: Eddie will win the music competition.

Progressive Future Tense - is for actions to happen in the future while the doer speaks.

Example: Eddie will be winning the competition while I’m in medical school.

Present Future Tense - are for actions to be completed before some future time.

Example: Eddie will have won the competition before you leave medical school.

II. Preposition

A small, yet very important part of grammar is the preposition. A preposition is used to elaborate the action by telling where or when it happens. Without prepositions, it would be hard for English speakers to communicate locations, addresses, time, and dates. In the CCS workplace, customer details are always spoken and written by both agent and customers. Hence, it is crucial to know the differences between these prepositions of place and time. This lesson will make you more aware of rules in using prepositions.

Preposition Defined

A preposition is a word or set of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. It indicates direction, time, place, location, and spatial relationships, or introduces an object.

Preposition of Place

Prepositions of place refer to something or someone’s located.

• At is used to discuss a certain point or a specific address.

Example: at 123 Sunset Park, California

• In is used for an enclosed space, or wide, spacious areas.

Examples: in a box in the building

• On is used for a surface such as roads, streets, and bodies of water.

Examples: on the table on the train

• By is used when the object or person discussed is only near a certain object or person.

Examples: by the sea by the house

Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of time allows you to discuss a specific time period such as a date on the calendar, one of the days of the week, or the actual time something takes place.

• At refers to clock times, holidays, and other very specific time frames, such as “at night.”

Examples: at 7:00 PM at noon

• In is used to discuss months, seasons, years, centuries, general times of day, and longer periods of time such as “in the past.”

Examples: in June in spring in 2019

• On is used for days of the week, specific dates, and special days such as “on New Year’s Day.”

Examples: on Tuesday on January 25, 2018

• By is used to refer to dates of completions of an action.

Examples: by March by 2020

Prepared by:

JOANNE V. CURA

Teacher I

Checked by: