Future forms

Will:

We use will:

• to make predictions or give opinions about the future (It will be really hot this summer)
• to express spontaneous decisions made at the moment of speaking (I think I'll read this book next)

Going to:

We use going to:

• to talk about aour plans and intentions (What are you going to do in the Christmas holidays?)
• to make predictions based on evidence at the time of speaking (The sky is clear. The weather is going to be nice)

Present continuous for future use:

We use the present continuous to talk about short term plans or arragements. We often mention a specific time or place (We are travelling to Andorra in December)

Future continuous:

Affirmative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + will + be + -ing (I'll be moving to England)

Negative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + won't + be + -ing (He won't be revising tonight)

Interrogative:

Will I/he/she/it/you/we/they + be + -ing (Will they be coming to the party?)

Use:

We use the future continuous to refer to future actions which:

• take place over a period of time (I can't meet you tomorrow-I'll be visiting my grandmother)
• have already been planned (We'll be leaving on the day after Christmas)

Future perfect simple:

Affirmative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + will + have + past participle (I'll have been here for six hours)

Negative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + won't + have + past participle (She won't have arrived yet)

Interrogative:

Will I/he/she/it/you/we/they + have + past participle (Will you have finished by midday?)

Use:

We use the future perfect to talk about something that will be completed by a specific moment in the future. We usually use by to explain when the specific moment in the future will be (We'll have learnt how to ski perfectly by the end of the holiday)

Past tenses

Past simple and past continuous:

We use the past simple to talk about:

• Events or actions in the past that have completely finished (I spent a fortnight in Cornwall with my family)
• Things which happened repeatedly in the past (We went to London every weekend last year)
• Past states (I was very shy when I was young)

We use past continuous:

• To talk about an action in progress at specific moment in the past (I saw you yesterday. You were sitting on the bus)
• When an action takes place over a period of time in the past (While I was working, my sister was watching TV)

We often use the past simple and the past continuous in the same sentence with when and while:

• To refer to a past action interrupted by another action. The past continuous describes the longer action and the past simple describes a shorter action which interrupts it (I was shopping in town one day when I noticed a job advert/ I saw her while I was cycling to work)

Past simple and past perfect:

• We use the past simple to talk about a completed action in the past (I got to the station at 7.30)
• We use the past perfect to talk about actions or situations which happened before other actions or situations in the past. We use the past simple to talk about the most recent of the actions or situations (I got to the station at 7.30 but the train had already left)
• We use for and since with the past perfect to indicate the duration of a past action or situation. We never use for and since with simple tenses (I'd known her for years/ He'd worked there since March)

Past simple and present perfect simple:

• We use the past simple to talk about a state or an action that finished in the past (I worked in London last summer)
• We use the present perfect simple to talk about a state or an action that started in the past, and that continues in the present (I've worked in London since 2004 (I still work in London))
• We use the past simple when we are specifying the exact time or period of time when something happened. We specify the time by using a time expression: ago, then, when, for two days, in 2006, etc (I finished my project last weekend)
• We use the present perfect simple if we are not specifying the time when something happened. We use adverbs of time to show the connection between past and present: never, ever, already, just, yet, for, since (Have you already finished your project?)

Used to:

Affirmative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + used to + infinitive (She used to love eating sweets)

Negative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + didn't use to + infinitive (I didn't use to like coffee)

Interrogative:

Did + I/he/she/it/you/we/they + use to + infinitive (Did you use to live here?)

We use used to to contrast a past habit or situation with the present. We use used to to explain that the habit or situation no longer exists in the present (I didn't use t o have an MP3 player (but now I do))

Remember!

• We can also use would + infinitive to talk about a past habit.
• But we cannot use would + infinitive to talk about a past state.

Be / get used to:

• We form be used to with be + used to + -ing (I'm used to getting up early)
• We form get used to with get + used to + -ing (He got used to walking everywhere)
• We can use be and get in different tenses, but used to never changes.

Use:

• be used to means "be accustomed to"
• get used to means "become acusstomed to"

Remember!

Be careful not to confuse be used to and get used to with used to. They have different meanings and structures.

Present tenses

Present simple and present continuous:

We use the present simple to talk about:

• facts and states (The library doesn't close until 10 p.m.)
• habits and repeated actions (I usually get up early)

We use the present continuous to talk about:

• actions happening now (I'm studying design and technology)
• temporary situations (At the moment, I'm living in a university building)

Remember!

With certain verbs we never use the continuous form. These are called stative verbs. The most common are:

• believe, know, understand, remember, forget, think, like, love, prefer, hate, be, have (got), own.

Present perfect simple:

We use the present perfect simple:

• to talk about states, actions or events that started in the past and that continue in the present (How long have you been here?)
• to talk about something which happened in the past and which has an effect in the present (She's passed her exams so she's going to university)
• to talk about past experiences, without exactly when they took place (I've made a lot of new friends)

The first day at high school

In the first English class of the year, the teacher explained that this year we have to work very hard. For this we are create a blog for do the exercises.
Later, she put a video which is called "101 things to do over the summer". In the video there is a girl who says all the things she has done in the summer, for example ride a bike, read an interesting book, meet friends and more. My classmates and I have written in a paper things we have done in the summer that coincide with the video.
My things that coincided with the video are eat ice cream, go swimming, photograph things, sing, smile, play game, watch a fun video, watch the ocean, phone a friend, listen to music, play with the dog, meet friend and draw a picture.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMEoQVdJVoQ