By Jacqueline Schaalje In this article we’ll try to sort out present perfect and past simple. You can use both present perfect and past simple to say something about the past: 1. I spoke with Barney last week. (past simple) 2. I’ve just spoken to my mother. (present perfect) The Difference Between the Two The… Continue reading Grammar Quiz – Overview of Present Perfect and Past Simple
By Jacqueline Schaalje Students ask me sometimes whether they can ask any question with do and does. I say, no, sometimes you need to ask with “can,” or with a form of to be (am, is, are). “So when do I need do or does?” the student will ask. Answer: First of all you use… Continue reading When to Use Do and Does, Questions and Negatives
By Jacqueline Schaalje Now a really easy grammar subject: has and have. When do you use have and when has? Look at the picture. What do you see? A man hugging his son. The man has a son. Note: I’m only going to talk about present simple tense, and not about any other tense. There… Continue reading Easy Grammar: Has and Have
Ready for a Slightly More Difficult Tenses Quiz? By Jacqueline Schaalje Not so Easy Not so Easy Not so Easy Not so Easy Not so Easy Not so Easy Not so Easy Not so Just like last time, but now slightly more tricky. Can you use the correct tense in these sentences? Try the test… Continue reading Basic Tenses Review 2
Easy easy Easy easy easy Easy easy Easy easy easy Easy easy Easy easy By Jacqueline Schaalje I’ve been sending you lots of articles about tenses and grammar and more tenses and more grammar, but how well do you know them? Just for a change, try the quiz first. Click here to do this online.… Continue reading Basic Tenses Review – Easy Grammar
You can use the expression “used to” for things that were true in the past, but they are not now. People may have changed their habits, or they have died, etc. Often, used to speaks about the distant past (not about yesterday). For instance, when you were a kid you had a stamp collection, but… Continue reading Upgrade Your English with Used To – I Used to Live in London
In this article we’ll practise making the future progressive. It’s not very complicated. You use: will be + verb ending in –ing. When to Use? We use the future progressive when something is sure to happen. Here is an example: A) I can say: I will go to the movies tonight. B) I can also… Continue reading I Will Be Studying for my Exam This Weekend – Future Progressive (Continuous)
The following practice is for advanced students. Do this only when you know how to use different tenses. You can use tenses with modals too. Modals are verbs like must, need, have to and ought to. Underneath are some examples for you to study: Each example is in the affirmative (= a statement), a question… Continue reading Can Humans Fly? – Mixed Tenses with Modals
How to make the Past Progressive To make the past progressive you use “was” or “were” + a verb with –ing. Examples: was drinking were playing When to use: 1 Past progressive is used to tell at what time something happened. Examples: At 9 o’clock Mary was having breakfast. Albrecht was playing badminton between… Continue reading We were drinking coffee when the phone rang: Past Progressive – How and When to Use it
I’m going to review with you how to use Past Simple and Present Perfect. If you need more than just a review, you can read more about these tenses here and here. Past simple is the easier of the two to understand. When Do You Use Past Simple? When something happened in the past. The past… Continue reading Walked or Have Walked? – How to Distinguish Between Past Simple and Present Perfect
English with a Smile 