Grammar Reference

The present simple, present continuous and present perfect tenses

Present simple
We use the present simple tense for things that we do regularly and for facts, habits, truths and
permanent situations. We often use time expressions like every day, once a week, on Fridays.
I check my email every day. (regular activity)
Yuki works at the bank. (permanent situation)
Form:
For positive sentences, use the same form as the infinitive without 'to' for I, you,
we and they. For he, she and it, add -s or -es to the infinitive. Make questions and negatives
with do / does + the infinitive without 'to'.
They live in Rome.
Julian starts work at nine o’clock and finishes at five.
I don't eat meat.
It doesn't usually snow in October.
Why do you read the news online every day?
Does the supermarket sell stamps?
Present Continuous
We use the present continuous for things that are happening at the time we are speaking, for
temporary situations, and for activities that are in progress.
Just a minute. I’m checking my email. (now)
She usually works in London, but she’s working from home this week. (temporary)
I’m studying Economics (activity in progress)
We can also use the present continuous for future arrangements, usually with a time expression.
I'm seeing the doctor on Monday morning.
Form:
For positive sentences, the form is subject + am/is/are + verb-ing. Make questions and
negatives with am/are/is + not + verb-ing.
Can I call you back later? We’re having dinner right now.
He isn’t answering his mobile at the moment.
What are you doing?
Is it raining?
Note: There are some verbs that we don’t usually use in the continuous form. They are often
verbs of thinking and feeling, for example: hear, see, smell, hate, know, understand, want,
need.
WRONG: Could you explain that again? I’m not understanding.
CORRECT: Could you explain that again? I don’t understand.
Present Perfect
Use the present perfect for:
1) Life experiences in the past. We don’t say when these happened: we are interested in the
experience, not the time or date. We often use ever and never.
I’ve seen all Tarantino’s films.
Have you ever eaten sushi? - Yes, I have. / No, I haven’t.
2) Recent past actions that are important now.
Oh no! I’ve left my wallet on the bus.
The president has resigned.
3) Past situations that are still happening now. We often use how long with for (throughout a
period of time) and since (from a point in the past until now).
I haven’t seen Jenny this morning. (It is still this morning.)
How long have you known Mitya? - I’ve known him for two years.
Jack's been in Italy since January.
4) With just, already, yet to talk about recent events in the past. The exact time is not important.
Use just and already mainly in positive sentences. Use yet in negatives and questions.
It’s just stopped raining. Let’s go out.
Can you feed the cat? - I’ve already fed her.
We can still watch the film. It hasn’t started yet.
Have you done your English homework yet?
Note: Use the past simple for completed actions in the past.
I saw Jenny yesterday.
Peter moved to Saudi Arabia in 2011.
Natasha didn't want another piece of cake.
When did you see Alex?
Form:
For positive sentences, the form is subject + have/has + past participle. Make negatives
with not and change the word order to make questions.
I've finished the report.
Jack's been in Italy since January.
We've just got back from Germany.
I haven’t seen Jenny this morning.
How long has Alex known Mitya?
Session 1: Hyphens
Compound adjectives with hyphens in them include:

adjective/adverb + present participle

a hard-working student, a good-looking man

ages and numbers before a noun

eighteen-year-old students, a two-door car
the students are eighteen years old, you don't need hyphens.

compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine

fifty-two, seventy-eight

Compound adjectives can be formed in other ways, for example:

adjective/adverb + noun
a last-minute decision, a one-way street, full-time staff

noun + adjective
a world-famous athlete

adverb/noun + past participle before a noun

well-respected politicians, a battery-operated toy

three-word compound adjectives before a noun

an out-of-date hairstyle, an out-of-work father

Compound adjectives without hyphens include:

adverb/noun + the past participle after a noun

the politicians were well respected, this toy is battery operated

three-word compound adjectives after a noun

that hairstyle is out of date, his father is out of work

compound adjectives made with an adverb ending in –ly, both before and after a noun
a carefully written letter, the letter was carefully written

Compound nouns do not usually have a hyphen, for example:

secondary school, swimming pool, ice cream

But a few compound nouns are hyphenated, for example:

t-shirt, mother-in-law
The present perfect continuous tense
Meaning and use
We use the present perfect continuous to talk about an activity that started in the past and is
continuing now or has recently finished.
 I’ve been reading that new book you lent me… I’m really enjoying it. (= action still in
progress)
 Is that Joe? I’ve been trying to contact you. I’ve got some bad news. (= action recently
finished)
We often use it to emphasise the continuous, ongoing nature of the activity or to say how long
the activity has continued.
 She’s already been sleeping for two hours.
 It’s been raining all morning.
 I’ve been decorating the house this summer.
When we use the present perfect continuous for situations that have recently finished, we often
use the adverb just.
 'You’ve got paint all over your T-shirt.' 'Oh, I’ve just been painting the living room.'
We often use recently and lately with the present perfect continuous.
 I’m really tired. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.
Form
The present perfect continuous is made with:
subject + have/has/haven’t/hasn’t + been + present participle of main verb.
We put just and already between have/has and the past participle. We usually put adverbs of
time and duration after the main verb.
Positive
 Jack’s working very hard for his exams.  He’s been revising all day.
 I’ve been working at the café for two weeks.
 You’ve been watching far too much telly for too long. Why don’t you take up a new
sport?
Negative
 I haven’t been drinking coffee these last few days and my head is much clearer.
 Doctor, I’ve been feeling dizzy and faint in the mornings.
Question
Present perfect continuous questions are made with:
have/has not + subject + present participle.
  Have you been eating all the biscuits? There are none left!
 What have you been doing? You look exhausted!
Take note: present perfect continuous and present perfect
Some verbs are almost never used in the present perfect continuous. We use the present perfect
instead. The most familiar examples of these are be and know.
WRONG: She’s been being here for ten minutes.
CORRECT: She’s been here for 10 minutes.
WRONG: I’ve only been knowing him since last week.
CORRECT: I’ve only known him since last week.
Take note: already
It is possible to put already at the end of a positive sentence or question.
 He has already  been talking for ten minutes.
 Has he already  been talking for ten minutes?
 He has been talking for ten minutes already.
 Has he been talking for ten minutes already?
Pronunciation
In sentences with just and already, there is usually no stress on has/have or on just/already.
The stress is on the subject and the present participle.
 The chicken has already been cooking for an hour and a half.
 I have just been thinking about Joe. Do you think he’s better now?
But we can put stress on just/already if we want to emphasise how recently or early something
happened.
 The chicken must be ready by now. It’s  already been cooking for an hour and a half.
 Oh, hi Joe. I’ve just  been talking about you to Sophie!
Quantifiers: all, every, each, both, neither, either
Meaning and use: all, every each
Quantifiers are words that give us information about the number or amount of something. All,
every and each mean the whole number of something in a group, but there are differences in
how we use them. In this unit we look at how to use them with nouns.
All  or  All the is followed by a plural or uncountable noun. Every and each are followed by a
singular noun.
 All (the) students have their own rooms.
 All (the) information is on the website.
 Every/Each student has their own room. (OR has  his/her own room.)
Every and each can often be used in the same place, but we prefer every when we are thinking
about the whole number in a group, and each when we are thinking about the members of the
group as individuals.
 I love every painting  by that artist.
 Each painting is unique.
For emphasising every single one, we must use everynot each.
 You’ve eaten every chocolate  in the box!
For only two things, we can use each but not every.
 In baseball, how many players are there in each team?
Alland each but not every can be followed by of and a plural noun or pronoun. Notice that each
of with a plural noun or pronoun is followed by a singular verb.
 All of the students have their own rooms.
 Each of them has their own room.
Form
With plural noun
 All (the) students
 All of the students
 Each of the students
With plural pronoun
 All of them
 Each of us
With uncountable noun
  All (the) information
 All of the information
With singular noun
 Every student
 Each student
Take note: articles
We don’t use an article (the, a/an) before every or each.
 Every painting is unique.
 NOT: The every painting is unique.
Take note: possessive and demonstrative adjectives
We don’t use every before possessive adjectives (his, her, etc) or demonstrative adjectives
(these, those).
 Tarantino’s a brilliant director. I’ve seen all his films.
 NOT: I’ve seen every his films.
Meaning and use of both, neither, either
We use both (of), neither (of) and either (of) to talk about two people or things. Both means
this one AND the other. Neither means NOT this one AND NOT the other. Either means this
one OR the other. Either is used mainly in questions and negative sentences. Here are some
examples of how to use them with nouns:
 I like both  pictures. / I like both of the pictures.
 Neither picture is right for the room. / Neither of the pictures is right for the room.
 She didn’t buy either picture in the end. / She didn’t buy either of the pictures in the
end.
We often use both… and, neither… nor,and either… or.
 She plays both the violin  and the guitar.
 Neither me nor my brother are married.
 Should I wear either this shirt or that one?
Form
With plural noun
 both pictures
 both the/these pictures
 both of the/these pictures
 neither of the/these pictures
  either of the/these pictures
With plural pronoun
 both of them
 neither of them
 either of them
With singular noun
 neither picture
 either picture
Take note: verbs
After neither (of) the verb is always positive. It can be singular or plural after neither of.
 Neither of these answers is/are correct.
But after neither + noun the verb is always singular.
 Neither answer is correct.
After both (of) the verb is always positive and plural. We don’t use both in negative structures.
 Both of these answers are wrong.
 NOT: Both of these answers are not correct.
Finn
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar. I'm Finn…
Catherine
And I'm Catherine. And today we're talking about phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs.
Finn
Yes, we'll explain what they are and how you use them...
Catherine
We'll have lots of examples and of course we'll finish with a quiz.
Finn
But first, let's listen to Mary. She's a lifestyle coach and she has some advice for us about friends
and friendship.
Catherine
And listen out for the answer to this question: What do psychologists say that it is important to
do?
INSERT
Mary
How often do you and your friends get together? In our busy lives today, it's easy to let
our friends down by putting off social arrangements or even forgetting to ring them up. Yet our
friends are the people who stand by us when we need support. So while it's great to keep up
with people on social media, psychologists point out that it's really important to make time
to meet up together too.
Finn
So that was Mary. And we asked: What do psychologists say that it is important to do?
Catherine
And the answer is: They say it's important for us and our friends to meet up. And I think they
mean face to face. What do you think, Finn?
Finn
They do. Face-to-face meeting up is the best thing, they say. And there's our first phrasal verb
- meet up.
Catherine
Yes, meet up. Now, a phrasal verb is a two-word verb made of a verb plus a little word
like in, on, out, or up. We usually think of in, on, out, and up as prepositions, but in phrasal
verbs they behave more like adverbs.
Finn
They do. In the phrasal verb meet up, the adverb up modifies the meaning of the
verb meet. Meet and meet up are very similar in meaning. But the adverb sometimes does more
than that. Listen to this clip.
INSERT
Mary
...psychologists point out that it's really important to make time to meet up together too.
Finn
Right, we heard the phrasal verb point out there, but it doesn't mean the same as the
verb point. Point out means to say something interesting, or unusual or useful. And the adverb
changes the meaning significantly.
Catherine
It does. Now listen out for more phrasal verbs in this clip.
INSERT
Mary  
In our busy lives today, it's easy to let our friends down by putting off social arrangements or
even forgetting to ring them up.
Finn
Now if we let our friends down, it means that we don't help or support them. And when we put
off arrangements, we cancel or delay them. And if we ring people up, we phone them.
Catherine
And those are interesting phrasal verbs because when they have an object, we can put the object
either between the verb and the adverb, or we can put it after the adverb.
Finn
Like this: we can let our friends down or we can let down our friends.
Catherine
You wouldn't let your friends down.
Finn
I'd never let my friends down, Catherine. Or my colleagues.
Catherine
And we can put off arrangements or put arrangements off.
Finn
We can. But be careful. If the object is a pronoun, you have to put it in the middle. For example,
you have to say ring them up.
Catherine
Yeah. Don't say ring up them.
Finn
No, don't say that. Now, one more clip. Can you spot any more phrasal verbs?
INSERT
Mary
Yet our friends are the people who stand by us when we need support.
Catherine
Well, we just heard stand by us. And you are probably wondering why the pronoun is at the end
of the verb because we just said that you can't put pronouns at the end. But stand by is a slightly
different type of verb, because by isn't an adverb. It's a preposition.
Finn
That's right. In some two-word verbs, the second word such as by, with, into, or on behaves like
a preposition, not an adverb. And in these verbs, the object or object pronoun always comes after
the preposition.
Catherine
OK. So Mary said that it's great to keep up with people on social media. And keep up
with means keep in contact with, and it's a phrasal verb made of three parts: a verb: keep, plus
an adverb: up, plus a preposition: with.
Finn
That's right. And with phrasal verbs with three parts, the object always comes at the end.
We keep up with people.
IDENT          
6 Minute Grammar from the BBC.
Catherine
And it's time for a quiz! Number one. Is this sentence correct or wrong? She took her coat off,
hung it up and sat down.
Finn
That's correct. Number two: correct or wrong? We keep with each other up by phone and email.
Catherine
And that one is wrong...
Finn
I know.
Catherine
...sounds horrible! The correct sentence is: We keep up with each other by phone and email. So,
number three: I turned down the job because it was too far away. Now the question is: can you
also say a) I turned down it. Or b) I turned it down?
Finn
Well, this time you can say b) I turned it down.
Catherine
You can. And very good if you got those right at home.  
Finn
There's more about this at bbclearningenglish.com. So join us again soon for more 6 Minute
Grammar.
Both
Bye!