ENGLISH GRAMMAR I – The Verb Phrase Timeline

‘THEN’ ‘NOW’ ‘THEN’

Single event: State: Habit or series of events:
→→→→→ →→→→→ →→→→→
Temporary state or event: ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔ Temporary habit: . . . . ᵔ.
ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕ
ᵕᵔᵕ ᵔᵕ Past time Present time Future time

A– PRESENT TIME

1 State I like Mary.

2 Single event I resign.

3 Habitual She gets up early.

THE PRESENT 4 Temporary He’s drinking Scotch. ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔ

PROGRESSIVE
ᵕᵔᵕ
5 Temporary habit She’s getting up early .ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕ
. . . ᵔ.
(nowadays).
ᵔᵕ
B – PAST TIME
THE PRESENT
TENSE 1 State up to present time I’ve known her for years.

THE PRESENT 2 Indefinite event(s) I’ve seen better plays.

PERFECT

3 Habit up to present time He’s conducted that

orchestra for 15 years.

4 With present result You’ve ruined my dress!

5 Temporary state up to I’ve been waiting for an ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔ

present time hour.
THE PRESENT ᵔᵕ
PERFECT 6 Temporary habit up to He’s been walking since . . . . ᵔ.
PROGRESSIVE present time he was 8 months old.
ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕ
ᵔᵕ
7 Temporary, with present You’ve been smoking! .ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕ
. . . ᵔ.
result
ᵔᵕ

Dpto de Lengua y Literatura Inglesa – FFHA – UNSJ

Drawn from A Communicative Grammar of English. G. Leech and J. Svartik. Longman. 1975. Pp 74-75
 ENGLISH GRAMMAR I – The Verb Phrase Timeline

‘THEN’ ‘NOW’ ‘THEN’

→→→→→ →→→→→ →→→→→
Past time Present time Future time

B– PAST TIME

8 Definite state I lived in Africa when I

was young.

9 Definite event I saw him yesterday.

10 Definite habit I got/used to get up early

in those days.

THE PAST THE PAST 11 Definite temporary We were watching TV. ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔ
TENSE PROGRESSIVE
ᵕᵔᵕ
THE PAST 12 Past before past time I had visited the island
PERFECT (event) before.

13 State up to past time I had known him since

birth.

THE PAST 14 Temporary state up to They had been lying in

PERFECT past time wait for him ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕ
PROGRESSIVE ᵔᵕᵔᵕ
C – FUTURE TIME
The letter will arrive
Will/shall 15 Future time (neutral) tomorrow.
Be going to 16 Future time (arising from
present time) Prices are going to rise.
The present progressive 17 Future time (plan or
arrangement) We’re moving next week.
The simple present 18 Future time (as fact) The match starts at 2:00
pm.
Will/shall + the progressive 19 Future time (as a
matter of course) I’ll be seeing you soon.
Will/shall + the progressive 20 Future time The astronauts will be
(temporary) sleeping at 4:00 am. ᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔᵕᵔ
Will/shall + the perfect 21 Past in future time The plane will have ᵕᵔᵕ
landed by then.

Dpto de Lengua y Literatura Inglesa – FFHA – UNSJ

Drawn from A Communicative Grammar of English. G. Leech and J. Svartik. Longman. 1975. Pp 74-75