WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

TOPIC 2 TENSES

This module intends to help course participants to revise and analyse the three main tenses and forms in English.

Learning Outcomes

To enable CPs to identify tenses used in texts.

Use correct and appropriate language structures in different types of writing

Assess own language progress through self and peer evaluation

Content

Forms

Tenses

Simple Progressive Perfect

Present eat/s am/is/are eating have/has eatenPast Ate was/were eating had eatenFuture will/shall eat will be eating will have eaten

1.PRESENT TENSE

Present tense expresses a general truth, habitual action and talks about something existing at the time of speaking.

Example MeaningThe Earth is round A fact. The truthEvery morning, I brush my teeth. Recurring action / Habitual actionI hear the train coming. Happens at that particular time frame.

2. PAST TENSE

Past tense expresses an action or situation that begins and completes at a particular time in the past. Most past tense verbs end in –ed. The irregular verbs have special past tense forms which must be memorized.

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WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

Example FormThe students arrived in class before the teacher

Regular –ed past form

Shiela went to the hospital yesterday morning.

Irregular form

3. FUTURE TENSE

-Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the future. This tense is formed by adding will/shall with the basic form of the verb.

e.g The Prime Minister of Malaysia will speak at the opening ceremony tomorrow.

Try out this exercise.

A : Complete the sentences with DO,DOES, IS or ARE. Put a (-) in the blank wherever not needed .

1. Jack __________ not work at his father’s office.

2. Kate ___________sells flowers at a stall.

3. ________ you plan to get a job, too?

4. ________ a lizard a reptile?

5. A mosquito ___________ flying around Sam’s head.

6. Denise and Scott usually __________work together on small construction jobs.

7. __________ mosquito repellent work?

8. Almost all reptiles __________ lay eggs.

9. Look outside!. It _________ raining. I’m feeling cold.

10. They _______ late for class because of the rain.

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WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

B: Identify and underline the present tense forms in the following text.Use the following to indicate: SP(simple Present), PProg(Present Progressive) and PP (Present Perfect ).

TEXT 1

WAYS TO MAKE WATER TASTE BETTER

Many packaged drinks are quite expensive. The cheapest drink out there is water. The

main reason that people don’t drink water is that it is tasteless and not very ‘fun’ to

drink. On the other hand, water is definitely healthier than soda, so now there is an

entire category of packaged drinks that is basically bottled water with added colouring,

vitamins, and flavour. Instead of buying these, there are many things you can add to

water at home to make it more exciting to drink.

1. Add herbs such as mint, lemongrass and parsley to the water. If you want to release

the flavour, you can crush the plants a little before putting them into your water.

2. Adding vinegar to water is similar to adding citrus. You will get wour water that has

vitamin C. When I was a kid. I like adding apple cider vinegar to the water before

drinking it..

3. I’m sure you’ve heard of the term “electrolytes” in the marketing for energy drinks.

Electrolytes are little more than just ions that can be found in common table salt.

Adding a little bit of salt to water helps your body absorb the liquid more quickly. As

long as you don’t go overboard with the salt, the water should be very quenching. It is

great for workouts, since the body loses salt through water.

Readers Digest Nov 2010

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WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

B: Identify and underline the present tense forms in the following text.Use the following to indicate: SP(simple Past), PProg(Past Progressive) and PP (Past Perfect ).

TEXT 2

They had eaten the barbecued lamb, the grilled steaks and the green lettuce.

Through crispy, aromatic smoke which spread thinly across the flood-lit lawn, they had

picked at the satay with their teeth and sipped glasses of wine and beer. Loud laughter

frequently burst forth from a few tables followed by momentsof unnatural quiet. The talk

at one table was about a bomb explosion outside the house of Wan Nurudin, Secretary-

General to Housing Minister a few days previously. His gate was blasted open and a

security guard killed. That’s why the dinner was being held at Panglima’s house and

Wan Nurudin, though present, was in the background. The lady who provided the

details, Esther fu, had plucked eyebrows which had been painted over in two semi-

circular black lines. That’s what she had heard. She explained that there had been a

top level meeting; a new policy towards the disorder in the town had been drafted.

“You’ll see, “ she said. “We’ll soon be able to walk safely in the streets.”

Green is the colour – F. Lloyd.

Do visit the following websites for further exercises to try out or as references .

http://www.bbc.co.uk

http://www.englishexercise.com

http://www.nonstopenglish.com

References

Xin Lu.(2010), November.ways to make water taste better. Readers Digest.

Lloyd Fernando , Green is the Colour,rdasia.com

Betty Schrampfer Azar, Donald A,Azar (1999),Fundamentals of English grammar.2nd ed: Longman.

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