Down with the signs! How to learn English times

Times in the English language are traditionally considered one of the most difficult topics in education. They are strongly associated with memorizing long obscure tables and memorizing non-obvious rules. In fact, everything is not so. We tell how to quickly master the times and their aspects in order to start speaking English without stumbling.

First things first

First, in English there are three times : past, present and future (some linguists even reduce their number to two, not recognizing the right to be considered a separate time for the future). But each time has four aspects, because of which there is a misconception about the "twelve times."

Secondly, of the twelve aspect-time forms, only five are most often used (about 80%) - Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple, Present Perfect and Future Simple. At first, it is enough to remember only them, the rest will complete their education as needed (and practice).
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Thirdly, when studying these aspect-time forms, it is important not to memorize the tablets, but to understand the logic of their education, to learn in English to perceive the position of events in time.

Learn aspects

So, for each of the three times in English there are four aspects. Let's deal with them.

Simple is used in the case when no additional specifying time factors are required: you just have to report about some event, without going into details. Also use it in all cases when it comes to something permanent, and the sentence can be inserted into the words usually, often, never, always, sometimes, every (hour, Monday, winter, week, year) . If you speak She speaks 3 foreign languages , you mean her constant characteristic, and not that she speaks all three right now.

Continuous is recognized by the auxiliary verb to be and the ending -ing, and is used when the action is “in progress” at the time point in question. It emphasizes that we are talking about something that has already begun, but has not yet been completed (it was not / will not be completed). I'm eating bread means I'm sitting right now with my mouth full; when she called I was eating bread shows why it was difficult for me to answer at the time of the call. Please note that Continuous in English focuses more on the incompleteness of the process than the imperfect verbs of the Russian language: the neutral sentence “I studied at the university”, becoming I was studying at University , will tell the other party that you have not finished it.

Perfect contains the auxiliary verb to have and implies the completeness of the action - made, played, earned, ate, caught up. If you can insert something like “already”, “just now” or “finally” into the sentence - use Perfect. Our son had not been able to read, studied, achieved results and now knows how.

Perfect Continuous (there are both to have and to be with -ing ) raises the most questions among Russian-speaking students. This aspect describes the events that occurred, occurring or about to occur within a certain period of time. What is the difference between Perfect Continuous and just Continuous? Continuous is used when it is important that an event occurs at the time being described, but when it started it does not matter. Perfect Continuous - when this period of time must be emphasized: "at the time in question, this is already happening so much." I met my wife - Continuous, because I say at what point I met my wife , and the main thing is, not the term of study. Perfect Continuous: here the focus is on the duration of study. Please note: we are talking about learning that has not yet or has just ended; if your diploma has been on the shelf for a year, use the Simple aspect ( I studied at University for five years ), since this is a fait accompli.

Five main times-aspects

Present Simple is used when we are talking about a regular, constant, typical action that is not tied to the moment of speech:

I live in Paris - I live in Paris (I live in Paris "always, constantly".)

Present Continuous shows that the action takes place right now, at the moment of speech / writing (in Russian, verbs of movement have a similar form - I fly, I go, etc.):

The doctor is performing an operation now - the Doctor is conducting the operation now (he does this at the moment of the speech of the person who reports).

The winter is coming - winter is approaching not in predictions, but right now, something urgent needs to be done, panic!

Present Perfect is used when the action is completed (there is a result), but time has not ended, or when this action has consequences in the present tense:

I have seen him today - I saw him today. (the action has already ended, but “today” has not yet ended; earlier in Russian the word “just now” was used for “today in the past tense”).

Be careful - I have washed the floor. - Careful: I washed the floor, and it is - right now - slippery.

Our son has learned how to read - the son has learned and now can read.

We literally mean each school since it literally translates as "we got to know each other at school and have known each other since."

Past Simple is used to express an action that occurred at a specific time in the past, while this time has already ended or does not matter:

I saw him yesterday. - I saw him yesterday (this day has already ended).

Leo Tolstoy learned to read the age of five - a great writer is now hardly reading, and it does not matter.

Future Simple is becoming increasingly rare, and some of our Methodists believe that it has no place in the list of the five most sought after times. Now it should be used to refer to a decision made at the time of speech, or an expected event, which has just become known:

We will take a taxi. - Let's go by taxi (we show the decision to do something in the future, taken now).

The phone rang: I'll take it.

You play volleyball, the ball flies: I'll get it!

You have finished talking on the phone and tell the audience: He'll be there.

A pair of life hacks

• While the situation with Future Simple is settling down, and you still do not feel very confident in English, just use the design with be going to for the future tense. If earlier it meant a plan that has already been developed, but has not yet begun to be implemented ( My car is too old ), now it is almost always permissible ( The solar eclipse is going to happen next August ).
• If you know all the aspects, but you can not think of which one to use in a particular case - your choice is Simple. All other aspects apply when it is important to emphasize the time factor; if you ask a similar question, it means that this factor does not matter.

What's next?

Five of the above aspect-time forms are enough to start communicating. But for a full-fledged English language, of course, you need to know everything else. Actually, you yourself will feel the need for them when you master our "basic five". What to do?

If you need to learn all the times right now (for example, the exam is coming) - there is nothing better than individual lessons aimed precisely at studying the times. Gather strength, and forward.

If you just want to know English well - practice! Communicate, read, watch movies without translation. If you have learned five basic forms and understand the logic of building times, all other forms will not be difficult. You yourself will not notice how you will begin to use them - even without knowing how they are correctly named in the textbook. The main thing is to learn to think in English, to intuitively feel the English time.

Good luck in learning!



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