The most difficult pair of English times
We have dealt with the grammar in the previous article , now let's see what difficulties a student faces for whom Russian is his native language. Immediately, we note that it is useless to compare languages: Russian and English belong to different groups. The argument “and in Russian is not so!”, Unfortunately, is useless. Naturally, not so, because Russian is Slavic, and English is German. We can only try to draw parallels, but the rules will never be the same.
At the Beginner level, students usually pass the grammar of these times and the basic rule: Present Simple is used for actions that occur regularly, and Present Continuous - for those that are now. True, but the higher the level, the greater the differences between the times.
Present Simple is really used to refer to actions that occur regularly, every day. This may be your habit, as well as your emotions, status, status and profession. All verbs of personal perception like love, see, like, believe, understand, hate , etc. are static, that is, you can not love someone right now, and tomorrow stop loving. Or believe in something now, and an hour later, stop believing. So these verbs can only be used in Present Simple . Of course, there are exceptions to the rule: for example, the same McDonalds slogan with its unforgettable “I'm loving it” or conversational options like “I'm seeing and I'm liking” . But such examples have nothing in common with classical grammar. In the end, you can also write “with ashypkama” for stylistic reasons. By the way, it would not be superfluous to note that the holy faith of Russian students in the infallibility of carriers, it is better to eradicate from the very first classes. Flawlessly speaks only a small percentage of carriers, as well as in Russia.
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Returning to Present Simple, it can also be noted that occasionally in this time books are being written, where history seems to be happening in the past, but all of the actions of the characters are written in real time. In such cases, Present Simple even assigned a special name - narrative present, historic present or dramatic present.
And Present Simple can be used in the meaning of the future. For example, right now you are going to the airport, your departure in three hours. For you, these “in three hours” is the future, and for the aircraft - the standard schedule, according to which it flies regularly. So, instead of “My plane will depart at 6 PM”, it’s right to say “My plane departs at 6 PM” In principle, everything is similar to Russian. We also often say “I’ll fly out at 6 pm”, and not “cure”.
Well-known and scientific facts are also described in Present Simple , hence its use in both parts of the conditional sentence of the zero type: “If you heat ice, it melts” . This is a scientific fact, and with this condition the result is always the same, so Present Simple is relevant in both parts of the sentence. A major problem for Russian students is the first type of conditional sentences, where Present Simple should be used in the first part and Future Simple in the second. The fact is that in the Russian language in such proposals, the future will be present in both parts: “Until you do your homework, I will not let you out.” And in English, the conditional part will always be in Present Simple: "Unless you do your homework, I won't let you go out . "
Instructions and the imperative are also written in Present Simple : “Open your books, please”, “Do not get up until the plane lands” .
Present Continuous is used for actions that are happening right now. However, this is not the case. You can easily say “I'm living in Moscow now” , only for a carrier it will sound not like “I live in Moscow”, but as “I live temporarily in Moscow” because Present Continuous is used to denote temporary actions. That is, in our example, you came to Moscow on a business trip, for example, or for some kind of project work. You will not be long there and return to yourself. In 99% of cases, you will say “I'm staying at *** hotel”, and not “I stay” , because you are there temporarily and not permanently.
Present Continuous is used to describe temporal habits and trends. For example, "She's eating lots of salty snacks these days" (because she, for example, is pregnant and wants salty, but not always she will be pregnant), or "Nowadays a lot of people are studying English" (this is a trend that Of course, it can last for quite a long time, but still not forever).
Present Continuous can also be used in the meaning of the future, and even here there is a slight coincidence with the Russian language. If you are sure that you will meet with friends tonight, then you say: “We are meeting today” (in the present tense). English is the same. If something happens to one hundred percent probability, then you need to use the Present Continuous : "I'm meeting John tonight . "
The main mistakes of Russian-speaking students for this pair of times:
The main difference between these two times lies in their name. Present Perfect is the present, and Past Simple is the past. But for a Russian student this is just a hell of a pitch. “I read a book” - what's the difference, I just read it, ten years ago or basically read it? There is no Russian, but there is a difference in English. Therefore, by the way, many prefer the American version of the language: Present Perfect is rarely used there. In some states, you can already hear sentences like “I never did that in my life,” which run counter to the fact that students are learning on courses or on their own. But still, to clear our conscience, we will study the difference between these times.
Past Simple is a simple past tense. We use it only in one case: when our action began and ended in the past. Temporary markers of this time indicate the completeness of the action, for example, yesterday, in 1955, 40 years ago . That is, there is no connection with the present, and the action cannot be repeated. Many argue, they say, it is necessary to say “I have graduated from the university” , this also has a connection with the present, but I am still alive. But you could graduate from a particular university once. And this one happened in the past.
The greatest difficulty in this time is irregular verbs. There is no universal recipe and magical way to remember these verbs without effort. All Germanic languages ​​sin with the presence of irregular verbs, and even if you are grieving decide to quit English and take on German, then we have bad news for you. Verbs will have to learn, and still need to remember that in the negation and the question will be used auxiliary verb did, which will take over the form of the verb. That is, in the presence of did in the sentence, the semantic verb will be in the first form.
Present Perfect is used in several cases:
There is a significant difference in terms of time markers between Past Simple and Present Perfec t. All markers Past Simple, as we noted above, give the exact moment in the past. And the Present Perfect markers are pretty blurry: recently, lately, already, ever, yet . They do not give an accurate indication of time.
Since the categories of the future tense in English are not in principle, there are many ways to designate this future tense. Mostly students struggle with Future Simple and one of its most common synonyms to be going to . The first thing to remember here is the fact that to be going to is a separate construction, not a form of Present Continuous time. This designation means “to do something”, “to have an intention to do something”. And over time, Future Simple and the phrase to be going to have similarities.
So, for facts in the future, we can use both Future Simple and be going to . There is no difference between "Jackson will turn 10 next year" and "Jackson is going to turn 10 next year" . Both formulations can be used for so-called predictions — predictions or consequences of something. For example, you can say “We’re late for the train if we don’t hurry” or “We’re late for the train if we don’t hurry” .
But then the differences begin. To be going to is used for your hypotheses about the future, which are based on some fact from the present. Let's explain with an example: “Look at the sky! It's going to rain in a few minutes . ” That is, you now see clouds, and make your assumption based on this fact. Also, to be going to will be used for pre-scheduled actions, for example: "I need some apples why I’m going to bake an apple pie . " First you decided to bake a pie, and now you want to buy apples.
Future Simple is also used for your predictions and assumptions, but more often they are not based on obvious facts, but on your feelings. Future Simple will be used after the words probably, maybe, hopefully and phrases I think, I’m not sure, most likely , etc. We also use a simple future time when the action we are going to take is spontaneous. “Wait, I'll help you with the boxes” - I'm deciding right now to help with the boxes. Future Simple is used for promises ( I will tell you, I promise ), requests ( Will you do it for me, please? ), And also consent or disagreement to do something ( I'm mad at him and I won ' t help him or He won't eat his greens ).
When studying different ways of expressing the future in English, we recommend listening to podcasts as often as possible or watching English videos with carriers and noticing when they use what constructions and why. Here it is important to understand the difference in values, because the rules are very fragile and cannot be combined with Russian in any way (because we still have a future time).
At Puzzle English you can find movies, TV shows, podcasts, lectures and other useful materials for learning English. Learn English with us.
1. Present Simple vs Present Continuous
At the Beginner level, students usually pass the grammar of these times and the basic rule: Present Simple is used for actions that occur regularly, and Present Continuous - for those that are now. True, but the higher the level, the greater the differences between the times.
Present Simple is really used to refer to actions that occur regularly, every day. This may be your habit, as well as your emotions, status, status and profession. All verbs of personal perception like love, see, like, believe, understand, hate , etc. are static, that is, you can not love someone right now, and tomorrow stop loving. Or believe in something now, and an hour later, stop believing. So these verbs can only be used in Present Simple . Of course, there are exceptions to the rule: for example, the same McDonalds slogan with its unforgettable “I'm loving it” or conversational options like “I'm seeing and I'm liking” . But such examples have nothing in common with classical grammar. In the end, you can also write “with ashypkama” for stylistic reasons. By the way, it would not be superfluous to note that the holy faith of Russian students in the infallibility of carriers, it is better to eradicate from the very first classes. Flawlessly speaks only a small percentage of carriers, as well as in Russia.
')
Returning to Present Simple, it can also be noted that occasionally in this time books are being written, where history seems to be happening in the past, but all of the actions of the characters are written in real time. In such cases, Present Simple even assigned a special name - narrative present, historic present or dramatic present.
And Present Simple can be used in the meaning of the future. For example, right now you are going to the airport, your departure in three hours. For you, these “in three hours” is the future, and for the aircraft - the standard schedule, according to which it flies regularly. So, instead of “My plane will depart at 6 PM”, it’s right to say “My plane departs at 6 PM” In principle, everything is similar to Russian. We also often say “I’ll fly out at 6 pm”, and not “cure”.
Well-known and scientific facts are also described in Present Simple , hence its use in both parts of the conditional sentence of the zero type: “If you heat ice, it melts” . This is a scientific fact, and with this condition the result is always the same, so Present Simple is relevant in both parts of the sentence. A major problem for Russian students is the first type of conditional sentences, where Present Simple should be used in the first part and Future Simple in the second. The fact is that in the Russian language in such proposals, the future will be present in both parts: “Until you do your homework, I will not let you out.” And in English, the conditional part will always be in Present Simple: "Unless you do your homework, I won't let you go out . "
Instructions and the imperative are also written in Present Simple : “Open your books, please”, “Do not get up until the plane lands” .
Present Continuous is used for actions that are happening right now. However, this is not the case. You can easily say “I'm living in Moscow now” , only for a carrier it will sound not like “I live in Moscow”, but as “I live temporarily in Moscow” because Present Continuous is used to denote temporary actions. That is, in our example, you came to Moscow on a business trip, for example, or for some kind of project work. You will not be long there and return to yourself. In 99% of cases, you will say “I'm staying at *** hotel”, and not “I stay” , because you are there temporarily and not permanently.
Present Continuous is used to describe temporal habits and trends. For example, "She's eating lots of salty snacks these days" (because she, for example, is pregnant and wants salty, but not always she will be pregnant), or "Nowadays a lot of people are studying English" (this is a trend that Of course, it can last for quite a long time, but still not forever).
Present Continuous can also be used in the meaning of the future, and even here there is a slight coincidence with the Russian language. If you are sure that you will meet with friends tonight, then you say: “We are meeting today” (in the present tense). English is the same. If something happens to one hundred percent probability, then you need to use the Present Continuous : "I'm meeting John tonight . "
The main mistakes of Russian-speaking students for this pair of times:
- no ending –s in 3 person singular for Present Simple . Recommendation: in addition to texts about yourself, write texts about a friend and make sure that all verbs have the necessary ending.
- confusion with auxiliary verbs. For Present Simple, the auxiliary verb is required in negation and question. It is impossible to create a denial and a question without do / does in modern English. The option of using “ain't” to create denial is colloquial, and it greatly reduces your status in the eyes of the speaker, if you suddenly issue such a proposal at an official meeting. Practical advice: first learn the classical grammar, and then rummage in the wilds of slang and conversational forms. It is better to sound a little pretentious than a member of society that is not very well educated.
At higher levels, you can experiment with the addition of the verb do to enhance the meaning of “really”, “and true”, “in fact” in affirmative sentences: “But I do my diet! It just doesn’t seem to work! ”
For Present Continuous, the auxiliary verb is required FOR ALL sentences, without the verb to be, no tense of the Continuous scale is constructed. Any suggestion of the form “I working now” is an error. - misuse of the verb to be in Present Simple . If your sentence conveys a state or emotion, you need a verb to be. If you have an action verb, then to be is no longer needed. We say “I know him” and not “I am know him” . This error can be corrected by working consistently: first with the forms of the verb to be (that is, all sentences include only it), and then with the verbs of the action.
- adding the ending –ing wherever you want. “I working in a big company” is wrong, you work there regularly, every day. So, correctly, "I work ".
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
The main difference between these two times lies in their name. Present Perfect is the present, and Past Simple is the past. But for a Russian student this is just a hell of a pitch. “I read a book” - what's the difference, I just read it, ten years ago or basically read it? There is no Russian, but there is a difference in English. Therefore, by the way, many prefer the American version of the language: Present Perfect is rarely used there. In some states, you can already hear sentences like “I never did that in my life,” which run counter to the fact that students are learning on courses or on their own. But still, to clear our conscience, we will study the difference between these times.
Past Simple is a simple past tense. We use it only in one case: when our action began and ended in the past. Temporary markers of this time indicate the completeness of the action, for example, yesterday, in 1955, 40 years ago . That is, there is no connection with the present, and the action cannot be repeated. Many argue, they say, it is necessary to say “I have graduated from the university” , this also has a connection with the present, but I am still alive. But you could graduate from a particular university once. And this one happened in the past.
The greatest difficulty in this time is irregular verbs. There is no universal recipe and magical way to remember these verbs without effort. All Germanic languages ​​sin with the presence of irregular verbs, and even if you are grieving decide to quit English and take on German, then we have bad news for you. Verbs will have to learn, and still need to remember that in the negation and the question will be used auxiliary verb did, which will take over the form of the verb. That is, in the presence of did in the sentence, the semantic verb will be in the first form.
Present Perfect is used in several cases:
- to denote life experience. If you are quite alive and able to repeat the trick with the reading “Crime and Punishment”, then the sentence will be in the Present Perfect: “I have read“ Crime and Punishment ” . Best of all, this case of the use of Present Perfect is illustrated by the verb “came” - it means that I have been and can go again. Compare: “I have been to France many times” and “I was in France last summer” . In the first case, you have “been and can be once again”, in the second case you have a time limit: you were there last summer and that’s all. After all, the past summer is no longer repeated.
- for the obvious result. In the sense that we see the result with our own eyes. For example, “Oh, you've painted the walls! The room looks so much fresher now . ” That is, the walls may have been painted yesterday, but I am interested in the result of the action: now the walls are painted. In the American version, Present Perfect is practically not used in such cases.
- if the time period is not completed. "I've already moved twice this year . " Once "this year" , it means that we still have this year. And if the period is not completed, then the past will not work, we are still in the present. Fortunately for the Russian students, the Americans even refused to use Present Perfect .
- action not completed. For example, “I've worked here for 6 years” . Why not “work” ? Because there is a reference to the start time - 6 years. We can say “I work here” (for example, a new security guard at the entrance to the office stopped you and asked where you were going), but without reference to the start of the action. But "I worked here for 6 six years" - this is Present Perfect. However, if we want to emphasize that we have been working for 6 years and are also working there right now, then Present Perfect Continuous can also be used: “I've been working here for 6 years” .
There is a significant difference in terms of time markers between Past Simple and Present Perfec t. All markers Past Simple, as we noted above, give the exact moment in the past. And the Present Perfect markers are pretty blurry: recently, lately, already, ever, yet . They do not give an accurate indication of time.
Forms of the future. Future Simple vs be going to
Since the categories of the future tense in English are not in principle, there are many ways to designate this future tense. Mostly students struggle with Future Simple and one of its most common synonyms to be going to . The first thing to remember here is the fact that to be going to is a separate construction, not a form of Present Continuous time. This designation means “to do something”, “to have an intention to do something”. And over time, Future Simple and the phrase to be going to have similarities.
So, for facts in the future, we can use both Future Simple and be going to . There is no difference between "Jackson will turn 10 next year" and "Jackson is going to turn 10 next year" . Both formulations can be used for so-called predictions — predictions or consequences of something. For example, you can say “We’re late for the train if we don’t hurry” or “We’re late for the train if we don’t hurry” .
But then the differences begin. To be going to is used for your hypotheses about the future, which are based on some fact from the present. Let's explain with an example: “Look at the sky! It's going to rain in a few minutes . ” That is, you now see clouds, and make your assumption based on this fact. Also, to be going to will be used for pre-scheduled actions, for example: "I need some apples why I’m going to bake an apple pie . " First you decided to bake a pie, and now you want to buy apples.
Future Simple is also used for your predictions and assumptions, but more often they are not based on obvious facts, but on your feelings. Future Simple will be used after the words probably, maybe, hopefully and phrases I think, I’m not sure, most likely , etc. We also use a simple future time when the action we are going to take is spontaneous. “Wait, I'll help you with the boxes” - I'm deciding right now to help with the boxes. Future Simple is used for promises ( I will tell you, I promise ), requests ( Will you do it for me, please? ), And also consent or disagreement to do something ( I'm mad at him and I won ' t help him or He won't eat his greens ).
When studying different ways of expressing the future in English, we recommend listening to podcasts as often as possible or watching English videos with carriers and noticing when they use what constructions and why. Here it is important to understand the difference in values, because the rules are very fragile and cannot be combined with Russian in any way (because we still have a future time).
At Puzzle English you can find movies, TV shows, podcasts, lectures and other useful materials for learning English. Learn English with us.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/374485/
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