by Phil Williams | May 19, 2015 | Exercises, Grammar
Affirmative and negative statements in the different tenses have quite distinct forms, with the negatives using the auxiliary verb did. To test understanding and demonstrate the difference, this exercise scrambles sentences that you can practice putting into negative...
by Phil Williams | Dec 18, 2014 | Grammar
The past simple and the present perfect can both be used to show actions or events that were completed in the past. In many cases, they can demonstrate the same event – so how do we choose which tense to use? This article explains, very briefly, the fundamental...
by Phil Williams | Nov 4, 2014 | Grammar, Writing skills
To give a little structure to the different examples of past tenses uses I’ve highlighted in some of my narrative articles, here’s a quick explanation of how the past perfect can be used to create past event sequences (adapted from The English Tenses Practical Grammar...
by Phil Williams | Oct 2, 2014 | Grammar
Following from my tips for my article explaining that the past simple is used for state verbs, here’s a brief comparison to show how the past simple and past continuous can be compared for states. With verbs showing conditions, possession, emotion and senses, this is...
by Phil Williams | Sep 25, 2014 | Grammar
States, which may be used as a general description for different states of mind, senses conditions and possession, usually use simple tenses instead of continuous tenses, even when the action or event is temporary or is interrupted. This creates a trick area of...