THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

The Present Continuous tense is used to denote:

1) an action going on at the moment of speaking
e.g. Don’t bother him, he is working.
2) an action happening at the present period of time e.g. I am working on
my own project.

3) a changing situation
e.g. The population of our country is growing.
4) a frequently repeated action provoking annoyance

or criticism (with always, constantly, continually, forever) e.g. He is

always asking stupid questions.
5) two or more parallel actions in progress at the moment of speaking or
at the present period of time in a complex sentence with the conjunctions
while, when

e.g. While she is doing her homework, he is preparing for the dinner.

6) a temporary action (временное действие)(especially with the verbs

to work, to live, to teach, to study)

e.g. I’m working at a shop.

7) an unusual behavior
e.g. He is being very naughty these days.
8) great intensity of feelings (большая интенсивность чувств) with
stative verbs (глаголы состояния) e.g. I am liking my new job very much.
9) insistence (настойчивость)
e.g. I’m telling you to come.

Future Actions

10) an individually planned future action e.g. We are having a party

tonight.

11) an action in the near future

e.g. I can’t even imagine what is coming.
12) an action which will be taking place at a definite

moment in the future (instead of the Future Continuous tense) in

subordinate clauses of
– time (after the conjunctions when, while, till, until, before, after, as soon
as, once),

– condition (after the conjunctions if, unless, on condition (that),

provided, providing, in case),

– concession (after the conjunctions even if, even though, no matter how,
whenever, whatever, however, etc.)

e.g.: Tomorrow when you are making a presentation, I’ll be listening to

you attentively.

THE PRESENT PERFECT

The Present Perfect tense is used to denote:

1) a completed action which is a part of the present situation

e.g. The place looks good. He has finished cutting the grass.

2) an action which is over but the period of time is not over yet

e.g. I have seen her today.

3) a state of some duration which began before the moment of speaking

and continues into or up to the moment of speaking (instead of the Present
Perfect Continuous tense):

e.g. We have been friends since our childhood.

4) an action of some duration which began before the moment of

speaking / in the past and continues into or up to the moment of when the
action is completely negated (полностью отрицается) (instead of the
Present Perfect Continuous tense).

e.g. It hasn’t rained for several weeks.

5) announcement or a piece of news

e.g. We have had a terrible day at the office. My secretary fell ill, we lost
three contracts.

6) summing up a situation or emphasizing number e.g. You have been

good to me.
I have worked in two schools.
7) a more permanent action (постоянное действие)especially with
verbs to work, to live, to teach, etc.

e.g. I have worked here for 20 years.

8) two parallel states in complex sentences with the conjunction since

e.g. He has loved her since he has known her.

THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The Present Perfect Continuous tense is used to denote:

1) an action of some duration that started before the moment of

speaking and continues into it or up to it

e.g. He has been making a cake for an hour.

2) a past action of certain duration having visible results in the present

e.g. You look sad. Have you been crying?

3) an action of some duration with a repeated character

e.g. I have been shopping successfully recently.

4) a future action in progress before a certain moment in the future in

subordinate clauses of time and condition

e.g. He’ll get better after he has been staying here for a week or two.

5) two parallel actions in complex sentences with the conjunction since

e.g. I have been learning more and more since I have been studying here.

6) an accomplished (завершенное действие)action provoking anger,

irritation, annoyance or criticism

e.g. Someone has been lying to me!

THE PAST INDEFINITE

The Past Indefinite tense is used to denote:

1) a single-point action performed at a definite moment in the past

(indicators: yesterday, last week (month,

year, time, etc.), ago, in 2005, just now (= a moment ago), the other day
(на днях), in those days (в те дни, в то время), etc.)

e.g. I saw him yesterday.

2) a succession of past actions

e.g. He got up, put on his hat and left.
3) repeated actions in the past which are no longer

valid (can also be expressed by used to (for actions and states) or would
(for actions only))

e.g.. He used to write articles at night.

4) a state at a certain moment in the past e.g. He heard what they were
speaking about.

5) an action going on at a definite moment in the past if a verb (stand,

sit, lie) is followed by Participle I

e.g. The managing director sat reading the annual report.

6) inquiries, requests, suggestions with verbs like hope, think, wonder,

etc. in situations referring to the present

e.g. I wondered if you could give me a lift.

7) a belief that has just been shown to be true or false

e.g. You’re older than I thought.

8) an action performed within a period of time in the past which is

already over (indicators: for 3 years, during his vacations, etc.). The
emphasis is placed on the reference of the fact to the past, not on the
duration of the activity. The period of duration belongs completely to the
past time sphere.

e.g.: I baked the cake for 30 minutes yesterday.

They lived in Minsk for 5 years before the war.
9) a future action in (подчинительный) subordinate clauses of time

and condition depending on principal clauses referring to the past

(with the predicate verb in a past tense form)
e.g. She said she would come when the film was over.

10) two fully simultaneous (одновременные) actions joined by the

conjunction as

e.g. They talked as they walked.

THE PAST CONTINUOUS

The Past Continuous tense is used to denote:

1) an action going on at a definite moment or period of time in the past

which can be indicated by

a) time mentioning
e.g. It was 12 and he was still sitting.
b) some other action in the past
e.g. I was playing football when I broke my ankle.
2) a frequently repeated past action provoking

annoyance or criticism (with always, constantly, continually, forever)

e.g. He was constantly losing things.

3) an individually planned future action viewed from the past

e.g. She said she was leaving in a week.

4) a planned action which wasn’t carried out (осуществилось) with

the verbs to expect, to intend, to hope, to plan, to mean

e.g. I was meaning to go to that exhibition, but I fell ill.

5) two or more simultaneous past actions in progress

e.g. He was cooking while she was sleeping.

6) background description to events in a story e.g. The sun was shining,
and the birds were singing ...

THE PAST PERFECT

The Past Perfect tense is used to denote:

1) an action completed before another action or in the past

e.g. He had spent all his money by the end of the month.

2) the completion of the action but not priority (especially in before-

clauses)

e.g. The bus started before I had entered it.

00=-4) an action completed before a certain moment in the past in

complex sentences with the conjunctions hardly ... when, scarcely ...
when, no sooner ... than

e.g. He had hardly finished doing his homework when the telephone rang.

5) a state of some duration which began before a definite moment in

the past, continued into or up to that moment

e.g. I had known him for many years before I learnt about the tragedy.

6) an action of some duration which began before a definite moment in

the past, continued into or up to that moment and which is completely
negated.

e.g. They hadn’t spoken to each other for three days before they made up.
7) an action accomplished before another still in progress (in
combination with the Past Continuous)

e.g. She had got up and was breathing deeply.

8) a future action in a subordinate clause of time to emphasize the

completion of an action

e.g. He decided to read nothing but the dictionary until he had mastered
every word of it

THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to denote:

1) an action of some duration that started before the moment of

speaking in the past and continued into or up to it

e.g. She had been looking for the house for half an hour before she found
it.

2) an action of certain duration which had visible results in the past

e.g. Her fingers hurt because she had been playing the guitar all day.

3) an action of some duration that started before the moment of

speaking in the past and continued into or up to it with a repeated
character

e.g. He said they had been talking about her all day.

THE FUTURE INDEFINITE

The Future Indefinite tense is used to denote:

1) a single point future action (indicators: tomorrow, the day after

tomorrow, in a week (month, year), next week (month, year, time, etc.), in
a day or two, one of these days)
e.g. I will see her tomorrow.

2) an action occupying a whole period of time in the future

e.g. I will love you all my life.

3) a succession of actions in the future
e.g. We will talk and then we will have dinner.

4) a future action in object and attributive subordinate clauses(в

определенных придаточных предложениях)

e.g. I don’t know if he will help us.

I don’t know the exact time when he will come.
5) decisions taken at the moment of speaking

(on-the-spot decisions)

e.g. It’s dark in here. I will turn on the lights.

6) hopes, fears, threats, warnings, offers, promises, invitations,

suggestions, etc. after the corresponding verbs and expressions to
hope, to fear, to be afraid, etc.

e.g. I hope he will like his birthday present.

7) actions and predictions which may (not) happen in the future with
the adverb probably

e.g. She will probably win.

8) an officially planned future action
e.g. The government will lower taxes.

THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS

The Future Continuous tense is used to denote:

1) an action in progress at a definite future moment or a period of

time (indicators: at 2 p.m., at this time tomorrow, all evening, from
October to December, from 4 to 6 p.m., etc.)

e.g. I will be making a cake the whole evening tomorrow.

2) actions which are the result of a routine, which doesn’t need any
special arrangement (распоряжение)

e.g. I will be going to the bank tomorrow.

3) (to ask politely about people’s arrangements to see if they can do

something for us)

e.g. Will you be driving into town this afternoon? Can you give me a lift?

4) an action which is supposed or anticipated(ожидаемые и

предполагаемые) in the future

e.g. I hope that during our holidays we will be skating on the ice and
skiing in the woods.

5) an action which the speaker expects to take place in the natural

course of events

e.g. The leaves will be falling off soon.

THE FUTURE PERFECT

The Future Perfect tense is used to denote:

1) an action completed before a definite future moment

e.g. I will have received your answer before this letter reaches you.

2) a state of some duration which began before a definite moment in

the future, will continue into or up to this moment (instead of the
Future Perfect Continuous tense)

e.g. They will have been friends for 20 years by this time next year.

THE FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The Future Perfect Continuous tense is used to denote:

1) an action of some duration which began before a definite moment

in the future, will continue into or up to this moment
e.g. By this time next month he will have been studying the piano for two
years.