PRESENT
INDEFINITE
PRESENT ACTIONS:
1) It is used to denote a habitual, customary, repeated
action (the repeated character of the action is shown by the adverbials of
frequency always, usually, generally,
occasionally, frequently, sometimes, often, twice a year, once a week, every
day, every other day, once in a while, from time to time, hardly ever, seldom,
rarely, daily, monthly, etc.
e.g. They always go out on Sundays.
2) It is used to denote permanent characteristics and
properties, hobbies, habits and customs (= actions or states characterizing a
given person).
e.g. As a hobby he designs and makes paper airliners. British people drink a lot of tea.
3)
It is used to denote
universal truths (smth which is eternally true) and generalizations (proverbs
and sayings, rules) and common statements.
e.g. Summer follows spring. Extremes meet. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
4) It is used to show that the action is going on
according to time-tables, itineraries, working hours.
e.g. The shop opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m.
5) It is used to denote actions going on at the present
moment when the action as such and not the progress is important or because the
verb doesn‘t admit of the continuous tense form (= stative verbs, denoting
feelings, opinions like, know, see,
agree, believe, hear, think, taste, understand, want, wish, prefer, realize,
depend, cost, belong, etc.)
e.g. My son wants a bike, but I don‟t
think he should have one. I see George
in the street. I live
in Minsk. I don‟t understand what you mean.
6) It is used in stage directions, sports commentaries,
instructions.
e.g. Becker serves to Lendle.
PAST ACTIVITIES:
7) It is used in summaries
of historical events
(the so-called ―historic present‖).
e.g. In May 1979 Margaret
Thatcher becomes the first woman
Prime Minister in the history of Great Britain.
8) It is used in plots of films, plays, books, in reviews.
e.g. Pavarotti sings wonderfully in this opera. The
events go rapidly. Jean meets Paul and they
fall in love with each other
passionately.
9) It is used in informal story-telling (jokes, anecdotes).
e.g. So the guy goes to the pub and orders two beers. At that moment the
door opens and his wife appears.
10) It is used in headlines.
e.g. People Say No to Terrorism.
FUTURE ACTIVITIES
11) It is used in schedules, time-tables, plans.
e.g. The train leaves at 10.
12) It is used in subordinate clauses of time and condition
(after conjunctions when, after, before,
as soon as, until, if, in case, unless) to denote a future action.
e.g. I‘ll phone you as soon as I
come back home. If the weather is fine we‘ll go for a walk.
Spelling rules of the 3rd person singular form
According to the general rule the 3rd person
singular is formed with the help of the ending –s
(works,
drives, plays, runs).
-s changes to 1) –es for
verbs which end in –o (does, goes) and in –s,-x,-ch,-sh (misses,
catches, pushes judges, finishes, manages), 2) –ies for verbs which end
in –y with a preceding consonant (study – studies, fly – flies). But if
the letter –y is preceded by a
vowel, only –s is added (stay – stays, play – plays, say – says).
Ex. 1
Write the third
person singular of these verbs. Pronounce them correctly.
Ache, announce,
arise, believe, blush, bow, box, brush, buy, charge, clarify, complete, cough,
cry, deny, destroy, excite, expect, express, fix, fry, go, guess, lie, light,
look, lose, memorize, reach, receive, rush, say, sew, smash, sneeze, spring,
switch, touch, watch, wrap, yawn.
Ex. 2
Match the sentences with the
meaning of the tense-forms in each case.
|
1.
This parrot looks at him attentively and then asks … 2. You
just press the button and wait … 3. Dogs
make better pets than cats. 4. Agassi
serves – it‘s out! 5. I
always meet her on the corner of the street. 6. President
receives huge welcome. 7. You
arrive at the hotel at about 7.00 and have your evening meal at 8.00. 8. Water
boils at 100 degrees C. 9.
First I put a lump of butter into the frying pan and light the gas; then I break
three eggs into a bowl … |
a) general
truths, a common state b)
a sports commentary c)
a headline d)
a habitual action e)
an instruction f)
an itinerary g)
a past event in story-telling h)
a recipe i)
permanent characteristics |
Ex. 3
Complete
by using question tags.
1.
He doesn‘t like socializing
with a lot of people, ?
2.
John‘s business partner is
very pleased with him, ?
3.
Peter never panics about anything, ?
4.
He hardly ever feels relaxed and cheerful, ?
5. The
Chaineys have a cottage in the mountains, ?
6.
Her granny doesn‘t sleep well, ?
7.
Bruce usually acts quite bravely,
?
8.
There‘s a wide variety of
events at this year‘s festival, ?
9.
Jean hardly ever makes spelling
mistakes, ?
10. The
children often play in the open air,
?
11. It
seldom snows in the south of
England, ?
12. He
never shows off in front of other
people, ?
Ex. 4
Restore
the right word order in the following proverbs. Find their Russian equivalents.
1.
Boils/a/never/watched/pot
2. Lining/dark/has/silver/every/a/cloud
3.
Learn/is/too/it/to/never/late
4.
Shines/the/hay/while/make/sun
5.
Worm/bird/the/the/early/catches
6.
Cooks/the/many/too/spoil/broth
7.
Run/still/deep/waters
8.
Away/an/doctor/a/the/keeps/apple/day
9.
Feather/birds/together/of/flock/a
