Grammar review: 5- The Verb Phrase

5. The Verb Phrase
As mentioned in item 3, the verb phrase consists of the main verb and any auxiliaries.

• Tenses and aspects:

simple present-He walks to school every day.
simple past-He walked to school yesterday.
present progressive (continuous)-He is walking to school now.
past progressive (continuous).-He was walking to school when he saw Jane.
present perfect-He has walked to school several times.
past perfect-He had walked to school before he hurt his foot.

Given here is a list of some of the common irregular verbs in English. It is
very important that you know whether a verb is regular or irregular. You will notice that regular verbs are the same in the past tense and past participle; however, irregular verbs arc very often different in these forms.




You should also know that there is no change in the following verbs to indicate the different tenses.

* Read is pronounced differently in the past tense and participle, but is
spelled the same.

•Simple present tense:

This tense is usually not used to indicate present time. However, it is used to indicate present time (now) with the following stative verbs.


Bổ túc thêm: stative verbs hiểu là non-action. Thêm 1 số động từ này ở sách khác là:
think (meaning "have an opinion")
mind (meaning "care about")
recognize
seem
have (meaning "own")
prefer
doubt
consist of
mean
contain

NOTE: The verbs listed above are almost never used in the present or past progressive (continuous), although it is possible in some cases. Simple present is used to indicate a regular or habitual action. John walks to school everyday.

Examples of simple present tense:
They understand the problem now. (stative verb)
Henry always swims in the evening. (habitual action)
We want to leave now. (stative verb)
The coffee tastes delicious. (stative verb)
Mark usually walks to school. (habitual action)
Your cough sounds bad. (stative verb)

•Present progressive (continous)
Use the following rule to form the present progressive.


* The present progressive is used to indicate present time (now) with all but the stative verbs listed previously. (Có nghĩa là các stative verbs ko được dùng cho present progressive)

John is eating dinner now,

* It is also used to indicate future time.(Sách khác nói phải hiểu là kế hoạch cho tương lai)
We are leaving for the theater at seven o'clock.

Examples of present progressive:
The committee members are examining the material now. (present time)
George is leaving for France tomorrow. (future time)
Henry is walking to school tomorrow. (future time)
The president is trying to contact his advisors now. (present time)
The secretary is typing the letter now. (present lime)
We are flying to Venezuela next month. (future time)

Chú ý: Phân biệt see-look-watch, hear-listen.
see và hear là do vô ý trông thấy và nghe thấy, nên thuộc loại non-action thì ko dùng ở thể present progressive được. Nhưng look-chú ý xem 1 thời gian ngắn, watch- chú ý xem 1 thời gian dài, listen-chú ý lắng nghe nên đều dùng được ở thể present progressive.


think (meaning "have an opinion")
mind (meaning "care about")
have (meaning "own")
Với nghĩa như trên thì ko dùng ở thể present progressive được, nhưng với nghĩa khác thì dùng được ở thể present progressive.



Exercise 6: Simple Present and Present Progressive
Choose either the simple present or present progressive in the following sentences.

1. Something _____ (smell) very good.
2. We_____ (eat) dinner at seven o'clock tonight.
3. He _____ (practice) the piano every day.
4. They _____ (drive) to school tomorrow.
5. I _____ (believe) you.
6. Maria _____ (have)a cold.
7. Jorge _____ (swim) right now.
8. John _____ (hate) smoke.
9. Jill always _____ (get) up at 6:00 AM,
10. Jerry _____ (mow) the lawn now.

Answers for Exercise 6
1. smells
2. are eating
3. practices
4. are driving
5. believe
6. has
7. is swimming
8. hates
9. gets
10. is mowing

•Simple past tense:
The simple past is used (or a mmpleted action that happened at one specific time in the past. The italicized words are important because they show that simple past is not the same as past progressive or present perfect.

John went to Spain last year.
Bob bought a new bicycle yesterday.
Maria did her homework last nigh.
Mark washed the dishes after dinner.
We drove to the grocery store this afternoon.
George cooked dinner for his family Saturday night.


•Past progressive (continuous):
Use the following rule to form the past progressive.

The past progressive is used to indicate:
(1) An action which was occurring in the past and was interrupted by another action. In this case, the general rule is:

When Mark came home, Martha was watching television.
OR
Martha was watching television when Mark came home.

(2) Two actions occurring aUhe same time in the past. In this case, the following rules usually apply.

Martha was watching television while John was reading a book.
OR
While John was reading a book, Martha was watching television.

NOTE: The following construction is also possible, but it is not as common as the preceding two.


While Martha was watching television, John read a book.

(3) An action which was occurring at some specific time in the past.
Martha was watching television at seven o'clock last night.
What were you doing at one o'clock this afternoon?

Examples of past progressive:
John was walking to class when he lost his pen.
The student was reading while the professor was speaking.
George was watching television when his brother called.
Henry was eating a snack at midnight last night.
When Mary came home, her husband was cooking dinner.
Mark was driving on Main Street when his car broke down.

Exercise 7: Simple Past Tense and Past Progressive
Use either the simple past tense or the past progressive in the following sentences as appropriate.
I. Gene_______ (eat) dinner when his friend called.
2. While Maria was cleaning the apartment, her husband. _______ (sleep).
3. At three o'clock this morning, Eleanor_______ (study)
4. When Mark arrived, the Johnsons _______ (have) dinner, but they stopped in order to talk to him.
5. John _______ (go) to France last year.
6. When the teacher _______ (enter) the room, the students were talking.
7. While Joan was writing the report, Henry _______ (look) for more information.
8. We_______ (see) this movie last night.
9. At one time, Mr. Roberts _______ (own) this building.
10. Jose _______ (write) a letter to his family when his pencil_______ (break).

Answers for exercise 7
1. was eating
2. was sleeping (preferred) or slept
3. was studying
4. were having
5. went
6. entered
7. was looking (preferred) or looked
8. saw
9. owned
10. was writing, broke

•Present perfect
Use the following rule to form the present perfect.



The Present perfect is used to indicate: .
(1) An action that happened at an indefinite time in the past.
John has traveled around the world.(We don't know when.)
(2) An actionthat happened more than once in the past.
George has seen this movie three times.
(3) An action that began in the past and is still occurring in the present.
John has lived in the same house for twenty years. (He still lives there.)
OR
John has lived in the same house since 1962. (He still lives there.)

If it is now 1982:



• For/since:
Use for + duration of time: for five hours, for thirty year, .for ten minutes.
Use since + beginningtime: since 1972 ,sincefive o'clock.since January.
• Yet/already:
The adverbs yet and already are used to indicate that something has happened (or hasn't happened) at an unspecified time in the past. These adverbs are often used with the present perfect.



NOTE: Already usually appears between the auxiliary and the main verb; however, it can appear at the beginning or end of the sentence. Yet appears at the end of the sentence.




Examples of yet and already:
We have already written our reports,
We haven't written our reports yet.
Gabriel has already read the entire book.
The president hasn't decided what to do yet.
Sam has already recorded the results of the experiment.
Maria hasn't called her parents yet.

NOTE: Another oplion with the use of yet is sometimes possible. In this case, the verb is Positive and the adverb yet does not appear at the end of the sentence.



John has yet to learn the material. = John hasn't learned the material yet.
We have yet to decide whal to do with the money.= We haven't decided what to do with the money yet.

•Present perfect progressive (continuous):
For category (3) of the present perfect rules only, it is also possible to use the present perfect progressive
(continuous). Use the following rule to form this aspect

John has been living in the same house for twenty years = John has lived in the same house for twenty years.

Examples of present perfect:
Jorge has already walked to school. (indefinite time)
He has been to California three times. (more than once)
John has worked in Washington for three years.
OR (not yet completed)
John has been working in Washington for three years.
Mary has seen this movie before. (indefinite time)
They have been at home all day. (not yet completed)
We haven't gone to the store yet. (indefinite time)

Exercise 8: Present Perfect and Simple Past
Use either the present perfect or the simple past in the following sentences.
1. John ______ (write) his report last night.
2. Bob ______ (see) this movie before.
3. Jorge______ (read) the newspaper already.
4. Mr. Johnson______ (work) in the same place for thirty-five years, and he is not planning to retire yet.
5. We ______ (begin; negative) to study for the test yet.
6. George ______ (go) to the store at ten o'clock this morning.
7. Joan______ (travel) around the world.
8. Betty ______ (write) a letter last night.,
9. Guillermo______ (call) his employer yesterday.
10. We______ (see; negative) this movie yet.

Answers for exercise 8
1. wrote
2. has seen
3. has read
4. has worked
5. have not begun (haven’t begun)
6. went
7. has traveled
8. wrote
9. called
10. have not seen (haven’t seen)

•Past perfect.
Use the following rule to form the past perfect.


The past perfect is used to indicate:
(1)An action that happened before another action in the past; there usually are two actions in the sentence.
John had gone to the store before he went home.(Had gone: 1 st action; went: 2 nd action)
Jack told us yesterday that he had visited England in 1970. .(Had visited: 1 st action; told: 2 nd action)


The past perfect is usually used with the adverbs before. after. or when. Study the following formulas.

John had gone to the store before he went home.


John went home after he had gone to the store.


Before John went home, he had gone to the store


After John had gone to the store, he went home.

NOTE: The adverb when can be used in place of before or after in any of these four formulas without change in meaning. We still know which action happened first because of the use of past perfect.

(2) A state which continued for a time in the past, but stopped before now.
This is similar to rule number (3) for present perfect but in this case, there is no connection with the present.
Abdu had lived in New York for ten years before he moved to California.




Con tiep tuc nua

•Past perfect progressive(continuous):
For category (2) of past perfect only, we can also use the past perfect progressive (continuous). Study the
following rule.

Abdu had been living in New York for ten years before he moved to California.

Examples of past perfect:
The professor had reviewed the material before he gave the quiz.
After Henry had visited Puerlo Rico, he went to St. Thomas.
Before Ali went to sleep, he had called his family,