Summary table on the Formation of the Present Tense Aspect Forms

Passive Voice

Type of the Sentence	the Present Indefinite	the Present Continuous	the Present Perfect	the Present Perfect Continuous
Affirmative (+)	I am (I’m) asked      You are (you’re) asked            He, she is (he/she’s) asked    We are (we’re) asked     You are (you’re) asked       They are (they’re) asked	I am (I’m) being asked You are (you’re) being asked He, she is (he/she’s) being asked We are (we’re) being asked You are (you’re) being asked They are(they’re) being asked	I have (I’ve) been asked You have (you’ve) been asked He, she has (he/she’s) been asked    We have (we’ve) been asked You have(you’ve) been asked They have (they’ve) been asked	_____________
Interrogative (?)	Am I asked?                Are you asked?                Is he, she asked?                Are we asked?                Are you asked?                Are they asked?	Am I being asked? Are you being asked? Is he, she being asked?       Are we being asked? Are you being asked? Are they being asked?	Have I been asked?        Have you been asked? Has he, she been asked?        Have we been asked?        Have you been asked? Have they been asked?	_____________
Negative (-)	I am not (I’m not) asked     You are not (aren’t) asked   He, she is not (isn’t) asked            We are not (aren’t) asked    You are not (aren’t) asked     They are not (aren’t) asked	I am not (I’m not) being asked You are not (aren’t) being asked He, she is not (isn’t) being asked We are not (aren’t) being asked You are not (aren’t) being asked They are not (aren’t)  being asked	I have not (haven’t) been asked You have not (haven’t) been asked   He, she has not (hasn’t) been asked   We have not (haven’t) been asked   You have not (haven’t) been asked They have not (haven’t) been asked	_______________

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Table 3

The Present Indefinite in Use

№п/п

Meaning

Example

INDEPENDENT USE

Present Action

1.

*recurrent action in the present

(with terminative verbs)

Note: usu. used with such adverbial modifiers of frequency as

often, seldom, sometimes, occasionally, always, never, ever, every year (day, week, month,), usually, daily, once (twice, three times) a year, daily, on Sundays (Mondays, Tuesdays), etc.

                             1) She usually rings up early in the morning.                            2) The charwoman doesn’t come in daily.                            3) Do you often bring her coffee to bed? 2.

*permanent action in the present

(with durative verbs)

      1) He teaches English and History at a college, and lives with his parents.       2) He is seventy five, and he doesn’t walk, he runs. 3.

Permanent characteristic

Given through a recurrent action

(marginal case)

1) I always talk too much when I’m nervous.          2) He sometimes plays the piano for five hours a day. 4.

General statement or  universal truth

( expressed by a recurrent or a permanent action )

1) The Earth goes round the Sun.                                      2) Still waters run deep.

5.

 

 

Succession of actions at the moment of speaking

stage directions - Good night! (They shake hands. As he passes Vivie, he shakes hands with her too...) Come along, Sir, at once. comments ...Chi-Chi walks to the travelling box. Chi-Chi climbs on the rock (TV film). demonstrations Now I peel the apples, slice them and put them into the dish.

6.

An action going on

At the moment of speaking

(instead of the Present Continuous)

with stative verbs (see scheme 2, p. 4)         1) I quite understand what you mean.                                      2) He wants to see you for a minute. when it’s not viewed in its process                                    1) You leave me no choice.                           2) I refuse to listen to you. You talk such nonsense.

Future Action

7.

future action which is certain to take place due to the official arrangement (timetable, schedule, programme, etc.)

(+ indication of the stated time or future time)

      1) The Baker Street train leaves at 8.08.                           2) “Can you tell me when the game starts tonight?”

Past Action

8.  

Succession of actions in the past

(to make a vivid narrative of past events)

(historic or dramatic present)

She arrives (приехала) full of life and spirit. And about a quarter of an hour later she sits down (села) in a chair, says (сказала) she doesn’t feel well (чувствует себя нехорошо), gasps (вздохнула) a bit and dies (умерла).

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Table 3

№п/п	Meaning		Example
DEPENDENT USE
Structurally dependent use
Future Action
9.	In subclauses	of time (introduced by when, till, until, before, after, as soon as, etc.)	When the weather is fine, we’ll go for a picnic to Fred’s. But: I don’t know when the weather will be fine (object subclause, the question is what?)
		of condition (introduced by if, unless, in case, on condition that, providing/provided that, etc.)	If the weather is fine, we’ll go for a picnic to Fred’s. But: I wonder if (whether) the weather will be fine (object subclause, the question is what?)
		of concession (introduced by even if, even though, no matter how, whenever, whatever, however, etc.)	Even if the weather is bad, we’ll go for a picnic to Fred’s.
10.	in some special questions	with reference to the immediate future	What do we do next? – Что будем делать сейчас/дальше?  Where do we go now? – Куда сейчас пойдем? What happens next? – Что будет сейчас/дальше?
Lexically dependent use
Future Action
11.	In object clauses after	to see to (проследить за тем, чтобы…)	He’ ll see that she is properly looked after. Он проследит за тем, чтобы за ней должным образом присмотрели. (досл. присмотрят)
		to make sure (убедиться в том, что…)	He’ ll make sure no harm is done to her. Он убедится в том, что ей не причинят вреда.
		to take care (позаботиться о том, чтобы…)	He’ ll take care that no one interferes with them. Он позаботится о том, чтобы никто не вмешивался в их дела.

* recurrent action - point (instantaneous) action, repeated a number of times.

* permanent action - continuous, uninterrupted process which naturally includes the present moment.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Table 4