Verb Phrases and Tenses

VERB PHRASES

Definition
-In traditional grammar, a word group that includes a main verb and its auxilaries
-In generative grammar, a predicate: that is, a lexical verb and all the words governed by that verb except a subject.






 TENSES

tense	Affirmative/Negative/Question	Use	Signal Words
Simple present	A: He speaks. N: He does not speak. Q: Does he speak?	action in the present taking place once, never or several times facts actions taking place one after another action set by a timetable or schedule	always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually if sentences type I (If I talk, …)
Present progressive	A: He is speaking. N: He is not speaking. Q: Is he speaking?	action taking place in the moment of speaking action taking place only for a limited period of time action arranged for the future	at the moment, just, just now, Listen!, Look!, now, right now
Simple past	A: He spoke. N: He did not speak. Q: Did he speak?	action in the past taking place once, never or several times actions taking place one after another action taking place in the middle of another action	yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday if sentence type II (If I talked, …)
Past progressive	A: He was speaking. N: He was not speaking. Q: Was he speaking?	action going on at a certain time in the past actions taking place at the same time action in the past that is interrupted by another action	when, while, as long as
Present perfect simple	A: He has spoken. N: He has not spoken. Q: Has he spoken?	putting emphasis on the result action that is still going on action that stopped recently finished action that has an influence on the present action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking	already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now
Present perfect progressive	A: He has been speaking. N: He has not been speaking. Q: Has he been speaking?	putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result) action that recently stopped or is still going on finished action that influenced the present	all day, for 4 years, since 1993, how long?, the whole week
Past perfect simple	A: He had spoken. N: He had not spoken. Q: Had he spoken?	action taking place before a certain time in the past sometimes interchangeable with past perfect progressive putting emphasis only on the fact (not the duration)	already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day if sentence type III (If I had talked, …)
Past perfect progressive	A: He had been speaking. N: He had not been speaking. Q: Had he been speaking?	action taking place before a certain time in the past sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action	for, since, the whole day, all day
Future I Simple	A: He will speak. N: He will not speak. Q: Will he speak?	action in the future that cannot be influenced spontaneous decision assumption with regard to the future	in a year, next …, tomorrow If-Satz Typ I (If you ask her, she will help you.) assumption: I think, probably, perhaps
Future I Simple (going to)	A: He is going to speak. N: He is not going to speak. Q: Is he going to speak?	decision made for the future conclusion with regard to the future	in one year, next week, tomorrow
Future I Progressive	A: He will be speaking. N: He will not be speaking. Q: Will he be speaking?	action that is going on at a certain time in the future action that is sure to happen in the near future	in one year, next week, tomorrow
Future II Simple	A: He will have spoken. N: He will not have spoken. Q: Will he have spoken?	·         action that will be finished at a certain time in the future	by Monday, in a week
Future II Progressive	A: He will have been speaking. N: He will not have been speaking. Q: Will he have been speaking?	action taking place before a certain time in the future putting emphasis on the course of an action	for …, the last couple of hours, all day long
Conditional I Simple	A: He would speak. N: He would not speak. Q: Would he speak?	action that might take place	if sentences type II (If I were you, I would go home.)
Conditional I Progresive	A: He would be speaking. N: He would not be speaking. Q: Would he be speaking?	action that might take place putting emphasis on the course / duration of the action
Conditional II Simple	A: He would have spoken. N: He would not have spoken. Q: Would he have spoken?	·         action that might have taken place in the past	if sentences type III (If I had seen that, I would have helped.)
Conditional II Progressive	A: He would have been speaking. N: He would not have been speaking. Q: Would he have been speaking?	action that might have taken place in the past puts emphasis on the course / duration of the action

EXERCISES WITH ANSWERS

1. Hi, I (be) Matt Rotell, a friend of Alice's.

2. Oh, yes. Alice (mention) you the other day. Gee,

   you (not look) like a detective.

3. Well, that's good, I (guess).

4. I'm curious. Tell me, how did you (decide) to become

    an undercover cop?

5. Well, when I (be) a kid, I (love) to read detective

    novels. By the time I (be) ten, I (read) every book

    in the Hardy Boys series. I (know) that I (want) to

    go into law enforcement.

6. But according to Alice, you (attend)

    law school nowadays.

7. Right. I (get) married last month. I (not mind)

    being on the police force when I (be) single, but ever since I

    (meet) Nicole, my wife, I (want) to do

    something less dangerous.

8. I (understand). By the way, you

   (have) any luck yet with those counterfeiters?

9. Well, I (follow) them for more than a month now, but

    so far I (not be able to) catch them in the act.

    Sometimes I (worry) that by the time they're caught, I'll have

    my law degree and I'll be defending them! 

 

Sources :

http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/verbphraseterm.htm

http://www.really-learn-english.com/english-verb-phrases.html

http://www.grammarbank.com/tenses-answer-key.html