Verb Tenses (3): The Simple Future Tense

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?  Is the glass half empty or half full?  Personally, I try to always see the good stuff in life.  Life is too short to worry.  Instead of looking back on the past and complaining about the bad stuff, I prefer to look to the future and think of the good stuff that is coming.  And the best thing for language learners is that, of the three simple tenses, the future tense is the simplest.

How Do You Make the Simple Future Tense?

With the simple present tense, you simply use the base form (dictionary form) of the verb and occasionally put ~s on the end if the subject is he, she or it.  For the simple past tense, which is a little trickier, you add ~ed to the end of regular verbs or you have to memorize a bunch of irregular verbs like take/took or buy/bought.  The question and negative forms get even trickier with do, does and did and dropping the ~ed or the ~s from the main verb.  The simple future tense is way easier.  All you have to do is put a helping verb, either will or be going to, in front of the main verb.

• Tonight, Steve and I will see a movie.
• Tonight, Steve and I are going to see a movie.

To make a negative sentence in the simple future, just add not to the helping verb will* and to the be verb of be going to.

• Bob won't go to work tomorrow because he is sick.
• Bob isn't going to go** to work tomorrow because he is sick.

The question form is even easier.  Just switch the order to the subject and will or the subject and the be verb.

• They will come with us.  /  Will they come with us.
• They are going to come with us.  /  Are they going to come with us.

What's the Difference Between Will and Be Going To?

As a general rule, be going to is much more common than will, so if you remember nothing else about the simple future tense, remember that, in American English, be going to should always be your first choice.  It's the default setting for the simple future tense, especially in questions.

1.  Are You 100% Sure?

If the answer is YES, then use be going to.  This means that there is basically no way you are going to change your mind.  Nothing can stop you.  However, if the answer is NO, use will.  Will is commonly used with words that show doubt, like maybe, possibly or probably.  Will is also used with I think, I hope and in the main clause of a real condition (with the conjunction if).

• We are going to spend next weekend on the North Shore.
• Maybe we will spend next weekend on the North Shore.  It depends on the weather.

• The unit test is going to be on Friday.
• We will probably have the unit test on Friday.

• I am going to have lasagna for dinner tonight.
• I think I will have lasagna for dinner tonight.

• I am going to spend the night at my friend's house.
• I will spend the night at my friend's house if my parents say ok.

In each pair, the first sentence shows no doubt.  It is definite, 100% certain.  In the second sentence of each pair, there is doubt.  There is a possibility that something could change.

2.  When Was It Decided?  When Was It Announced?

This is the second key question for will or be going to.  For example, if you are in a meeting and you are making decisions about an event RIGHT NOW, then you should use will.

"Ok.  This is what we have decided today.  We will have the fundraiser on January 17.  We will sell hot dogs and hamburgers and we will also design and sell t-shirts.  Everyone will meet at the park by 8:00 AM and the event will finish at 6:00 PM."

These are the decisions that were just made by the planning committee in the meeting.  Then, when the final decisions are announced to the whole group FOR THE FIRST TIME, you would send this same message always using will.

However, after the decision has been made and announced, from that point forward, whenever someone talks about the fundraiser, they should use be going to.

• A:  When are we going to have the fundraiser?
• B:  On January 17.
• A:  What are we going to sell?
• B:  We're going to sell hamburgers and hot dogs.  Also, someone is going to design a t-shirt.
• A:  What time is everyone going to meet?
• B:  Everyone is going to arrive at the park by 8:00 AM.

That pretty much sums up the simple future tense.  The difference between will and be going to is not hugely important, especially for second-language learners.  If you just follow this final, simplest rule, you should be fine.  Use be going to in informal, conversational English and use will in more polite, formal English.

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*The contraction (short, conversational form) of will not is won't.

**The trickiest main verb with be going to is go, which is also often followed by the preposition to, which shows the place.  Having two to's and two go's seems really strange but going to go to is correct.

Verb Tenses (2): The Simple Past Tense

I've always been a little confused by the simple past tense.  (Not as a speaker.  As a teacher.)  It's such an easy little tense to use.  That's why they call it SIMPLE.  Duh!  But for some reason, students make more mistakes with the simple past tense, specifically because they DON'T USE IT ENOUGH!  I'll explain that later.  First, the easy part.

How Do You Make the Simple Past Tense?

All you need to do is add ~ed to the base form of the verb.  (That's the form you find in the dictionary.)  Sometimes you have to double the last letter and sometimes you change ~y to ~i, but I'll save that for another blog.  (There will be more anticipation for that blog entry than there was for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.)  There are also some important pronunciation rules, but we'll save those for later, too. This, in a nutshell, is the simple past tense.

• talk + ~ed = talked
• play + ~ed = played
• try + ~ed = tried
• swat + ~ed = swatted

Of course it's not that simple.  There are also many irregular verbs in English.  That means the past form of the verb is NOT made by adding ~ed to the end.  For example:

• take / took
• drink / drank
• catch / caught
• fly / flew

Although the official count of irregular verbs in English is around 470, the list of really useful ones is probably around 100.  (Click here for pretty good irregular past tense dictionary.)  Unfortunately, the only way to learn them is by repetition.

How Do You Make Questions and Negative Sentences in the Simple Past Tense?

If you use the wonderful irregular past tense dictionary I linked to above, you will notice that the past form of do is did.  For a negative sentence, just like the simple present tense, all you need to do is drop don't in front of the main verb and let the greedy fellow grab the ~ed from the main verb.

• I watched TV last night.  (Drop in don't.)
• I don't watched TV last night.  (Let don't take away the ~ed.)
• I didn't watch TV last night.  (And, voila, a perfect negative sentence.)

A simpler, but less fun way to explain it is to simply put didn't in front of the base form of the main verb, like this.

• played / didn't play
• closed / didn't close
• ate / didn't eat

Questions work the same way.  Just put did in front of the subject, followed by the base form of the main verb.

• I liked / Did you like...?
• We studied / Did you study...?
• She took / Did she take...?

Common Errors

There are two common errors to watch out for with questions and negative sentences in the simple past tense.  First, just like the Double ~s mistake in the 3rd person singular ("He doesn't likes" or "Does she has...?"), students often leave a Double ~ed in their sentences.  This is especially common with irregular past tense verbs.

• XXX  I didn't went to the beach.  XXX
• XXX  Did you bought a new TV?  XXX

The second common mistake, especially among East Asian language learners, is the Random "Be" Verb.  This means that instead of using did or didn't to make a question or negative statement (or do, don't, does or doesn't in the simple present tense), students often use the be verb.  For example:

• XXX  I wasn't sleep well last night. or I wasn't slept well last night.  XXX
• XXX  Were you eat lunch?  or  Were you ate lunch?  XXX

When Do You Use the Simple Past Tense?

This is easy.  You use the simple past tense when something happened in the past and is COMPLETELY FINISHED.  There are many tense markers that indicate the past tense, such as:

• Yesterday, it rained all day.
• We took our final exams last week.
• Kevin left about an hour ago.

Simple, right?  When students first begin learning English, they generally use the simple past tense well.  However, problems begin when students learn the present perfect tense (have done).  Then, instead of using the simple past tense, students want to use the past perfect tense (had done).

• I cleaned my apartment last weekend.
• XXX  I had cleaned my apartment last weekend.  XXX

One of the biggest reasons for this, I think, is because novels use the past perfect tense a lot.  For example, this is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Vernon Dursley had been changing his mind every twenty-four hours for the past four weeks, packing and unpacking and repacking the car with every change of heart.  Harry's favorite moment had been the one when Uncle Vernon, unaware that Dudley had added his dumbbells to his case since the last time it had been unpacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the boot and collapsed with roars of pain and much swearing.

 This is because they are written in REPORTED SPEECH, in which the simple present tense is changed to the simple past tense and the simple past tense is changed to the past perfect, like this:

• "I have a cold."  /  He said that he had a cold.
• "I had a cold last weekend."  /  He said that he had had a cold last weekend.

I wish I had one of those memory-eraser thingamabobs from Men in Black.  The first thing I would do in every new class is erase the past perfect (had done) from my students' brains.

YOU DON'T NEED THE PAST PERFECT!!!!  FORGET THAT IT EVEN EXISTS!!!!   DON'T USE HAD DONE.....EVER!!!!

Another common error is using the past continuous (was doing) instead of the simple past tense.  For example:

• XXX  Yesterday, I was hanging out at the beach with my friends.  XXX
• Yesterday, I hung out at the beach with my friends.

Yesterday is done, finished, kaput.  USE THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE!!!!!  (Can you tell that I'm a little frustrated by this?)

When you are describing something that is clearly in the past, at least 90% of the time, you should use the simple past tense.  The past continuous (be doing) and the past perfect (had done) are so rare, they almost shouldn't be taught, at least until the advanced level.  My advice is to ALWAYS use the simple past tense in past situations and be wrong less than 10% of the time.  When in doubt, use the KISS* principle.

Keep It Simple S**

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*Although KISS is perhaps the greatest rock band ever, they have nothing to do with the simple past tense.

** Insert your favorite S word here.  (Silly, Skyler, Simon, Stupid, etc.)  The last one is my favorite.

 

Verb Tenses (1b): The Simple Present Tense (When to Use It)

The simple present tense is pretty easy to make.  The only really confusing thing about the simple present tense is the 3rd person singular he, she or it.  But if you remember to add the ~s to the main verb in an affirmative sentence and move the ~s from the main verb to do (so it becomes does) in questions and negative sentences, you're most of the way to using the simple present tense correctly.

In other words, you know HOW to use the simple present tense.  Unfortunately, WHEN to use the simple present tense is also tricky.  But don't give up.  If you remember four simple rules and PRACTICE, you will do fine.

However, you must remember a basic rule about the simple present tense.  If the activity is happening right now, in the present you do NOT use the simple present tense.  (Pretty stupid, huh?)

When do you use the Simple Present Tense?

1.  Scientific Facts / Things That Are ALWAYS True

Here's a scientific fact.  English grammar makes no sense at all.  If something has been proven, if something has gone through the scientific method of forming a hypothesis and then testing it over and over again to show that the same thing always happens, you use the simple present tense.

• The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west.
• Water always boils at 100 degrees Centigrade.
• The No. 1 bus goes to Hawaii Kai.
• Money definitely doesn't grow on trees.  (The two $20-bills I planted last year didn't do anything.)

Similarly, everyone has habits.  There are certain things that everyone always does the same way.  For example:

• I always put on my right shoe first, and then I put on my left shoe.
• My wife always sleeps on the left side of the bed and I always sleep on the right side.
• My wife always drinks a cup of coffee right after she wakes up.  (You shouldn't talk to her until she has finished her first cup.)

You may have noticed an adverb that usually goes with the simple present tense: always.  Another word that can often be used with the simple present tense that fits into this group is every.  For example:

• Every morning, homeroom starts at 7:55.
• I brush my teeth every night before I go to bed.
• My grandfather eats a jalapeno pepper for lunch every day.

Always and every lead directly to the second usage of the simple present tense.

2.  Frequency (How often...?)

Always is a frequency word that means 100%.  There are a whole series of words and phrases that run from 0% on up.  The most common ones are:

• never / rarely / occasionally / sometimes / often / usually

Every can be paired with almost any unit of time, like day, week or January.  There is also a phrase using once, twice, etc.

• once a week / twice a day / three or four times a year

Two things to be careful of when you use this pattern.  First, you always use a in front of the time word. Second, you do NOT need any preposition in the middle like in.  As a general rule, anytime you have one of these time expressions or you are asking the question How often...?, you need the simple present tense.

• A:  How often do you go to the Mainland?
• B:  We go to the East Coast every Christmas to see my family.

• A:  How often do you log on to your Facebook account?
• B:  I log on two or three times a day.

• A:  How often does your family go to the movie theater?
• B:  We occasionally go to the theater, but it's gotten so expensive we usually just watch DVDs at home.

3.  Scheduled Events

This one can be a little tricky and easy to forget because you are using the simple PRESENT tense to describe things that will happen in the FUTURE.  This is because right now, you know the SCHEDULE, especially when something will start and when something will end.  When you talk about schedules, you usually include simple time expressions.

• Tomorrow morning, Dr. Robinson has a meeting from 9:00 to 11:00.
• My planes leaves Honolulu at 5:00 PM and lands in New York at 11:00 AM the next day.
• Hurry up!  The movie starts in twenty minutes.

The official rule is this only works for events in the NEAR future, but I have no idea how to define the near future.  Is it one week?  One month?  It's probably less than a year, but it is definitely a grey area.  Good luck with that.

4.  In Adverb Clauses of Time and Real Conditionals

There are a handful of subordinating conjunctions that require the simple present tense.  Real conditionals include the conjunctions if, as long as and unless.  The main clause is written in the simple future tense, but the adverb clause (after if, etc.) is written in the simple present tense.

• I will let you play outside for an hour if you clean up your room first.
• We won't have enough money to buy a new car unless we sell our current car first.
• Everyone will be able to go home early as long as we finish all the work.

The other set of conjunctions are related to time.  They include when, while, before, after and until.  Just like the real conditions, the main clause is usually in the simple future tense but the adverb clause is in the simple present tense.

• I will pick you up when you get to the station.
• I will stay in the car with the dog while you go in and get the stuff we need.
• Kara will have to study a lot before she is ready to take her licensing exam.
• Marcus will have to wait for his parents to wake up before he opens his Christmas presents.
• We won't begin eating until your mother gets home.

5.  Non-action Verbs*

This one is a little different because it's not really connected to time.  The clearest examples are with the time words now, still, already and yet.

With action verbs, the words now and still indicate the present continuous and already and yet indicate the present perfect.  For example:

• David is cleaning his room right now.
• David is still cleaning his room.
• David hasn't finished cleaning his room yet.
• David has cleaned his room already.

However, if the main verb is a non-action verb, like have, then you would always use the simple present tense.

• David has a really bad cold right now.
• David still has a really bad cold.
• David doesn't have his own car yet.
• David has his own car already.

This is pretty much everything you need to know about the simple present tense.  The easy part is practicing when you know everything should be in the present tense.  The difficult part comes when all the verb tenses are muddled up together.  But if you start by figuring out the time (tense marker) and go from there, verb tenses are much, much easier.

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*All verbs can be put into one of three categories: action verbs, non-action verbs and linking verbs.  The majority of verbs are action verbs and there are not so many linking verbs. 

Non-action verbs can be divided into four basic groups.

• Mental States: think, remember, realize, need, understand
• Emotional States: like, love, envy, care, want, prefer
• Possession: have, own, possess, belong
• State of Being: owe, cost, include, appear

All three of these groups will be discussed later.

Verb Tenses (1a): The Simple Present Tense

For years, I've been looking at different grammar explanations from different sources and the only thing I have really learned is this.  ENGLISH GRAMMAR IS REALLY, REALLY STUPID!  There are so many different ways to explain the same thing, I'm amazed that anybody can learn this blasted language.  One thing that is very necessary, in my opinion, is that we agree on how to define things.  Different sources will use different terms than I do, but I will do my best to use the simplest ones I can find/make up and I will be as consistent as I can when I use them.


Everything in our lives is connected to TIME.  Our lives are measured by seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and years.  Similarly, all language is connected by VERBS.  Verbs explain what we do, how we feel and why we can't finish our homework on time.  ("My dog ate it."  "My printer broke."  "I was kidnapped by aliens last night.")  Now for the really cool part.  Verb tense is controlled by time.  If you always identify the time, you should always get the verb tense correct.


Speaking of verb tense, there are only three verb tenses in English, but they are NOT past, present and future.  (Huh?)  The three tenses are simple, continuous and perfect.  Each tense has three forms, which are past, present and future.  You can have up to twelve combinations of tenses and forms, but this blog will start with one, the simple present tense.


How do you make the simple present tense?


This one is easy.  I guess that's why they call it the "simple" tense.  When you look up a word in the dictionary, you will find the base form.  The base form is the same as the simple present tense form.  Sort of.  (C'mon.  This is English.  It can't be that easy.)

• I like sports.
• We eat lunch in the cafeteria.
• They come to work by train.

Technically all main verbs have helping verbs, so the absolutely correct form of the simple present tense would be:

• I do like sports.
• We do eat lunch in the cafeteria.
• They do come to work by train.

However, since do doesn't add any meaning to the sentence, over time, native-English speakers stopped using it.  In the question and negative forms, you have to put it back, though.  To make the negative form in the simple present tense, simply drop don't in front of the main verb.

• My parents live in New York.  /  My parents don't live in New York.
• We go to the movies every Friday. / We don't go to the movies every Friday.
• I give a quiz every Friday. / I don't give a quiz every Friday.

Questions are just as easy.  Just put do in front of the subject and, Bob's your uncle*, a question is made.  Don't forget that I and we change to you almost always.  (You should always change I and we to you when you do my exercises.)  For example:

• I have a dictionary. / Do you have a dictionary?
• We need a babysitter. / Do you need a babysitter?
• They enjoy scuba diving. / Do they enjoy scuba diving?

3rd Person Singular

Really?  That's it?  Is the simple present tense that easy?

Silly rabbit.  Of course it's more difficult.  If English were that easy, I wouldn't have a job.  In the simple present tense, there is one irregularity, the 3rd person singular"", which basically means he, she or it.  In this case, you add an ~s or ~es to the end of the main verb.

• My wife (she) likes sushi.
• My brother (he) lives on the East Coast.
• My car (it) needs a tune-up.

This isn't too bad, but it's easy to forget, so you have to keep practicing and be very careful until it becomes automatic.  The trickiest one that students seem to have the most trouble with is indefinite pronouns like everyone or something.  Indefinite pronouns are considered 3rd person singular, so you must always add an ~s to the end.

• Everyone wants to have pizza.
• Nobody has an eraser.
• Something smells wonderful.

So far, everything has been fairly simple, but now it gets a little more complicated.  What happens with questions and negative statements in the 3rd person singular?

Just like the regular simple past, you start to make a negative statement by dropping don't in front of the main verb.

• Kevin has a headache.  becomes  Kevin don't has a headache.

However, think of do as a greedy little child who takes things from other little children.  As soon as don't sees that the main verb has an ~s, don't immediately runs over and snatches it away from the main verb. 

• Kevin doesn't have a headache.

Now don't has the ~s and becomes doesn't.  Have is sitting on the ground crying and wondering what happened to its ~s.  A sentence is only big enough for one ~s and do always takes it.

• Skyler eats vegetables. / Skyler doesn't eat vegetables.
• Kristen likes sports. / Kristen doesn't like sports.
• My father drinks a lot of coffee. / My father doesn't drink a lot of coffee.

Questions work exactly the same way.  Do drops in front of the subject, snatches the ~s away from the main verb and runs back to the front.

• Skyler eats vegetables. / Does Skyler eat vegetables?
• Kristen likes sports. / Does Kristen like sports?
• My father drinks a lot of coffee. / Does your father drink a lot of coffee?

Common Errors: The "Double ~s" and the "Uninvited Be Verb"

There are two common errors that students make with the simple present tense.  The first one I call the "Double ~s."  This basically means that, in a question or a negative statement, the a student remembered to change do to does, but they left the ~s at the end of the main verb, too.  For example:

• XXX   Does Ethan drives to school?   XXX
• XXX   Kelly doesn't has her notebook.   XXX

The second one is more specific to Asian students.  The "Uninvited Be Verb" is when a student substitutes the Be Verb for do or does.  I'll explain this one in more detail later.

• XXX   Are you eat lunch in the cafeteria?   XXX
• XXX   Johnny isn't play soccer.   XXX

Now that you understand perfectly HOW to use the simple perfect tense (ha ha), the next step is to learn WHEN to used the simple perfect tense.  However, your brain is probably on overload right now and needs a break, so let's save that for the next blog.

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*"Bob's your uncle" is a British expression that means something like "You have been successful" or "There you go."  You usually use it when you give simple directions.

""Subjects can be divided into six different categories.

• 1st person singular = I
• 2nd person singular = you
• 3rd person singular = he, she, it
• 1st person plural = we
• 2nd person plural = you
• 3rd person plural = they

This is very important for subject/verb agreement, especially with the "be" verb.