The Present Simple. Using

1. to talk about things in general, to give a general characteristic to a person or thing denoted by the subject.

I come from Belarus.

I live in Minsk.

My father works at a plant.

2. for habitual or repeated actions (with adverbs or adverbial phrases:

always, usually, sometimes, often, seldom, generally, occa­sionally, frequently, every week/year, twice a day / a month, hardly ever, rarely, from time to time, as a rule).

I don't smoke and my friend doesn 't smoke either. It often rains in autumn.

3. to express a general truth; a statement of fact.

Water boils at 100 degrees centigrade. Cats don't eat sweets.

4. for events in the future which are part of a prearranged program (for cinemas, theatres, public transport, a journey, a timetable).

The meeting starts at б о 'clock.

When does your train leave ? - In an hour.

5. with the verbs referring to thinking, liking or disliking, possession, perception, wish, being instead of Present Con­tinuous: know, understand, like, love, hate, remember, seem, believe, belong, mean, want, wish, see, hear, etc.

I don't understand what you mean.

Do you hear any noise? - No, I hear nothing.

6. in clauses of time and condition (type I), referring to the fu­ture (after: when, till, until, as soon as, before, after, as long as, if, unless, provided).

When he comes, ask him to wait.

If it stops raining, we'll go for a walk.

1. with the verb say when we are asking or speaking about books (other verbs of communication are also possible).

What does the book say? It says, "Learn to speak by

speaking."

Shakespeare advises us not to borrow or lend.

8. in demonstrations, descriptions, step-by-step explanations.

Here are some important dates in the history of space

travel:

1957. The Russians send a rocket into space and Sputnik 1.

1961. Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in Space.

1969. The Americans put a man on the Moon.

9. It is often used in newspaper headlines.

Peace Talks Fail. Murderer Escapes.

Past Simple. Formation

The form of the Past Indefinite is the same for all persons.

1. Regular verbs add -ed or -d to the base form. In the affirmative: play - played [d]

help - helped [t] invite - invited [id]

2. Irregular verbs have a special (the 2^nd) form: come - came go - went

cut - cut do - did

Interrogative and negative forms are formed with did and did not (didn't) and bare infinitive.

	Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
I		I	I
He/she		he	He
It	worked	Did she work?	She did not work
We	went	it go?	It did not go
You		we	We
They		you	You
		they	They

NOTE: For giving emphasis with positive statements in the past did is added to the first form.

/ did know about it yesterday.

Past Simple. Using

I. to express a finished action in the past with time references: yesterday, ago, last year, in 1990, last months, etc.

He lived in London some years ago.

She worked in that bank for three years (but she doesn 't work there now).

2. to express actions which follow each other in a story.

He came in, took off his coat and opened the window to air the room.

3. to express past habits or regular events.

She got up at 7 every morning to go to work. She always carried an umbrella in her hand­bag.

Spelling Rules:

a) verbs ending in e add only d: like - \iked

b) when у follows a consonant change у to i + ed: cry - cried

Future Simple. Formation

Future Indefinite is formed with the auxiliaries willand shall(for the first person singular and plural) and bare infini­tive.

Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
I will work We shall	Will I work? Shall we	I shall not/ work We will not
He She It will work You They	he she Will it work? you they	He She will not It (won't) work You They

NOTES:

First person will and shall.(Am. - will)

Shall is no longer common in conversation, but it is still found in formal English. We can say:

/ shall be 18 next week. We or shall know the results tomor­row.	I will be 18 next week. We will know the results tomor­row.
Formally will expresses in­tention. Shall is used when there is no intention (where the sub­ject wishes are not involved).	/ will wait for you (intend to wait). We shall miss our train, if the taxi doesn 't come soon.

Future Simple. Using

1. to make a statement of a future fact or a prediction about the future.

Tomorrow's program will be very interesting.

2. to express hopes⁸, thoughts, expectations about the future.

⁸ After hope the present with a future reference is possible. I hope he phones tomorrow.

/ think it'll rain tomorrow.

3. for a sudden decision to do something. There isn't any bread left. - Oh, I'll buy some. The phone is ringing. - I will answer it.

4. to express the idea of willingness to do something. /'// do it for you. (promise)

Will you close the window, please? (request) I'll look after the children, (offer) Stop that or I'll call the police, (threat)

5. in the sentences containing clauses of condition (Type I) and time.

/'// phone you when I get home.

If I get that job, I'll earn a lot of money.

6. for future habitual action.

Spring will come again and birds will build their nests. 1. to make formal announcement of future plans and to present weather forecast.

The President will deliver his message in a week. Rain will continue throughout the week.

8. to express refusal: I won't/shan't do it. I won't ... is a strong refusal.

/ won't listen to any more of this nonsense.

9. Shall I/we is used in the question form to make offers or suggestions or to ask for suggestions, advice, instructions. Shall is used in question tags.

What shall I do? Shall I read the text? Shall we take a taxi? Let's wait, shall we?