VERB PHRASE AND TENSES (Present and Past)

A. Verb Phrases

Essentially, verb phrase is a non-self-contained verb (consisting of more than one word) but still meaningful / functioning as a verb. Verb Phrase is a combination of words (a verb + a preposition or verb + adverb) which when used simultaneously has a different meaning to the original verb.

Formula : Auxiliary verb + main verb = Verb Phrase

Verb Phrase Form

The verb phrase in English has the following form:

1. a main verb

This form explains that verbs can only be used in Present form (eg, are, like, play), or Past form (ie, were, liked, played).

Example of sentences:

Subject	Verb	Complement
We	Played	Football
She	Comes	To my house

2. an auxiliary verb (be) and a main verb in –ing form

This form describes the verbs used in the ongoing time (continuous).

Example of sentences:

Subject	Auxiliary Verb	Verb-ing
I	Am	Studying
The students	Were	Watching

3. an auxiliary verb (have) and a main verb with past participle (V3)

This form describes the verb used in the aspect that has occurred (perfect). A verb with have / has shown Present Perfect, while a verb with had Past Perfect shows.

Example of sentences:

Subject	Auxiliary Verb (have / has / had)	Verb 3 (Participle)	Complement
The boy	has	played	football
He	had	finished	doing homework

4. an auxiliary verb (have + been) and a main verb in the –ing form

This form describes a verb that describes activities that have occurred and are in progress at a certain time (perfect continous).

Example of sentences:

Subject	Auxiliary Verb (have/has/had + been)	Verb -ing	Complement
Sharah	had been	singing	a song
The men	have been	fishing	in a lake

5. a modal verb (may, might, can, could, must, shall, should, will would) and a main verb

This form describes a verb by using a modal form.

Example of sentences:

Subject	Auxiliary Verb (have/has/had)	Verb 3 (Participle)	Complement
I	will	Come	to your house
The football players	must	Practice	Everyday

6. modal verbs dan auxiliary verb (be) , ‘have’, or ‘have been’

Example of sentences:

Subject	Modal Verb	Auxiliary Verb (be/ have /have been)	Verb
They	can	be	laughing
She	might	have been	Sleeping
He	must	have	left

           

B. Tenses

1. Simple Present Tense

Simple present tense is a verb form to express facts, habits, or events that occur at this time.

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	S (I/you/we/they) + Verb 1	I write a letter everyday.
	S (He/ she/it) + Verb 1 + s/es	She reads a magazine every morning.
Negative (-)	S (I/you/we/they) + do + not + Verb 1	I do not write a letter everyday.
	S (He/ she/it) + does +not + Verb 1	She does not read a magazine every morning.
Interrogative (?)	Do + S (I/you/we/they)  + Verb 1 ?	Do I write a letter everyday?
	Does + S (He/ she/it)  + Verb 1 ?	Does She read a magazine every morning?

2. Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense is often called the present progressive tense is the tense that describes the work that is happening today. Is said to be present because of current and said continuous because the work being done (in progress or in progress).

Description of time stating now / right now:	Adverb of time in the Present Continuous Tense:
Now Right now At present At this moment Today	This morning This afternoon This evening Tonight Tomorrow Next week Next month	Next year This holiday This weekend In a few days; weeks; moths; years

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	Subject + to be(am,is,are) + (V1+ing)	He is reading a story book now.
Negative (-)	Subject + to be(am,is,are) + not + (V1+ing)	He is not reading a story book now.
Interrogative (?)	To be(am, is, are) + Subject + (V1+ing) ?	Is he reading a story book now?

3. Present Perfect Tense

Preasent perfect tense is used to express an activity or situation that has been started in the past and has been completed at a certain point in time in the past or still continues until now.

Description of time used is:

since since yesterday since two days ago since last week for for three days for two years

There is also some form of description of the time lying before Past Participle (third verb form / V3) except for the word yet located after V3. T

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	S (I/you/we/they) +  have +Verb 3	We have written a letter to you.
	S (He/she/it) + has + Verb 3	He has taught this class for ten years.
Negative (-)	S (I/you/we/they) + have + not + Verb 3	We haven't written a letter to you.
	S (He/she/it) + has +not + Verb 3	He hasn’t taught this class for ten years.
Interrogative (?)	Have + S (I/you/we/they) + Verb 3 ?	Have we  written a letter to you?
	Has + S (He/she/it) + Verb 3 ?	Has he taught this class for ten years?

4. Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous talks about an action that started in the past and continues in the present.

Adverb of time : “since” and “for” (since, since July 2013, recently, the whole days, still anymore, long, for ten years)

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	S (I/you/we/they) + have + been +V1 + ing	We have been living here since 2003.
	S (He/she/it) + has + been + V1 + ing	She has been working at that company for three years.
Negative (-)	S (I/you/we/they) + have + not + been + V1 + ing	We have not been living here since 2003.
	S (He/she/it) + has +not + been + V1 + ing	She has not been working at that company for three years.
Interrogative (?)	Have + S (I/you/we/they) + been + V1 + ing ?	Have we been living here since   2003?
	Has + S (He/she/it) + been + V1 + ing ?	Has she been working at that company for three years ?

5. Simple Past Tense

We use the Simple past to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past.

Adverb of time : yesterday, the day before yesterday, this morning, this noon, just now, last night, last month, a moment ago, an hour ago, a few days ago, a few minutes ago.

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	Subject + Verb 2	We went to Bangkok last year.
Negative (-)	Subject + did + not + Verb 1	We went to Bangkok last year.
Interrogative (?)	Did + Subject + Verb 1 ?	Did we go to Bangkok last year?

6. Past Continuous Tense

Continuous tense talks about an action taking place at a certain time in the past.

Adverb of time : yesterday, last morning, all day yesterday, at that time, at seven o'clock last night

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	S (you/we/they) + were +V1 + ing	They were washing when I visited them yesterday.
	S (I/He/she/it) + was + ing	I was sleeping when the car crashed my home last night.
Negative (-)	S (you/we/they) + were+ not + V1 + ing	They were not washing when I visited them yesterday.
	S (I/He/she/it) + was +not + V1 + ing	I was not sleep when the car crashed my home last night.
Interrogative (?)	Were + S (you/we/they) + V1 + ing ?	Were they washing when I visited them yesterday?
	Was + S (I/He/she/it) + V1 + ing ?	Was I sleep when the car crashed my home last night ?

7. Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense speaks of something that states that an action has been completed at a point in the past before another action takes place.

The time description used in the form of Past Perfect Tense is : ...after, when... , before... ,  ...until

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	Subject + had + Verb 3	She had slept when I came last night.
Negative (-)	Subject + had + not + Verb 3	She had not slept when I came last night.
Interrogative (?)	Had + Subject + Verb 3 ?	Had she slept when I came last night?

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Continous tense is used to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past.

Example of sentences:

Sentence	Formula	Example
Positive (+)	Subject + had + been + Verb 3	They had been living here for three years when I came.
Negative (-)	Subject + had + not + been + Verb 3	They had not been living here for three years when I came.
Interrogative (?)	Had + Subject + been + Verb 3 ?	Had they been living here for three years when I came?