Education, Languages
How to remember English times
Times in English seem quite complex, but it's only at first glance. Many are frightened by the abundance of temporary forms, especially the long, completed and completed-long time, which seemingly do not have analogues in the Russian language.
In fact, we also have the means to:
- Expressions of the extent of the action:
I cooked pilaf for three hours. The past is a long time. And, pay attention, without specifying the time it will be unclear when exactly the pilaf was cooked. The sentence "I cooked pilaf" can be understood and so, that I cooked pilaf just now, or once I had to cook pilaf at all, or I cooked pilaf before something happened in the past. Having said "I was cooking a pilaf" in English, we clearly state that the action took place in the past and lasted for a certain time.
- To express the completeness of the action:
The first portion of the pilau was burnt. Completed present time or simple past. If this action is somehow linked to the present (for example, this event just happened), it will be Present Perfect, if we just talk about some events in the past - it will be Past Simple.
- To express the action that took place at the time of another action:
I cooked pilaf and taught English times. A long time.
- To express an action in the past that ended before another action:
I cooked pilaf and (then) went to teach English times. The past completed time. Note that in this case it is not always possible to do without the qualifying word in Russian - it partially, in addition to the verb of the perfect kind, demonstrates that the action ended after the other. In English, you can do without add-ons, the verb form will already indicate that the action is completed.
Many do not take into account that in the Russian language lexical means are used to convey these shades of action - the word itself, its ending, the prefixes appear, in some cases the vowel changes in the root, etc. These rules are very diverse and it is not easy to lay them down In a logical and orderly scheme. But, in addition to lexical means, additions and time instructions can be used to convey the nature of the action. All this makes the Russian language much more complicated than English.
The formation of times in the English language is much simpler and more logical. Remembering these forms usually does not cause complications. It is much more difficult to determine where and what form should be used. We pay special attention to this.
The times in English with examples are given in the table below.
| Simple | Prolonged | Completed | Completely-lasting | |
| Data. What we do with a certain periodicity. Always used if you need to talk about the sequence of events. | Long procces. As a rule, it is translated by the imperfective verb. | Perfect action. It is translated by verbs of the perfect kind. | An action that lasts for a certain period of time and, correspondingly, is completed or completed at a certain moment. | |
| The present | I cook a pilaf sometimes. "Sometimes I cook pilaf." | I am cooking a pilaf now. - Now I'm cooking pilaf. | I have just cooked the pilaf. "I just cooked the pilaf." | I have been cooking the pilaf for an hour. - I cooked pilaf for an hour (until the current moment). |
| Past | I cooked the pilaf, wrote the letter and went to the shop. - I cooked pilaf, wrote a letter and went to the store. | I was cooking the pilaf yeasterday. - I cook this pilaf yesterday (for a while). | I had cooked the pilaf by the night. - I cooked pilaf for the night (the action ends at some point in the past). | I had been cooking the pilaf for two hours when I remembered about the meeting. - I wrote the article for two hours, until I remembered about the meeting. |
| Future | I will cook a pilaf tomorrow. - I'll cook the pilaf tomorrow (there is no emphasis on the duration or completeness of the process, we simply report the fact). | I will be cooking a pilaf tomorrow. - I will cook pilaf tomorrow (for a certain time). | I will have a cooked a pilaf by the meeting. - I'll cook pilaf for the meeting (that is, the pilaf will be ready by this time.) Literally this sentence can be translated as "I will have a pilaf ready to meet." | I will have a cooking trip for two hours by the time. "I'll cook pilaf for two hours by the time I need to go to the meeting." (This form is used very rarely and, as a rule, in book speech). |
To remember English times, try to translate different verb forms verbatim. That is, according to this scheme:
Communion 1 - doing.
Communion 2 - made.
Thus, for a long time it sounds like this: "I am cooking" - "I'm cooking".
Completed: "I have cooked" - "I have cooked".
Completely-lasting: "I have cooking" - "I" made myself "cooking."
All this sounds at first glance absurd and ridiculous, but it helps to understand the logic of the English language. It is enough to realize these rules once in order to make English times seem simple, logical and very comfortable.
Similar articles
Trending Now