Week 1 Grammar: Verb Tenses

Simple present – report current trends, general information, findings and results of research; used in summaries and abstracts.

Simple past – report methods or procedures in studies completed in the past; commonly used in science writing when explaining the steps of experiments.

Present perfect – show concepts are still relevant, describe ongoing processes begun in the past, refer to completed events in the indefinite past, refer to sources in ongoing debates; sometimes used interchangeably with simple present; typically used in conclusions.

Passive voice – emphasize procedures or actions of research instead of writer; include information introduced earlier for cohesion; avoid using a subject when unimportant or unknown.

Verb Structures:

Basic order of a sentence: Subject + Verb + Object + Place + Time.

Grammar Forms

Affirmative/Declarative Sentences (S + V + .)

	Active	Passive
Simple
Present	Simple/base Verb	Am/is/are + PP*
Past	Verb + ed	Was/were + PP
Future	Will + V	Will be + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + going to + V	Am/is/are + going to + PP
Progressive
Present	Am/is/are + V+ing	Am/is/are + being + PP
Past	Was/were + V+ing	Was/were + being + PP
Future	Will be + V+ing	Will be + being + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + going to be + V+ing	Am/is/are + going to be + being + PP
Perfect
Present	Has/have + PP	Has been + PP
Past	Had + PP	Had been + PP
Future	Will have + PP	Will have been + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + going to + have + PP	Am/is/are + going to + have been + PP
Perfect Progressive
Present	Has/have been + V+ing	Has/have been + being + PP
Past	Had been + V+ing	Had been + being + PP
Future	Will have been + V+ing	Will have been + being + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + going to + have been + V+ing	Am/is/are + going to + have been being + PP

*PP = Past Participle

Negative Sentences (S + not + V + .)

	Active	Passive
Simple
Present	Do/does + not + simple/base Verb	Am/is/are + not + PP
Past	Did + not + Verb + ed	Was/were + not + PP
Future	Will + not + V	Will + not + be + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + not + going to + V	Am/is/are + not + going to + PP
Progressive
Present	Am/is/are + not + V+ing	Am/is/are + not + being + PP
Past	Was/were + not + V+ing	Was/were + not + being + PP
Future	Will + not + be + V+ing	Will + not + be being + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + not + going to be + V+ing	Am/is/are + not + going to be being + PP
Perfect
Present	Has/have + not + PP	Has + not + been + PP
Past	Had + not + PP	Had + not +been + PP
Future	Will + not + have + PP	Will + not + have been + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + not + going to + have + PP	Am/is/are + not + going to + have been + PP
Perfect Progressive
Present	Has/have + not _been + V+ing	Has/have + not + been + being + PP
Past	Had + not + been + V+ing	Had + not + been being + PP
Future	Will + not + have been + V+ing	Will + not + have been being + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + not + going to + have been + V+ing	Am/is/are + not + going to + have been being + PP

Question/Interrogative Sentences (Auxiliary + S + V + ?)

	Active	Passive
Simple
Present	Do/does + S + V	Am/is/are + S + PP
Past	Did + S + V	Was/were + S + PP
Future	Will + S + V	Will + S + be + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + S + going to + V	Am/is/are + S + going to be + PP
Progressive
Present	Am/is/are + S + V+ing	Am/is/are + S + being + PP
Past	Was/were + S + V+ing	Was/were + S + being + PP
Future	Will + S + be + V+ing	Will + S + be being + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + S + going to be + V+ing	Am/is/are + S + going to be being + PP
Perfect
Present	Have/has + S + PP	Have/has + S + been + PP
Past	Had + S + PP	Had + S + been + PP
Future	Will + S + have + PP	Will + S + have been + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + S + going to + have + PP	Am/is/are + S + going to + have been + PP
Perfect Progressive
Present	Has/have + S + been + V+ing	Has/have + S + been being + PP
Past	Had + S + been + V+ing	Had + S + been being + PP
Future	Will + S + have been + V+ing	Will + S + have been being + PP
Be going to	Am/is/are + S + going to + have been + V+ing	Am/is/are + S + going to + have been being + PP