The present simple, past simple and simple future tenses — review

🔊 La maîtresse lit pour toi

Three sentences about the same machine. “In 2001, a French surgeon instructed a robot from a New York hospital to do an operation in Strasbourg.” “Robots work in car factories, in mines and in nuclear plants.” “Some day soon, scientists will invent robot cooks.” Take away in 1987, soon — take away every date. You still know which sentence is about the past and which is about the future, because the verb itself has told you. Three shapes: instructed · work · will invent. How does an English verb carry a date inside it, and what changes when you ask a question or say no?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

التمييز بين الأزمنة الثلاثة : المضارع البسيط والماضي البسيط والمستقبل البسيط
بناء الأزمنة الثلاثة في الإثبات والاستفهام والنفي
التعرّف على ظرف الزمن الذي يفرض كلّ زمن : ⁦every day · yesterday · soon⁩
الانتقال من زمن إلى آخر داخل نصّ واحد دون خلط
كتابة تقرير قصير يعرض ما كان، وما هو كائن، وما سيكون

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

الفاعل والفعل، وأنّ ⁦he · she · it⁩ مفرد غائب
الفعل في صيغته المجرّدة (⁦the base form⁩)
الفرق بين الفعل القياسيّ والفعل الشاذّ في الماضي

Presentation

لاحظ النصّ أوّلا. فيه ثلاثة أزمنة تتعاقب : ابحث عن الأفعال وحدّد زمن كلّ منها قبل أن تقرأ القاعدة.

From a newspaper article about robots

The robot is the most amazing invention that man has ever made. For example, in 2001 a French surgeon was able to instruct a robot from a New York hospital to do an operation in Strasbourg. In 1997, engineers on Earth were able to drive a small robot on Mars. Robots are already capable of doing many difficult and dangerous jobs. You can see them working in car factories, in mines, in fire departments and in nuclear plants. Some day soon, I'm sure scientists will be able to invent robot cooks, which you can instruct to prepare your breakfast in the morning. They will make robot maids, which will do house cleaning. Can robots become the rivals of man in the future? Well, they cannot for one simple reason. They have only artificial intelligence, so it is impossible for them to be man's rivals.

What does this article tell you before you read any rule?

ماذا يعلّمك هذا المقال قبل أن تقرأ القاعدة ؟

The article moves through time in three steps, and it moves in one direction: the past (1997, 2001), then the present (already, today), then the future (some day soon).
Each step has its own verb shape: was / were for the past, are / have / is for the present, will for the future. The writer never has to announce “now I am speaking about the future”.
Look at what comes after will: will make, will do. The verb goes back to its base form — no ending at all.
And look at the paragraph breaks. The writer usually changes paragraph when he changes tense. That is not a coincidence: a change of tense is a change of moment, and a change of moment deserves a new paragraph.

⟹ Three moments, three tenses, one text. The rest of the lesson gives each of them its form — in the affirmative, in the question, and in the negative.

English has one simple tense for each of the three moments. ① The present simple — what is true now, always, or every day. subject + base verb — and -s with he, she, it. ② The past simple — what happened and is finished. subject + verb + -ed — or the irregular form, which has to be learnt (take ⟹ took, speak ⟹ spoke, be ⟹ was / were). ③ The simple future — what has not happened yet. subject + will + base verb — the same for every person, with no ending anywhere. ⛔ In the question and in the negative of the past, the tense moves to the auxiliary: “He took it” ⟹ “Did he take it?” ⟹ “He didn't take it.” The main verb goes back to its base form and stays there.

The three tenses, in the three forms

Tense	Affirmative · Interrogative · Negative	Example
Present simple	S + verb (+ -s) · Do / Does + S + base verb? · S + don't / doesn't + base verb	Robots work in mines. · Does a robot speak? · A robot doesn't sleep.
Past simple	S + verb + -ed or irregular · Did + S + base verb? · S + didn't + base verb	Farida spoke very little English. · Did she speak English? · She didn't speak English.
Simple future	S + will + base verb · Will + S + base verb? · S + won't + base verb	Scientists will invent robot cooks. · Will people live on the moon? · Robots won't become man's rivals.

Only the present simple changes with the person. After did and will the verb always returns to its base form, whatever the tense of the sentence.

The words that decide the tense for you

present simple — every day · always · often · usually · never · today · nowadayspast simple — yesterday · last term · last March · in 1987 · six hundred years ago · thensimple future — tomorrow · soon · some day · next year · in the future

The three tenses in one report

الأزمنة الثلاثة في تقرير واحد : ما كان، وما هو كائن، وما سيكون.

A teacher's report on a pupil

Here are the notes a teacher took about one of her pupils. Pupil: Farida · Last term: spoke very little English · Now: speaks and reads English quite well · Expectations: speak fluently — not write long texts yet ⟹ Turn these four notes into four full sentences, one for each moment, and use the right tense each time.

The answers, and the rule behind them

الأجوبة، والقاعدة التي وراءها.

Last term, Farida spoke very little English. Now she speaks and reads English quite well. If she works hard, she will speak fluently. But she won't write long texts yet. Four sentences, three moments, and the reader follows without one word of explanation.

A report is the three tenses, in this order: before, now, next. ⭐ And notice how each sentence is anchored. Last term holds the past simple; now holds the present simple; will holds the future by itself. The time word and the tense must agree — one of them alone is not enough, and the two of them fighting is the commonest mistake of all.

The same sweep, applied to what man can do

past — Six hundred years ago man **couldn't travel** by plane, but he **could travel** on horseback.past — Christopher Columbus **was able to** sail across the Atlantic.present — Today, man **is able to** travel to the moon.future — In the future, man **will be able to** leave the Earth and settle on Mars.

⚠️ Look at the last three: was able to · is able to · will be able to. It is the same expression, put into the three tenses — and only to be has moved. ⟹ When a verb looks difficult, find the small verb inside it: that is the one that carries the tense.

⛔ Three mistakes to bury now. — not “Did you went to school?” and not “She will goes”. After did and after will, the verb is always in its base form: “Did you go?” · “She will go”. — not “He work in a factory”. In the present simple, and only there, he / she / it adds -s: “he works”. And once the -s is on the verb, it never appears anywhere else: “he doesn't work”, not “he doesn't works”. — not “She speaked”, not “They taked”. The irregular verbs have no rule and no shortcut: “speak ⟹ spoke”, “take ⟹ took”, “be ⟹ was / were”. Learn them in threes and test yourself out loud.

⛔ ثلاثة أخطاء : بعد ⁦did⁩ و⁦will⁩ يعود الفعل مجرّدا · السين للمفرد الغائب في المضارع وحده · لا تُصرَّف الأفعال الشاذّة بـ⁦-ed⁩.

Practice

تمارين. أنجزها على كرّاسك أوّلا، ثمّ افتح التصحيح.

Exercise 1 — Put the verb in brackets in the right tense

The time word at the front of each sentence tells you which tense to choose. a. In 1997, engineers on Earth (to drive) a small robot on Mars. b. Today, robots (to work) in car factories, in mines and in nuclear plants. c. Some day soon, scientists (to invent) robot cooks. d. Six hundred years ago, man (not to travel) by plane. e. (to live) people on the moon one day?

Answers to Exercise 1

	Answer	Why
a	In 1997, engineers on Earth drove a small robot on Mars.	a date in the past ⟹ past simple
b	Today, robots work in car factories, in mines and in nuclear plants.	what is true now ⟹ present simple; “robots” is plural, so no -s
c	Some day soon, scientists will invent robot cooks.	“some day soon” ⟹ will + base verb
d	Six hundred years ago, man didn't travel by plane.	past negative ⟹ didn't + base verb
e	Will people live on the moon one day?	future question ⟹ will moves to the front, verb stays bare

Exercise 2 — Write four sentences about what man can do

Choose one field: transport, medicine, sport, or communication. Then write four sentences about it, in this order, and underline your verbs. a. One thing man could not do six hundred years ago. b. One thing man could do six hundred years ago all the same. c. One thing man does today. d. One thing man will do in the future. ⛔ Do not write a date or an achievement that you have not checked.

Answers to Exercise 2 — one possible set, on transport

Six hundred years ago, man couldn't travel by plane.
But he could travel on horseback.
Today, robots travel to Mars, and Christopher Columbus's Atlantic crossing takes a few hours by air.
In the future, man will leave the Earth and will settle on Mars.

⭐ Read the four out loud, one after the other. That is a paragraph, not a list — and the only thing that built it is the movement of the tenses: two verbs in the past, one in the present, one in the future. ⟹ When you have nothing to say, put the same idea into the three tenses. You will find you have three sentences.

At the BEM, this is the single most frequent exercise of Mastery of language: “put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense”, usually inside a short text where the tense changes at least twice. It is also what your Written expression paragraph is corrected on, line by line. Keep three things ready: the time word decides the tense (yesterday, now, soon) ; after did and will the verb is bare ; and -s only in the present, only with he, she, it. ⛔ The mistake that costs the most marks every year: “Did he went?” and “He will goes”.

Three moments, three tenses, and one habit to build: look at the time word first, then choose the verb. The present simple says what is true and adds -s for he, she and it. The past simple says what is finished, with -ed or an irregular form to learn. The simple future says what has not happened, with will and a bare verb. And in every question and every negative, the tense leaves the main verb and moves to do, did or will — the verb itself goes back to being just a verb.

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