Mihai ION Basic English Morphology

PRESENT SIMPLE
Form: V/V-(e)s*
+
?
*

Do
Does

I/you/we/they
he/she/it
I/you/we/they do not (dont)
he/she/it does not (doesnt)
I/you/we/they
he/she/it

play
plays
play
play?

3rd pers. sg.

Use:
general truths and permanent situations (Generic Present)
Vegetarians dont eat meat.
My cousin lives in Birmingham.
routines and habits (Habitual Present)
She has coffee every morning.
I usually visit her once a year.
Frequency scale: always usually often sometimes rarely never
100%_______________50%_______________0%
exclamations, demonstrations, stage directions, sports commentaries (Instantaneous Present)
Here comes the doctor!
I now add some sugar to the chocolate powder.
The doorbell rings. He jumps up with a start, reaching for the gun.
Smith sends a beautiful header over the goal-keeper and scores.
narrative style (Historic Present)
One day the boy goes to the woods and meets a fairy.
official programmes
The plane takes off at 18.00 hours.
future reference (time & condition clauses)
Ill call you as soon as I arrive.
Theyll go to the mountains if it doesnt rain.
Spelling of -s:
add -s to the base form of the verb
want/wants, drive/drives
add -es to verbs that end in -s, -z, -sh, -ch, -x, -o
kiss/kisses, buzz/buzzes, wash/washes, watch/watches, fix/fixes, go/goes
consonant + y > consonant + ie + s
carry/carries, fly/flies
but: buy/buys, say/says

Mihai ION Basic English Morphology

PRESENT CONTINUOUS
Form: BE (present) + V-ing

I
you/we/they
he/she/it
I
you/we/they
he/she/it
I
Am
Are you/we/they
he/she/it
Is

am (m)
are (re)
is (s)
am not (m not)
are not (arent)
is not (isnt)

playing

playing

playing?

Use:
ongoing activities (+ now/at present/at the moment)
Im driving home now.
temporary situations (+ today/this )
I usually drink coffee, but today Im drinking some milk.
immediate personal plans (+ today/tonight/tomorrow/this )
Hes coming to see us tomorrow.
What are you doing tonight?
annoyance (+ always/continually/all the time)
You are always fixing your car when I go to sleep!
Spelling of -ing:
add -ing to the base form of the verb
go/going, wear/wearing
drop final -e
come/coming, make/making
but: agree/agreeing, be/being, dye/dyeing, singe/singeing
-ie > -y + ing
lie/lying, die/dying
1 stressed vowel + consonant > 2x consonant + ing
stop/stopping, hit/hitting,begin/beginning
but: travel/travelling (BrE), kidnap/kidnapping, picnic/picnicking
Non-continuous verbs:
verbs of the senses: see, hear, smell, taste, notice, feel, touch
verbs of the mind: think (=cred), know, understand,believe, remember, forget, mean, doubt,
suppose, expect
verbs of emotion & feeling: like, dislike, love, hate, prefer, want, wish, care
verbs of possession: have, own, owe, belong, possess
verbs of relation: matter, concern, consist, contain, hold, cost, depend, resemble

Mihai ION Basic English Morphology

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

Form: HAVE (present) + V-en*

I/you/we/they have (ve)

he/she/it has (s)

I/you/we/they have not (havent)

he/she/it has not (hasnt)

?
*

Have
Has

I/you/we/they
he/she/it

eaten
drunk
played
eaten
drunk
played
eaten?
drunk?
played?

V-en = past participle (V3); with regular verbs, V-en = V-ed (past simple)

Use:
present result
He has cleaned his bike. (It is clean now)
experience (+ ever, never, already, yet)
Have you ever been in a car crash?
I havent read the poem yet.
recent past (+ just, lately, recently, till now, so far, of late)
The train has just left.
We havent seen Jack lately.
incomplete period of time (+ today/this /all day/all night)
Ive seen a good film this morning. (Its 11am)
but: I saw a good film this morning. (Its 11pm period completed)
persistent situation (for a period of time/since a point in time)
Ive been a doctor for ten years.
Hes driven a car since last summer.
future reference (time & condition clauses)
When I have finished, Ill let you know.
If you have done your work by seven, Ill take you to the pool.
Spelling of -ed: (for regular verbs)
add -ed to the base form of the verb
work/worked, clean/cleaned
drop final -e
move/moved, dance/danced, recite/recited
consonant + y > consonant + i + ed
try/tried, cry/cried
1 stressed vowel + consonant > 2x consonant + ed
stop/stopped, drop/dropped, omit/omitted, occur/occurred
but: travel/travelled (BrE), kidnap/kidnapped, picnic/picnicked

Mihai ION Basic English Morphology

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Form: HAVE (present) + V-en/BE + V-ing
+
?

Have
Has

I/you/we/they
he/she/it
I/you/we/they
he/she/it
I/you/we/they
he/she/it

have (ve) been

has (s) been
have not (havent) been
has not (hasnt) been
been
been

playing
playing
playing?

Use:
present result of recent activity
Shes exhausted. Shes been filming non-stop.
Whats that smell? Has someone been cooking onions?
ongoing persistent situation (+ for/since)
How long have you been playing football? (Youre still playing now)
Hes been watering the flowers for ten minutes. (Hes still watering them)
annoyance
Shes been asking me that silly question for a month. Whats the matter with her?
Note:
We cannot use the continuous aspect
when a quantity is given
Ive been drinking tea since 5 oclock.
but: Ive drunk two cups already.
with non-continuous verbs (see PRESENT CONTINUOUS)
Shes known me for ages.
with non-duration verbs (start, begin, finish, stop, find, lose, die, cut, break)
Ive cut my finger.
but: Ive been cutting my finger. (sadistic meaning)