English Grammer Tenses

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English Grammar

The Tenses

Present Simple
Present Present Continuous
Past Simple Past
Past Continuous Present
Perfect Simple Present
Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect
Simple Past
Perfect ContinuousFuture
Using the Simple Present
Using the Present
Continuous Using the
Present Perfect Simple
Using the Present Perfect Continuous
Using going to Using shall/will

Simple Tenses
The simple tenses are used to show permanent characteristics of people and events or what happens regularly, habitually or in a single completed action

Perfect Tenses
Sometimes you need to give just a little bit more information about an action or state...and that is where the perfect tenses come in.
The perfect tenses are used when an action or situation in the present is linked to a moment in the past. It is often used to show things that have happened up to now but aren't finished yet or to emphasize that something happened but is not true anymore. When they end determines which of them you use.
Perfect tenses are never used when we say when something happened i.e. yesterday, last year etc. but can be used when discussing the duration of something i.e. often, for, always, since etc..

The Future Tenses
Discussing the future in English can seem complicated.The present simple, present continuous, present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous can all be used and often it is possible to use more than one structure, but have the same meaning.

To have
Short form
Other Verbs (to work)

I have
I've
I work

he has
he's
He works

she has
she's
She works

it has
it's
It works


you have
you've
you work


we have
we've
we work


they have
they've
they work

Simple Tenses

I work.
I don't work.
Do I work?
Yes, I do.
No, I don't.
He works.
He doesn't work.
Does he work?
Yes, he does.
No, he doesn't.
She works.
She doesn't work.
Does she work?
Yes, she does.
No, she doesn't.
It works.
It doesn't work.
Does it work?
Yes, it does.
No, it doesn't.
You work.
You don't work.
Do you work?
Yes you do.
No, you don't.
We work.
We don't work.
Do we work?
Yes we do.
No, we don't.
They work.
They don't work.
Do they work?
Yes they do.
No, they don't.

Present Continuous Tense
I'm working.
I'm not working.
Am I working?
Yes, I am.
No, I'm not.
He's working.
He isn't working.
Is he working?
Yes, he is.
No, he isn't.
She's working.
She isn't working.
Is she working?
Yes, she is.
No, she isn't.
It's working.
It isn't working.
Is it working?
Yes, it is.
No, it isn't.
You're working.
You aren'tt working.
Are you working?
Yes you are.
No, you aren't.
We're working.
We aren't working.
Are we working?
Yes we are.
No, we aren't.
They're working.
They aren't working.
Are they working?
Yes they are.
No, they aren't.

Stock Advice

Money manager John Dorfman writes a twice-weekly column for Bloomberg’s financial site. Dorfman is a classic value investor, and thus shuns stocks he sees as over hyped or overvalued. Dorfman’s columns usually include the names of specific stocks that he’s recommending buying, or in some cases shorting. In case you’re not familiar with the term, shorting is a strategy involving selling stocks that you don’t own, in hopes that you can buy them back at a lower price in the future. So you would short stocks that you think will go down in price. One reason that I’m a big fan of Dorfman is that he periodically recounts the performance of his previous picks, and he’s racked up far more winners than losers over the years.
For instance, Dorfman introduced his low-debt stock portfolio late in October 1999. His original five picks have gone up about 56 percent, since October 1999, compared to a 17 percent loss in the S&P 500 in the same period. Dorfman picked four more low-debt stocks in May 2000. Those four have soared 87 percent on average, in the intervening two years. Dorfman’s May 2001 picks are up 19 percent on average. Dorfman came up with four new picks last month. Find Dorfman’s articles by selecting Columns (Markets section) on Bloomberg’s homepage, and then click on Dorfman’s name. Select “Low-Debt Stocks Try to Continue Winning Streak” from the list to read about his latest low-debt picks.
Another reason I like Dorfman is that he frequently comes up with stock selection schemes that not only consistently turn up winners, but you can screen for new candidates on your own.
For instance, his Robot stock portfolios scored 40 percent, 68 percent, and 24 percent gains in calendar years 1999, 2000, and 2001 respectively. By comparison, the market, at least as measured by the S&P 500 index, turned in 20 percent, minus 9 percent, and minus 12 percent returns, respectively, in the same years.
Dorfman’s Robot selection criteria are surprisingly simple. He creates a list of stocks with market capitalizations exceeding $500 million, and total debt/equity ratios no higher than 1.0. From that list, he buys the 10 stocks with the lowest price/earnings ratios, and holds them for 12 months. If you’re proficient at screening, you can create your own list of Robot stocks using any search program that provides a total debt/equity ratio parameter.