1. Simple Tenses Active
1.1.1. The Present Simple Tense
• General actions; e.g. People build houses of different materials.
• Universal truths; e.g. The sun rises in the east.
• Habitual actions; e.g. Sam reads a newspaper at breakfast.
• Time expressions: never, seldom, hardly ever, rarely, occasionally, sometimes, from time to time, regularly, often, frequently, every day/ month/year, usually, always. e.g. We often meet Liz in the sports club.
• Instructions, directions; e.g. Clean your teeth twice a day.
• Demonstrations, step by step instructions; e.g. First I wash the potatoes, peel them, cut and add a little salt.
• Timetables (verbs of movement): to arrive, to come, to start, to leave и т. д. e.g. The classes start at 9 a.m.
1.1.2. The Past Simple Tense
• Statement of facts; e.g. Columbus discovered America.
• A succession of past events; e.g. We met in the club, played a game of snooker and then went to the cinema.
• A single action in the past; e.g. Bob finished his dinner half an hour ago.
• A repeated action in the past; e.g. Every summer the Potters visited their friends in Australia.
• No connection with the present situation; e.g. I didn't have a car when I was young.
• Specific time – yesterday, some time ago, the other day, in 1995, during the trip, last Monday, then, when, just now e.g. Judy phoned just now.
1.1.3. The Future Simple Tense
• A single action in the future; e.g. I'll stop smoking one day.
A repeated action in the future; e.g. Tom will go to the swimming pool three times a week.
«Time expressions – next week, tomorrow, in 2010, in a month, later, one day etc.
• Feelings, doubts, thoughts without any objective evidences. (I think, I guess, I suppose, probably, perhaps, etc.) e.g. I won't pass the exam. e.g. It will be cold tomorrow. e.g. Cars will be very different in the year 2050.
• A future action is definite with some objective evidences at present (am/is/are going to); e.g. Look! Jack is going to jump off the tree.
• A future action is unplanned, spontaneous e.g. What will you do at the weekend? – I don't know. Perhaps I'll invite friends to my place.