Tense: when?
| Tense | Form | Example |
|---|
| Present simple | verb (+s) | She writes. |
| Present continuous | am/is/are + -ing | She is writing. |
| Past simple | verb + -ed / irregular | She wrote. |
| Past continuous | was/were + -ing | She was writing. |
| Present perfect | have/has + p.p. | She has written. |
| Future | will + verb · be going to + verb | She will write. She is going to write. |
Voice: who does the action?
- Active: the subject does the action — Tom broke the window.
- Passive: the subject receives the action — The window was broken (by Tom). Form: be (in the tense) + past participle.
| Tense | Passive |
|---|
| Present simple | The room is cleaned. |
| Past simple | The room was cleaned. |
| Present perfect | The room has been cleaned. |
| Future | The room will be cleaned. |
| Present continuous | The room is being cleaned. |
Watch out
- Learn irregular participles: written, broken, built, done, eaten, made, seen, taken.
- Finished-time words (yesterday, in 2010) need the past simple, not the present perfect.
- State verbs (know, like, want) are not used in the continuous.
En español
El tiempo indica cuándo ocurre la acción; la voz indica quién la realiza (activa) o quién la recibe (pasiva). La pasiva se forma con be en el tiempo adecuado + participio pasado.
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