Tenses

We uses different tenses to show when an action happens.

I.

The Simple Present Tense

1.

The simple present tense take two verb forms.

with s for singular subject (He, She, It, Daud)
except I and You
without s for plural subjects (We, They, Joe and Laili) and
also I and You
Examples

He
She
It
Farid

enjoys
likes

I
You
We
They
Zalia and Latifah

music.
enjoys
like

More examples:

a.

He enjoys collecti

a.

You run fast.

a.

We watch television at night.

a.

They sell vegetables at the market.

a.

Mariam and Sabariah carry a lot of books to

ng stamps.

a.

She sings in the

band.

a.

Wendy writes ver

y neatly.

a.

The dog barks at

cats.

a.

I like to eat ice

cream.

The forms of the verb "to be" in the simple present

tense.
I

am

You
We
They
Sam and Badrul

are

He
She
It
Ghazali

is

hungry.
tired.
clever.

Read the table below.

We use:
am only for I
is for all singular subjects (he, she, it, Farid) except you
are for the singular subject you and for all plural subjects
(we, they, you, Samy and Jasmine)
Examples

a.

I am hungry.

a.

Daud is the tallest bo

a.

She is ten years old.

a.

It is a very greedy ca

a.

They are late for class.

a.

You are lucky to

a.

We are all happy to meet

a.

you.

Chee Soon and

Marlina are friends.

The form of the verb "have" in the Simple Present Tense.

Read the table below.
I
You
We
They
Simrit and Jason

have

He
She
It
Edward

has

some food.

We use:
have with plural subjects (we, they, you, Sunny and
Sumitha) and also for the
singular subjects I and You
has with singular subjects (he, she, it, Fred)
Examples
a. I have some interesting storybooks.
b. You have a letter from your pen pal.
c. They have a Bahasa Malaysia test on Tuesday.
d. Salina and Ramli have a new car.

e. He has three cats and a goldfish.

f. She has the newest toys.
g. It has two leaves.
h. Gary has a lot of coins from England.
The forms of the verb "do" in the simple present tense

Read the table below.

IYou
We
They
Khalid and
Fauzi
He
She
It
Danny

do
the exercises.
does

We use:
do with plural subjects (we, they, you, Henry and Devan)
and also for the singular subjects I and you.
does with singular subjects (he, she, it, Fred)
Examples
a. I do not like eating mangoes.
b. You do go to the cinema often.
c. We do all our homework in the afternoon.
d. They do all the packing in the factory.
e. Tahir and his uncle do not want to go for the party.

f. She does her best to please her father.

g. She does not want to play football.
h. It does not like to eat fish.
i. James does his exercises in the morning.
2. We use the simple present tense:
for actions that take place at the time whesn we are talking
about them
Examples

a. Jalil is in his office.

b. My brother stays with our uncle in Ipoh.
c. I live at No. 2 Jalan Nilam.
to show a habit or some actions we repeat
Examples
d. I wash my face every night.
e. He goes to school by bus.
f. We play football on Saturdays.
to show a fact or a truth
Examples
g. The sun rises in the east.
h. The young of mammals drink milk.
to show a future happening or action
Examples
i. He leaves for Perlis tomorrow.
j. We hope to win the competition.
k. The campaign starts next week.
when we give instructions, directions and commands
Examples
l. Take the right turn after the post office.
m.

IV.

Cut the paper into two.

The Past Continuous Tense

1. The form of the Past Continuous Tense is as follows:

verb "to be" + verb + ing
(was/were)

Examples

a.

a.

as eating

a.

dreaming

w
as rising

were

a.

were
climbing

Read the table below.

I
He
She
It
Norman

was sleeping
was eating

You
We
They
The Children

were sleeping
were eating

at ten o'clock last night.

2. We use the Past Continuous Tense to show:

that two past actions were happening at the same time
Examples
a. I was reading while she was talking to Elaine.
b. We were studying while Edwin was listening to
the radio.
c. He was cooking while they were searching for
their keys.
d. The cow was mooing while the sheep was
bleating.

that the action happened while another was still going ond
Examples
e. I was reading when she fell down.
f. He was giving her work when I came into the office.
g. They were playing when their mother called them
in.
h. Ramli was cutting the bread when Zakian
screamed.
that something was a past habit
Examples
a. We were always quarrelling when we were young.
b. He was always playing football when they stayed in
Ipoh.
c. They were often missing breakfast because they
got up late.
d. Rani was always biting her nails when she was a
teenager.
a past action that happened over a period of time
Examples
a. I was washing my clothes for two hours this
morning.
b. They were painting the house all day yesterday.
c. Sarah was cleaning the kitchen the whole morning.
d. The dog was barking the whole night long.

LIST OF ADVERBS ACCORDING TO THE DEGREES OF

COMPARISON
Simple Present
add
agree
allow
am/is
arrange
arrive
are
bake
bark
bathe
bear
beat
become
begin
bite
blow
breathe
break
bring
build
burst
buy
care
carry
catch
cause
change
clap
close
come
complete
copy
cost
cry
cut
dance
decorate
die
divede
deal
dig
do
draw
dream
drink
drive

Simple Past
added
agreed
allowed
was
arranged
arrived
were
baked
barked
bathed
bore
beat
became
began
bit
blew
breathed
broke
brought
built
burst
bought
cared
carried
caught
caused
changed
clapped
closed
came
completed
copied
cost
cried
cut
danced
decorate
died
divided
dealt
dug
did
drew
dreamt
drank
drove

Continuous
adding
agreeing
allowing
being
arranging
arriving
being
baking
barking
bathing
bearing
beating
becoming
beginning
biting
blowing
breathing
breaking
bringing
building
bursting
buying
caring
carrying
catching
causing
changing
clapping
closing
coming
completing
copying
cost
crying
cutting
dancing
decorating
dying
dividing
dealing
digging
doing
drawing
dreaming
drinking
driving

Past Participle For

added
agreed
allowed
been
arranged
arrived
been
baked
barked
bathed
borne
beaten
become
begun
bitten
blown
breathed
broken
brought
built
burst
bought
cared
carried
caught
caused
changed
clapped
closed
come
completed
copied
cost
cried
cut
danced
decorated
died
divided
dealt
dug
done
drawn
dreamt
drunk
driven

drop
eat
enter
escape
fall
feed
fight
find
finish
fit
forget
forgive
freeze
get
give
go
grow
hand
hang (something)
hang (someone)
has/have
hear
hide
hit
hold
hope
hurry
hurt
join
keep
kneel
know
laugh
lay
lead
leave
let
lie (down)
lie
live
lose
make
marry
meet
move
pay
put
read
reply
ride

dropped
ate
entered
escaped
fell
fed
fought
found
finished
fitted
forgot
forgave
froze
got
gave
went
grew
handed
hung
hanged
had
heard
hid
hit
held
hoped
hurried
hurt
joined
kept
knelt
knew
laughed
laid
led
left
let
lay
lied
lived
lost
make
married
met
moved
paid
put
read
replied
rode

dropping
eating
entering
ascaping
falling
feeding
fighting
finding
finishing
fitting
forgetting
forgiving
freezing
getting
giving
going
growing
handing
hanging
hanging
having
hearing
hidding
hitting
holding
hoping
hurrying
hurting
joining
keeping
kneeling
knowing
laughing
laying
leading
leaving
letting
lying
lying
living
losing
making
marring
meeting
moving
paying
putting
reading
replying
riding

dropped
eaten
entered
escaped
fallen
fed
fought
found
finished
fitted
forgotten
forgiven
frozen
gotten
given
gone
grown
handed
hung
hanged
had
heard
hidden
hit
held
hoped
hurried
hurt
joined
kept
knelt
known
laughed
laid
led
left
let
lain
lied
lived
lost
made
married
met
moved
paid
put
read
replied
ridden

ring
rise
run
say
see
sell
send
set
sew
shake
shine
shoot
show
shut
sing
sink
sit
sleep
speak
spend

II.

rang
rose
ran
said
saw
sold
sent
set
sewed
shook
shone/shined
shot
showed
shut
sang
sank
sat
slept
spoke
spent

ringing
rising
running
saying
seeing
selling
sending
setting
sewing
shaking
shining
shooting
showing
shutting
singing
sinking
sitting
sleeping
speaking
spending

rung
risen
run
said
seen
sold
sent
set
sewn
shaken
shone/shined
shot
shown
shut
sung
sunk
sat
slept
spoken
spent

The Present Continuous Tense

1. The form of the present continuous tense is as follows:
verb "to be" + verb + -ing
(am/are/is)

Examples
am sleeping

is walking

are writing

Read the table below.

I

am

We
You
They
The teachers

are

He

is

running.
walking.

She
It
Shamsul

2. We use the Present Continuous Tense to show that:

something is happening at the time of speaking
Examples
a. He is washing the car now.
b. She is attending a meeting out of town.
c. They are sitting for their test now.
d. I am listening to my favourite singer.
an action is happening over a period of time
Examples
e. Maimunah is writing another book this year.
f. He is training to become a mechanic.
g. We are taking four subjects for our examination.
h. They are studying to become doctors.
an action is planned for the future
Examples
i. I am going to Johor Bahru next week.
j. He is teaching a new class next month.
k. We are meeting my father tonight.
l. They are camping on Gunung Ledang next
Thursday.
an action that is often repeated or is a habit

Examples
m.

They are always fighting lately.

n. My mother is often talking about you.

o. We are always eating fried rice.
p. I am often telling her the answers.

III.

The Simple Paste Tense

1. The forms of the verb in the Simple Past Tense are as follows:
-ed is added to the verb to form the Past Tense
Examples
Simple Present Tense
wash
talk
play

Simple Paste Tense

washed
talked
played

the verb is spelt differently from the verb in the Simple

Present Tense
Examples
Simple Present Tense
break
sleep
do
have
fly
lay

Simple Past Tense

broke
slept
did
had
flew
laid

the form of the verb is not changed. It is the same as the verb
in the Present Tensese
Examples
Simple Present Tense
cut
hit
put
read

Simple Past Tense

cut
hit
put
read

Read the table below.

I

the
gard
Yo cle
en
u ane
last
d
W
week
e
.
Th
ey bro
ke
He

the
vase
yeste
rday.

Sh
e

the
Ra cut bran
ches.
hi
m

2. We use the Simple Past Tense to show that an action:

happened in the past or no longer happens
Examples
a. They stayed with us last week.
b. He studied in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
c. He studied in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
d. I cut my finger last night.
has been finished or completed
Examples
e. The war ended yesterday.
f. I wrote him a letter last week.
g. He blew all the balloons by himself.
h. We finished all the drinks.