For a year what time. Companion words of all times in English

Do you know what is the most important quality for an English learner? Observation and attention to those signs and clue words that exist in the language. If you look closely, it seems that the English language itself helps you avoid making mistakes and gives special signals. You just have to follow the signs and you will definitely get out at the right time.

It is not by chance that we used the word “pointers”. English does have indicators, or tense markers, that indicate the regularity of an action, a specific period of time, or a specific point in time.

Of course, time markers are far from the key to deciphering English grammar; don’t hope that everything will be so simple, and always be vigilant. However, time indicators help to understand the logic of temporal relations in speech or text in English.

Present Continuous

In English, the Present Continuous is very common and indicates the duration of an action in the present.

Registration

Now - now

Mary is playing the guitar now. Now Mary plays the guitar.

At the moment - at the moment

The refrigerator isn’t working at the moment. The refrigerator is not working at the moment.

Still - still

John is still washing the dishes. John is still washing the dishes.

Future Simple

Tomorrow - tomorrow

Tomorrow Jared will go to London. Jared is leaving for London tomorrow.

Next month / year - next month / year

Jack will finish school next year. Jack will graduate from school next year.

In ... days / years - in ... days / years

Ronald will arrive in 2 days. Ronald will arrive in 2 days.

the day after tomorrow - the day after tomorrow
tonight - tonight
one of these days - the other day
next week - next week
next month - next month
next year - next year
in an hour - within an hour
in a minute - within a minute
later - later
soon - soon
in (the) future - in the future

Future Continuous

this time tomorrow / next week - at this time tomorrow / next week
for - for... (any time)

Future Perfect

By - to.

I will have finished my project by the end of the month. I will finish my project by the end of the month.

Before - before.

Chris will have found a job before Christmas. Chris will find a job before Christmas.

Past Simple

Yesterday - yesterday.

Yesterday we were at home. Yesterday we were at home.

A week / a year ago - a week / a year ago.

Alex moved to the USA a week ago. Alex moved to the USA a week ago.

Last month / year - last month/year.

Last month Fred sold his car. Last month Fred sold his car.

When - when.

I was in the kitchen, when you came. I was in the kitchen when you came.

the day before yesterday - the day before yesterday
just now - just now
the other day - the other day
last week - last week
last month - last month
last year - last year
last decade - in the last decade
last century - in the last century
an hour ago - an hour ago
three hours ago - three hours ago
two weeks ago - two weeks ago
in 1992- in 1992
at 6 o"clock - at 6 o'clock

Past Continuous

From … till … - from … to …

Helen was watching a movie at the cinema yesterday from 5 till 7. Helen yesterday watched a movie at the cinema from 5 to 7.

All day long / for the whole day - all day.

Starting to learn a foreign language is the most difficult time, because you immediately have to immerse yourself in a completely new environment. Unfamiliar vocabulary, unusual sentence structure and grammatical difficulties - all this weighs down on beginners with an unbearable burden. To successfully progress in your studies, you need to be able to choose the right approach to classes and find guides that make it easier to understand grammatical structures. And this is not at all difficult to do, especially if you use useful tips from our website. So, today we will talk about how to determine time in English quickly and easily. To do this, we will need a little attention to the sentence, a small vocabulary and a desire to improve our English. Let's begin!

Varieties of tenses and how to determine time in English using markers

As in Russian speech, in English you can find three groups of tenses: future, present and past. But the whole difficulty lies in the fact that the British divided them into additional subgroups that have a narrow focus and meaning. Let's briefly examine the possible aspects of time in English and find out what tips on their use may be hidden in sentences.

Simple (Indefinite)

The general purpose of the group is the expression of simple, single or regular actions. This category includes everyday actions and actual events that have already happened (Past), are happening (Present) or will happen in the future (Future). If you ask yourself how to define simple tense in English, you will find that it is often accompanied by time indicators expressed by circumstances. From them it is easy to understand which grammatical structure should be used. Let's look at example sentences in English and find these indicators.

They usually workoutinthegym3 timesaweek- They usually train in the gym three times a week(indicates regularity).
Iwasattheclub last night – Last night I was at the club(single action with past tense indicator).
Pupilswillhavetests every two weeks – Students will have tests every two weeks(frequency of action in the future).

As can be seen from the examples, the circumstances of the time suggest in what form the predicate should be put. Similar words can be found in all tenses, and although some of them can be used in several different categories, such satellites are still a good help for beginners. The table below contains some more examples of circumstances.

Simple Tenses
Past	Present	Future
yesterday - yesterday;	always – always;	tomorrow - tomorrow;
the day before yesterday - the day before yesterday;	usually, generally – usually, in general;	the day after tomorrow - the day after tomorrow;
ago - long ago;	ever, never - ever, never;	in the near future - in the near future;
last (day, week, month and etc.) – last (day, week, month, etc.);	every (day, week, month and etc.) – every (day, week, month, etc.);	next (day, week, month and etc.) – next (day, week, month, etc.);
the other day - on another day, the other day;	from time to time, sometimes, regularly, now and then – from time to time, sometimes, regularly, from time to time (every now and then);	one of these days – on one of these days, the other day;
The accident happened the day before yesterday . Accidenthappenedday before yesterday. He read this novel for many years ago . He read this novel many years ago. I met my friend yesterday . I met my friend yesterday.	From time to time I run in the mornings. From time to time I run in the morning. She usually cleans her room on Saturdays. She usually cleans her room on Saturdays. We write letters every day . We write letters every day.	She will help me next time . She will help me next time. They will visit her the day after tomorrow . They will visit her the day after tomorrow. I will buy this book one of these days . I'll buy this book one of these days.

Please note that for the expression " the other day"There are different forms of future and past tense, and they are not interchangeable! Each expression can only be used in its own category.

Continuous (Progressive)

Continuous tenses in English denote processes of carrying out actions that have not yet been completed. In other words, what the speaker was/is/will be busy with at a specific period of time.

At that moment her boyfriend was repairing his car when she called him –INThatmomentherboyrepairedmycar,Whenshecalledto him.
We will be watching the Second Channel at 4 o'clock tomorrow – Wewe willlookSecondchannelTomorrowat 4hoursday.
Jackisplayingcomputergames now Jack is playing computer games now.

With such a specific meaning, this aspect can hardly be confused with anything. But, if you still have any questions or difficulties, then the table of circumstances will help you correctly recognize this category.

Continuous Tenses
Past	Present	Future
then, when – when (with subordinate clauses); yesterday - yesterday;	now, right now- now, right now;	next day/week/month, in a week – next day/week/month, in a week; tomorrow - tomorrow.
at…o’clock, at that moment – at such and such a time, at that moment;	at the moment, at present – at the moment, at the present moment;	at this time - at this time;
whole, all the time/day/month/week and etc. – whole, all the time, all day/month/week, etc.;
while..., still, from...to/till – while; still, from...to;
constantly, always (in the negative sense) – constantly, always;
Yesterday, she was learning English verb tenses the whole day . Yesterday she spent the whole day learning times verb in English. We were watching a basketball match at 8 o'clock . At 8 o'clock we watched a basketball match. My ex-husband was constantly talking about his job. My ex-husband constantly talked about his work.	He is constantly singing this song! He sings this song all the time! I'm reading the newspaper now . Now I am reading this newspaper. She is painting a new picture at present . At the moment she is painting a new picture.	At this time tomorrow I will be flying to Italy. Tomorrow at this time I will be flying to Italy. In a week she will be celebrating her birthday. In a week she will celebrate her birthday.

As you can see, markers for different tenses in English can coincide. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully monitor not only the circumstances of each tense, but also the overall context of the sentence.

Perfect

Unlike the simple past, the task of the perfect is to convey the completion of an action and show the sequence of events. The perfect construction is given to that part of the sentence whose events ended before the onset of other actions or a moment in time.

My daughter has married and she’s very happy! –Mydaughtercame outget marriedAndshehappy!
She had cooked breakfast and was playing computer games – She cooked breakfast and played computer games.

Our table will help you find the actual differences in what time should be used.

Perfect Tenses
Past	Present	Future
for...years/days/hours, by – for years, days, hours; To…;	already, just – already, just now;	before - before; before;
already, before, yet – already, before, yet;	ever, never, always - ever; never; Always;
scarcely...when, no sooner...than - barely...how; didn’t have time...how;	not...yet - not yet;	for... - for minutes, hours, days, years, etc.
conjunction when (in subordinate clauses) – when, then – then;	for a long time - for a long time;
after – after;	until, since – until then, since then;	by – to any moment, hour, day, etc.
I went to bed after I had called everyone. I went to bed after I called everyone. She had already sent this message when boss came. He had already sent this message when the boss arrived.	We have already bought the schoolbooks. We have already bought these textbooks. He has never heard about this TV show. He had never heard of this TV show.	I will have done the task by Monday . I will complete this task by Monday. We will have written the card before our grandparents arrive. We will write a card before our grandparents arrive.

Please note that the specified word order may differ if the sentence uses constructions with scarcely…when, no sooner…than. Scarcelyhadweenteredtheroom, whenthewindclosedthedoor “We had barely entered the room when the wind slammed the door.”.

Perfect Continuous (Progressive)

The last aspect of the English tense system. The construction indicates a process of actions that were performed in parallel with other, already completed events or time frames, and that could continue for some time. Perfect continuous tenses are also used to express recently completed actions related to the current result.

Brother had been waiting for his friends for 30 minutes already when he got a message: they had got into a traffic jam –Brotherwaitedtheirfriendsalready 30minutes,WhenHereceivedmessageOvolume,WhatTheyhitVtraffic jam
I had been writing these exercises for 45 minutes when my father came and helped me –Iwrotetheseexercisesalready 45minutes,WhencamemyfatherAndhelpedto me.

Beginners are helped in identifying this grammatical group by a number of auxiliary expressions, almost identical to the words used in English constructions of the simple perfect.

Perfect Continuous Tenses
Past	Present	Future
for – during time; all day long – the whole past day; since – since then; by the time - by that time; before - before.
We had been living in this city for 3 years when we moved to another district. We lived in this city for 3 years when we moved to another area. Nick had been watching this series before it was shown on television. Nick watched this series before it was shown on television.	My sister has been learning to drive a motorbike for a week already. Mysisteralreadya weekstudiesdrivemotorbike. We have been discussing this problem since 12 o'clock , but we can’t decide anything yet. We have been discussing this problem since 12 o'clock, but have not been able to solve anything yet.	By the time I will come home, he will have been playing tennis for 2 hours. By the time I come home, he will have been playing tennis for 2 hours. She will have been painting the picture for 2 days before I see it She will paint this picture for two more days before I see her.

So, with these little words, we now know how to define any possible tense in English. All that remains is to memorize them, or print out the tabular material and use it when performing practical tasks. Good luck!

Article " English tense table"sums up a large section of English grammar called" tenses in English". There are 12 tense forms in English. As in Russian, in English there is present (Present), past (Past) and future (Future), but each of these tenses in English is divided into simple, continuous and perfect continuous. You can find the rules for using English tenses on our website in the “Articles – English” section. Below is a table of tenses in English, which shows in a schematic form the formation of different tenses in English. You should pay attention to tense markers in English. which will help you correctly use this or that tense of the English language.

Conventions: S – subject (performer of the action), V – predicate (action/verb), + – affirmative sentence in English, - – negative sentence in English, ? – interrogative sentence in English.

Tenses in English (Table of English Tenses):

	Present Continuous
Indicates constant, regular action, well-known facts. Time markers: 1) usually, often, sometimes, always, rarely, hardly ever, never– stand before the predicate (V) 2) every day/week/year…, once/twice a week/month…- come at the end of a sentence I + S+V/V(e)s I/we/you/they work He/She/It works S + don’t/doesn’t + V 1 I/we/you/they don’t work He/She/It doesn’t work ? Do/Does +S + V 1 ? Do we/you/they work? Does he/she/it work? Where do/does +S + V 1 ? Where we/you/they work? Where does he/she/it work?	Indicates a long-term action that occurs at the moment of speech or a temporary action ( I’ m staying at the hotel ). Can be used to convey the future tense: I"m seeing my doctor on Friday. Time markers: now, at the moment (or from the context). + S +am/is/are +V ing I'm working He/She/It is working We/You/They are working - S + am not/isn’t/arent +V ing I'm not working He/She/It isn’t working We/You/They aren't working ? Am/Is/Are +S + V ing? Is he/she/it working? Are we/you/they working What am/is/are +S + V ing? What are you doing now?
Past Simple	Past Continuous
Indicates an action that happened in the past. Time markers : yesterday, last year/week/month, two days ago, in 2001( or from context). + S + V ed/ V 2 I worked He bought it yesterday - S + didn’t +V 1 I didn't work He didn’t buy it yesterday ? Did +S + V 1 ? Did you work? Did he buy it yesterday? What did +S + V 1 ? What did he buy?	Indicates a continuous action in the past that occurred at a certain point in the past. Time markers: yesterdayat 5,when you came (or from the context). + S + was/were +V ing I/He/She/It was working at 5:30 yesterday. We/You/They were working…. - S + wasn’t/weren’t +V ing I/He/She/It wasn’t working at 5:30 yesterday. We/You/They weren't working... ? Was/Were +S + V ing? Was I/he/she/it working at …. We/you/they working at….. What was/were +S + V ing? What were they doing at 5:30 yesterday?
Present Perfect	Present Perfect Continuous
Indicates a past action, the result of which is felt in the present. Time markers: never, ever, yet, since, for, before, already, just. + S + have/has +V ed/ V 3 I/We/You/They have worked/done…. He/She/It has worked/done…… - S + haven’t/hasn’t +V ed/ V 3 I/We/You/They haven’t worked/done…. He/She/It hasn’t worked/done…… ? Have/Has +S + V ed/ V 3 ? Have I/we/you/they worked/done … Has she/he/it worked/done…. What have/has +S + V ed/ V 3 ? What have you done?	Indicates an action that began in the past, lasted until the moment of speech, and may still be ongoing. Time markers: since, for. + S + have/has + been +V ing I/We/You/They have been working since morning He/She/It has been working since morning - S + haven’t/hasn’t + been +V ing I/We/You/They haven’t been working since morning He/She/It hasn’t been working since morning ? Have/Has +S + been +V ing? Have you/we/they been working … Has he/she/it been working…. What have/has +S + been + V ing ? What have you been doing since morning?
Past Perfect	Past Perfect Continuous
Indicates an action that was completed before a certain point in the past or another past action. + S + had +V ed/ V 3 I had done all work by 6 p.m. - S +hadn’t +V ed/ V 3 I hadn’t done all work by 6 p.m. ? Had +S + V ed/ V 3 ? Had you done…. What had +S + V ed/ V 3 ? What had you done by 6 p.m. yeste rday?	indicates an action that began in the past, lasted for some time and ended (or has not yet ended) before a certain point in the past. + S +had+ been +V ing - S + hadn’t + been +V ing I had been working by the time he came ? Had +S + been +V ing? Had you been working… What had +S + been + V ing….. ?
Future Simple	Future be going to...
Indicates future tense: 1. predictions for the future (without visible evidence); 2. promises, threats; 3. decisions made at the time of speech; 4. irreversible events. Markers: tomorrow, next wee k , (or from the context). + S + will +V 1 She'll be 24 next week - S + won’t (wiil +not) +V 1 It won't rain tomorrow ? Will +S + V 1 ? Will it rain tomorrow? Where will +S + V 1 ? Where will you do?	Indicates future tense: 1. predictions for the future (visible confirmation); 2. plans and intentions. + S +am/is/are + going to +V 1 It is going to rain (there are clouds in the sky) - S + am not/isn’t/aren’t + going to +V 1 I"m not going to attend that meeting ? Am/Is/Are +S + going to + V 1 ? Are you going to call him? What am/is/are +S + going to +V 1 ? What are you going to do?
Future Perfect	Future Perfect Continuous
Indicates an action that will end before a certain time or another action in the future or will continue to continue (rarely used). + S + will + have +V ed/ V 3 She’ll have worked/done…. - S +won't+have +V ed/ V 3 She won’t have worked/done … ? Will +S + have +V ed/ V 3 ? Will she have done...? What will +S + have +V ed/ V 3 ? What will you have done...?	Used to describe an action that will begin before some point in time in the future and will still be in progress at that point in time. It is used very rarely, never in oral speech. + S + will + have + been +V ing I’ll have been working…. - S +won't+have + been + V ing I have been working…. ? Will +S + have + been + V ing? Will you have been working… What will +S + have + been +V ing? What will you have been doing….?

Past Perfect– past perfect tense. Its peculiarity is that it is not used independently in speech and is necessarily tied to another action. Why do the British need this? The reason lies in their love of order and organization. In Russian, we use one tense to express all past actions. We list a few events, then go back to another event that happened before all the others. An Englishman will never allow such “chaos” in his speech. If he forgot about an important event that happened before everyone else, he will report it at a time specially designated for this - Past Perfect.

How is the past perfect formed?

Statement

Predicate in Past Perfect consists of two parts: an auxiliary verb had and the third form of the main verb (we add the ending to the regular verb - ed, and take the irregular form from the third column).

Negation

In a negative sentence between an auxiliary verb had and the particle appears as the main verb not.

As in many other times, in Past Perfect There are shortened forms that are used in colloquial speech. In an affirmative sentence had combined with a pronoun, in the negative – with a particle not. For example:

I'd done.
You'd decided.
I hadn't done.
You hadn't decided.

Question

An interrogative sentence begins with an auxiliary verb had followed by a subject and a main verb.

In order to consistently study Past Perfect, we have divided all its functions into three levels. In the green block you will find what you need to know at a basic level, in the yellow block - at an intermediate level, in the red block - at a high level.

Using the Past Perfect

Entry level

Past Perfect always goes hand in hand with another action in the past. Past Perfect shows an action that occurred before another action or a specific point in the past. Another action in the past is most often indicated Past Simple, and special words may be used: by... (at some time/moment), after(after), before(before, before) when(When), earlier(earlier), first(first, first).

We arrived at the station at 7.30, but the train had left. – We arrived at the station at 7:30, but the train was already left. (first the train left, then we arrived at the station)

He had been a usual clerk before he became a successful businessman. - He was an ordinary clerk before that, How became a successful businessman.

Often Past Perfect explains the reason: we want to show that the action expressed Past Perfect, caused another action to occur.

He was hungry. He hadn't eaten for eight hours. - He was hungry. He didn't eat eight o'clock.

She couldn’t buy a new pair of shoes as she had lost her credit card – She couldn’t buy a new pair of shoes because lost credit card.

Time Past Perfect similar in meaning to Present Perfect with the difference that the time of action does not take place in the present (now), but in the past (then).

They are not at home. They have gone shopping. →They were not at home. They had gone shopping.
Their No Houses. They gone for shopping. → Their there wasn't Houses. They gone for shopping.

Another common feature Present Perfect And Past Perfect– adverbs just(just now), already(already), yet(already, yet).

They were moving to another country, but they hadn't told their parents yet. – They moved to another country, but haven't said yet about this to your parents.

The most common mistake made with Past Perfect– use this tense where it is not necessary, most often instead Past Simple. For example, when we talk about a simple action that happened a long time ago. Remember that Past Perfect only works when there are two actions.

I learned English at school. - I learned English at school.
I had learned English before I entered the university. - I learned English before that, How entered the university.

Where else is the past perfect found?

Intermediate level

Past Perfect shows that an action began in the past and continued until a certain point in the past. Prepositions already familiar to us are often used here. for(during) and since(since).
He didn't want to drive that car anymore. He had driven it for 30 years. “He didn’t want to drive that car anymore.” He drove her 30 years old.

Her speech was impressive. She had worked on it since Monday. “Her speech was impressive. She worked over it since Monday.

This feature is not fully applicable to Past Perfect, she belongs by right Past Perfect Continuous. Past Perfect in this sense it is used with stative verbs (), that is, verbs that cannot "last".

Before we talked, Mary had been upset for three days. She had been crying all this time. – Before we talked, Mary was upset for three days. She cried all this time.
IN Past Perfect, as in Present Perfect, there is a function with which we talk about personal experiences. The difference is that Past Perfect we use when talking about our experiences in the past.
The last week of my holidays was the worst week I had ever had. – The last week of my vacation was the worst week I have ever had. was.

By the time I moved to Dublin I had written seven books and I was working hard on the eighth. – By the time I moved to Dublin, I wrote seven books and actively working on the eighth.

Complex cases of using Past Perfect

High level

Past Perfect used after if in conditional sentences of the third type (). This type of conditional shows regret about the past. We could have done something in the past if we had fulfilled the condition, but in the present we can no longer change the situation.
If I had known about your problem, I would have helped you. – If I knew about your problem, I would help you.

If you had read the morning newspaper, you would have agreed with me. – If You read morning newspaper, you would agree with me.
Past Perfect used in structures hardly ... when And no sooner ... than. These constructions show that one action happened immediately after another. The peculiarity is that they use reverse word order, as in a question. Such sentences are translated into Russian using the words “as soon as”, “I didn’t have time”, “as soon as I did”.
Hardly had the plane landed at the Miami airport, when it started to rain. – Barely airplane landed at Miami airport, How it started to rain.

No sooner had I chewed my sandwich than somebody knocked at the door. – Didn't have time I chew your sandwich How someone knocked on the door.
In modern English Past Perfect are increasingly being replaced by Past Simple, this is especially true for American English. We can use Past Simple instead of Past Perfect, if the sequence of events is clear from the context. In such sentences there are words after(after), before(before), earlier(earlier), first(first, first), etc.
After he had finished repairing his car, he took a shower. = After he finished repairing his car, he took a shower. – After He finished repairing the car, he took a shower.

I agreed to meet her though I was angry with her as we had quarreled earlier. = I agreed to meet her though I was angry with her as we quarreled earlier. “I agreed to meet her, although I was angry with her, because we had a fight.

This rule does not work with the conjunction when(when): changing tense may change the meaning of the entire sentence.

When we came home, she had cooked already prepared dinner. (Past Perfect means dinner was done before we got home)

When we came home, she cooked dinner. - When we came home, she prepared dinner. (Past Simple shows that first we came home and then she cooked dinner)

The more complex time seems, the less meaning it has. This rule also applies to Past Perfect. The main thing to remember is that next to Past Perfect there must be another action in the past. To better remember this time, take the test and download the table, which you can always look at and refresh your knowledge.

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Test

Past Perfect – past perfect tense in English