Transcript sequence of tenses in the english grammar

THE SEQUENCE OF TENSES
IN THE ENGLISH GRAMMAR
THEORY , ILLUSTRATION AND
PRACTICE
SITUATION 1: WHEN WE HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER VERBS TO THE FUTURE TENSE
If you have a future tense in the main sentence and you have to mention something that happened
previously to the moment of speaking, you may use: the Simple Past (if you also mention the
specific moment in time when the action took place)
Ex.: John will know what you did yesterday.
the Past Continuous (if the action was in progress at a certain moment in the past)
Ex. : John will know what you were doing yesterday evening.
the Present Perfect ( if the moment of the action is not clearly specified , you only know
that the action happened before)
Ex.: John will know what you have done before.
the Present Perfect Continuous if the action began in the past and went on up to the
moment of speaking
Ex.: John will know what you have been doing until now / for the last twenty minutes.

Note: in the main sentence, the verb can be also in the Future Continuous Tense ,the situation of
the related tenses is the same!
Ex.: John will be telling us what…
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SITUATION 1 : WHEN WE HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER TENSES TO THE FUTURE TENSE
If you have a future tense in the main sentence and you have to talk about something that
is going on in the present, you may use:
The Simple Present – to talk about general , usual or repeated actions
Ex.: John will know what you usually do for a living.
The Continuous Present- to say that something is in progress right now
Ex.: John will know what you are doing now.
Note! You may use the same related tenses even if the tense used in the main sentence is
a Continuous Future!
Ex.: John will be telling us what you do for a living.
John will be telling us what you are doing now.
SITUATION 1 :WHEN WE HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER VERBS TO THE FUTURE
If you have a future tense in the main sentence and you want to mention something which
is going on simultaneously to the moment of speaking, you may use:
the Simple Future : John will know what you will do tomorrow.
the Continuous Future ( if you want to mention that the action will be in progress in the
future) : John will know what you will be doing tomorrow afternoon.
Note! You may use the same tenses even if in the main sentence you have a Continuous
Future: John will be telling us what you will do tomorrow / what you will be doing
tomorrow.
ATTENTION! If the secondary sentence is a Time Clause or a Conditional Clause, you
must not use the Future! Instead of the future, you must use the Simple Present!
Ex.: John will know when Mary arrives from London.( John va sti cand va sosi Mary din
Londra.)-Time Clause
John will know the answer if you tell it to him.( John va sti raspunsul daca i-l vei
spune.)-Conditional Clause
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SITUATION 2: WHEN WE HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER TENSES TO THE PRESENT
If you have a present tense in the main sentence and you want to mention something that
happened previously to the moment of speaking, you may use: the Simple Past (if
you also mention the specific moment in time when the action took place)
Ex.: John knows what you did yesterday.
the Past Continuous (if the action was in progress at a certain moment in the
past)
Ex. : John knows what you were doing yesterday evening.
the Present Perfect ( if the moment of the action is not clearly specified , you
only know that the action happened before the present moment)
Ex.: John knows what you have done before.
the Present Perfect Continuous if the action began in the past and went on
up to the moment of speaking
Ex.: John knows what you have been doing until now / for the last twenty minutes.

Note: in the main sentence, the verb can be also in the Present Continuous Tense or in
the Future Tense ,the situation of the related tenses is the same!
SITUATION 2 : WHEN WE HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER TENSES TO THE PRESENT
If you have a present tense in the main sentence and you want to mention something that
is going on in the present, you may use :
The Simple Present – to mention general, usual or repeated actions
Ex.: John knows what you do for a living.
The Continuous Present – to say that something is going on right now
Ex.: John knows what you are doing now.
Note! You may use the same related tenses even if the tense in the main sentence is
a Continuous Present !
Ex.: John is telling us what you do for a living / what you are doing now.
SITUATION 2 : WHEN WE HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER TENSES TO THE PRESENT
If the verb in the main sentence is in the present and you have to mention something that will happen in
the future, you may use :
The Future Simple
Ex. : John knows what you will do tomorrow.
The Future Continuous – for actions that will be in progress in the future
Ex. : John knows what you will be doing tomorrow.
Note! You may use the same tenses even if you have a Present Continuous in the main sentence!
Ex.: John is telling us what you will do tomorrow / what you will be doing tomorrow.
ATTENTION! If the secondary sentence is a Time Clause or a Conditional Clause, you must not
use the Future Tenses! Instead of the Future, you must use the Simple Present!
ex. :John knows what time you arrive tomorrow.(John stie la ce ora vei sosi tu maine.)
John knows your name only if you tell it to him later. ( John iti stie numele numai daca i-l
vei spune mai tarziu.)
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SITUATION 3 :WHEN WE HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER TENSES TO A PAST ACTION
If you have a past tense in the main sentence and you have to mention something that happened
before that past moment , you may use :
The Past Perfect Simple
Ex. : John told us yesterday what you had done two days ago.( John ne-a spus ieri ce ai facut tu in
urma cu doua zile.)
The Past Perfect Continuous- if the action began previously and continued up to the past action
in the main sentence
Ex.: John told us yesterday what you had been doing until then.( John ne-a spus ieri ce facusesi tu
pana atunci.)
Note! For two actions which happened in the past, at a very short interval of time, you may use for
both of them the Simple Past!
Ex.: John got out of the room and slammed the door. (John a iesit din camera si a trantit usa.)
You may use the same related tenses even if in the main sentence you have a Past Continuous!
Ex.: John was telling us yesterday…
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SITUATION 3 : WHEN YOU HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER TENSES TO A PAST ACTION
If you have a past tense in the main sentence and you have to mention something that
happened simultaneously, you may use :
The Simple Past
Ex.: John told us yesterday what you did. (yesterday)
John ne-a spus ieri ce ai facut . ( ieri)
The Continuous Past – to say that something was in progress in that precise past
moment
Ex. : John told us yesterday what you were doing.
John ne-a spus ieri ce faceai tu.
Note! You may use the same related tenses even if you have a Past Continuous in the
main sentence!
Ex.: John was telling us yesterday what you did / what you were doing.
John ne spunea ieri ce ai facut tu / ce faceai tu.
exit
SITUATION 3 : WHEN YOU HAVE TO RELATE
THE OTHER TENSES TO A PAST ACTION
If you have a past tense in the main sentence and you want to mention something that will
happen in the future, you may use :
The Future in the Past Simple( WOULD + vb1)
Ex. : John told us yesterday what you would do the next week.
John ne-a spus ieri ce vei face tu saptamana viitoare.
The Future in the Past Continuous( WOULD+BE+VB-ing) – for actions that will be in
progress in the future
Ex.: John told us yesterday what you would be doing the next week.
John ne-a spus ieri ce vei face tu saptamana viitoare.
Note! You may use the same related tenses even if in the main sentence you have a Past
Continuous Tense!
Ex.: John was telling us yesterday what you would do the next week. / what you would be
doing the next week.
exit
Remember this :
You may use this information when you have to use the
reported / indirect speech.
You just have to report the other tenses in accordance to the
relating verb (which will be the verb in the main sentence).
Ex.: Direct speech “I got a 10 yesterday!” Jane told her
mother.
Indirect Speech : Jane told her mother that she had got a 10
the day before.
And now, some
practice!
Are you ready?
Steady?
Go!
EXERCICE NO. 1
CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER:
1.The pupils are doing what their teacher … them to do yesterday.
asks
asked
has asked
2. My friends will tell me where they … tomorrow.
will go
go
would go
3. Mother found out yesterday what I … a week ago.
have done
had done
did
4. The teacher will discover what we … previously.
did
have done
do
5. Michael is informing us on when he … tomorrow.
will arrive
arrives
arrive
6. Jane said that she … all the right answers the next week.
will know
knew
would know
Congratulations!
Your answer is correct!
exit