Unit 4

UNIT 4 WORKSHEET

Task 1 – Complete the chart below with the present simple tense, using the verb ‘go’:

PERSON	POSITIVE	QUESTION	NEGATIVE
I you he/she/it	I go You go He/She/It goes	Do I go? Do you go? Does he/she/it go?	I don’t go You don’t go He/She/It doesn’t go
we you they	We go You go They go	Do we go? Do you go? Do they go?	We don’t go You don’t go They don’t go

Task 2 – Identify the following tenses, and give reasons for the identification:

a) I have never met anybody famous.

Present perfect because it is talking about something which began in the past and is still true now. However, the state of the action could change. It relates the past to the present. The speaker has never met anyone famous in the past and has yet to do so currently. Also, the sentence matches the form of the present perfect: subject + auxiliary verb “have” + past participle.

b) John is having a shower at the moment.

Present continuous because it describes an action that is in progress at the time of speaking. John is currently in middle of a shower. Also, the sentence fits the form of the present continuous: subject + auxiliary verb “be” + verb + ing.

c) I go shopping at least twice a week.

Present simple because the sentence is used to describe a habitual/routine action. Also, the sentence matches the form of the present simple: subject + base form (+s/es).

d) I have been working here for 10 years.

Present perfect continuous because it expresses an incomplete and ongoing activity. This person has been working at the same company and is likely to continue to doing so. The sentence matches the form of the present perfect continuous: subject + auxiliary verb “have” + been + verb + ing.

Task 3 – State as many usages as possible of the present tenses with an example sentence for each (not a sentence from the unit!). One of the usages for the present simple, with an example sentence, has been done for you. Bear in mind that there are more:

a) Present simple

1. facts and permanent situations – The sun sets in the west.

2. habitual or routine actions- The teacher drinks her coffee everyday before class starts.

3. commentaries- He fakes left, circles around Mendez and shoots!

4. directions and instructions- Close the door when you leave the room.

5. newspaper headlines- Girl saves little brother from horrible accident.

6. present stories- So I enter the room when this lady comes out of the closet with a bat.

b) Present continuous

1. to talk about an action that is in progress at the time of speaking- I can’t talk right now. I’m working.

2. to talk about a temporary action that is not necessarily in progress at the time of speaking- She’s taking classes for her CPR certification this week.

3. to emphasize very frequent actions- Todd is always talking about his dog.

4. background events in a present story- Mother’s cooking in the kitchen while father’s watching the news.

5. to describe developing situations- The temperature is increasing quickly.

6. to refer to a regular action around a point of time- She’s usually talking with her boyfriend after school.

c) Present perfect

1. to talk about finished actions/states that happened at an indefinite time. It refers to general experience without specific detail- They have seen the Eiffel tower.

2. to think about completed past actions carried out in an unfinished time period at the time of speaking- I’ve written eight pages this morning.

3. to talk about something which began in the past and is still true now, at the time of speaking-He’s been teaching math at Hunter Elementary for 30 years.

4. to describe past actions with present results- John hasn’t finished his homework yet.

d) Present perfect continuous

1. to communicate an incomplete and ongoing activity, when we want to say how long it has continued- She’s been waiting for her child’s return for 40 years.

2. to describe a recently finished, uninterrupted activity which has a present result- You’re going to need time to adjust to walking since you’ve been wearing a cast the last 8 months.

Task 4 – State how the tenses below are formed grammatically.  Explain positive, negative and question forms:

a) Present simple

-Affirmative: subject + base form of verb. For third person singular (he/she/it), you make the verb plural. For most verbs, just add –s to the base form of the verb. For verbs ending in a consonant plus y, change the y to i and add –es. For verbs ending in o, s, z, x, ch, and sh, add –es.

-Negative: subject + auxiliary verb “do” + not + base form of verb. For third person singular (he/she/it), you turn the “do not” into “does not.”

-Question: auxiliary verb “do” + subject + base form of verb? For third person singular (he/she/it), you turn the “do” into “does.”

b) Present continuous

-Affirmative: subject + auxiliary verb “be” + verb + ing (progressive form of verb).

-Negative: subject + auxiliary verb “be” + not + verb + ing (progressive form of verb).

-Question: auxiliary verb “be” + subject + verb + ing (progressive form of verb)? For the question form, there is no contracted form.

The auxiliary verb “be” is conjugated like so: [I am] [You are] [He/she/it is] [We are] [They are]

c) Present perfect

-Affirmative: subject + auxiliary verb “have” + past participle of verb.

-Negative: subject + auxiliary verb “have” + not + past participle of verb.

-Question: auxiliary verb “have” + subject + past participle of verb? For the question form, there is no contracted form.

The auxiliary verb “have” is conjugated like so: [I have] [You have] [He/she/it has] [We have] [They have]

In order to conjugate most verbs into the past participle form, add –ed to the verb. However, there are irregular verbs that can only be memorized.

d) Present perfect continuous

It is similar to the present perfect form but you add “been” after the auxiliary verb “have” and use the progressive form of the verb.

-Affirmative: subject + auxiliary verb “have” + been + verb + ing.

-Negative: subject + auxiliary verb “have” + not + been + verb + ing.

-Question: auxiliary verb “have” + subject + been + verb + ing? For the question form, there is no contracted form.

The auxiliary verb “have” is conjugated like so: [I have] [You have] [He/she/it has] [We have] [They have]

Task 5 – Consider the following student errors. After each error, state:

            i) What the mistake is.

            ii) Why you think it has been made.

            iii) How you would explain and correct the mistake with a student.

a) I am a secretary for five years.

i) It is in the present simple form when it should be in the present perfect form. The sentence should read: I have been a secretary for five years. The verb is “be” so the past participle for be is been.

ii) The student probably made the mistake because the person may still be a secretary even now, and the student wanted to describe his/her position as a secretary as of now. So since it is in the present, the student thought to use present simple.

iii) I would explain that the present perfect form relates the past to the present, and we use it to talk about something which began in the past and is still true now. The present simple form only is used to describe things that happened now in the present. You want to specifically mention the five years in the past that you have been a secretary. If you didn’t have that part, then you could just say I am a secretary.

b) I have eat breakfast.

i) The mistake here is that the student forgot to use the past participle form of the verb “eat.” The sentence should read: I have eaten breakfast.

ii) Since eat is a verb that conjugates irregularly into the past participle, the student may have not known how to conjugate it properly or did not even realize that it needed to be conjugated. So he/she decided to just leave it in the base form.

iii) I would explain that the present perfect form is the subject (I) + auxiliary verb have + past participle. Eat is an irregular verb when it comes to conjugating it into the past participle form. Eat becomes eaten in the past participle form. Then I would give more examples of irregular verbs and review some of them.

c) She’s liked him since six months.

i) Instead of since, for would be grammatically correct because it refers to a general period of time, not a specific point of time. The sentence should read: She’s liked him for six months.

ii) For and since both refers to doing an action for an amount of time, so students may think that they are interchangeable. It is difficult to distinguish the difference between for and since.

iii) I would explain the difference between for and since. For is used with periods of time, and since is used with points of time. If it specific, you want to use since. If it’s more general and vague, then use for. And then give example sentences: I’ve been asleep for 8 hours (how long/ how many hours) versus I’ve been asleep since 8:00 (since when/ what time).

d) When you start work?

i)        Since this is the present simple form, and it is in the form of a question, there should be a “do” in front of the subject. The sentence should read: When do you start work?

ii) The student may not have been aware that you have to add the auxiliary verb “do” when it is in question form. He/she might have assumed that “when” took the place of “do” as the question word, so “do” was unnecessary.

iii) I would go over the present simple form again and review the affirmative, negative, and question form. Then I would try to allow the student to see if he/she could see what was missing.

e) I’ve been knowing her for three months.

i) The present perfect continuous form cannot use verbs that don’t take the continuous form, such as like, prefer, believe, and know. It should be in the present perfect form, not the present perfect continuous form. The sentence should read: I’ve known her for three months.

ii) One of the usages for present perfect continuous form is to describe an incomplete and ongoing activity that they are still continuing to do so. Since you can’t stop knowing a person, the student might have thought that you need to use the present perfect continuous form.

iii) I would explain that in order to use the present perfect continuous form, you cannot use certain verbs that don’t take the continuous form. I would categorize some of the verbs into mental/emotional state verbs (want, hate, realize), communication verbs (agree, promise, deny), sense verbs (feel, seem, appear), and others. Under each category, we would go over a couple of examples.

Task 6 – Give at least 2 teaching ideas (suitable for the Activate stage of a lesson) for the tenses below and give examples of sentences that you would expect your students to produce:

a) Present simple: 1. Guess my profession using 20 Questions. A student chooses a profession and has the students try to guess what it is by having them ask yes/no questions. For example, “Do you travel a lot for your job?” “Do you work mostly at night?”

2. Conduct a classroom survey. Have the students come up with at least 5 questions to ask about daily life and have them report their results. “Do you have any siblings?” “How many hours do you study every day?” “How often do you go to the movies?”

3. Information-gap- students are given maps with different information and must give directions on how to get to a particular location.

b) Present continuous: 1. Miming is a great activity where the students have to guess what the action is. For example, the students could guess, “You’re running,” or “You’re fishing at a lake.”

2. The students could interview each other about their daily habits/routine and report it to the class. They could ask questions like: “What are you usually doing after school?” or “What else are you doing while you’re doing homework?” The students can answer, “I’m always resting after school,” or “I’m usually watching T.V. while I’m doing my homework.”

c) Present perfect: 1. Students can do role-play and act out a job interview. Some of the questions asked could be: “Have you ever lost any important papers?” or “Have you ever worked at a retail store before?” “How have you interacted with fellow employees?”

2.  Have three/four people leave the room while you change the room and have them come back in and guess what’s been changed. “Have you added more posters?” or “Have you moved the chairs?”

d) Present perfect continuous: 1. A student takes a piece of paper that has a past activity and a related result written on it. You’ve been showering. - You’re wet and your hair smells like clean. Or You’ve been jogging. - You’re sweaty and breathing hard. The student then tells the result and the others try to guess what the activity is. I’m wet. - Have you been swimming?

2. Class survey on who’s been doing what the longest. The survey could have questions, such as “How have you been living in this country?” or “How long have you been learning English?” or “When did you start working at your company?”