Tenses in English seem quite complicated, but this is only at first glance. Many are frightened by the abundance of temporary forms, especially long, completed and completed-long time, which seem to have no analogues in the Russian language.
In fact, we also have funds for:
- Expressions for duration of action:
I cooked plov for three hours. Past long time. Moreover, pay attention, without specifying the time, it will not be clear when exactly the pilaf was prepared. The sentence "I cooked pilaf" can also be understood to mean that I cooked pilaf just now, or once I had to cook pilaf in general, or I cooked pilaf before something happened in the past. By saying in English "I was cooking a pilaf", we clearly indicate that the action took place in the past and lasted for a certain time.
- To express the completion of an action:
The first portion of pilaf was burnt. Completed present or simple past. If this action is somehow linked to the present (for example, this event has just happened), it will be Present Perfect, if we just talk about some events in the past, it will be Past Simple.
- To express an action taking place at the time of another action:
I cooked pilaf and learned English tenses. Long time.
- To express an action in the past that ended before another action:
I cooked pilaf and (then) went to learn English tenses. Past completed tense. Please note that in this case in Russian it is not always possible to do without a clarifying word - it is it that partially, in addition to the perfective verb, demonstrates that the action ended after another. In English, you can do without additions, the form of the verb will already indicate that the action has ended.
and it is not easy to fit them into a logical and coherent scheme. But, in addition to lexical means, additions, indications of time can be used to convey the nature of the action. All this makes Russian much more difficult than English.
The formation of tenses in English is much simpler and more logical. Memorizing these forms is usually not difficult. It is much more difficult to decide where and what form should be used. This is what we will pay special attention to.
Tenses in English with examples are shown in the tablebelow.
| Simple | Long-lasting | Completed | Complete-long | |
| Facts. What we do with a certain frequency. Always used when talking about a sequence of events. | Long process. As a rule, it is translated as an imperfective verb. | Perfect action. Translated by perfective verbs. | An action that lasted a certain period of time and, accordingly, ended or ended at a certain moment. | |
| Real | I cook a pilaf sometimes. - Sometimes I cook plov. | I am cooking a pilaf now. - Now I'm cooking plov. | I have just cooked the pilaf. - I just cooked plov. | I have been cooking the pilaf for an hour. - I've been cooking pilaf for an hour now (up until now). |
| Past | I cooked the pilaf, wrote the letter and went to the shop. - I cooked pilaf, wrote a letter and went to the store. | I was cooking the pilaf yeasterday. - I cooked this pilaf yesterday (for a while). | I had cooked the pilaf by the night. - I cooked pilaf for the night (the action ends at some point in the past). | I had been cooking the pilaf for two hours when i remembered about the meeting. - I had been writing the article for two hours until I remembered the meeting. |
| Future | I will cook a pilaf tomorrow. - I will cook pilaf tomorrow (there is no emphasis here on duration or completionprocess, we are simply reporting the fact). | I will be cooking a pilaf tomorrow. - I will cook pilaf tomorrow (for a certain time). | I will have cooked a pilaf by the meeting. - I will cook pilaf for the meeting (that is, the pilaf will be ready by this date. Literally, this sentence can be translated as "I will have pilaf ready for the meeting). | I will have been cooking a pilaf for two hours by the time i need to go on the meeting. - I will have been cooking plov for two hours by the time I have to go to a meeting. (This form is used very rarely and, as a rule, in book speech.) |
To remember English tenses, try translating different verb forms verbatim. That is, according to this scheme:
Participle 1 - doing.
Participle 2 - done.
Thus, for a long time it sounds like this: "I am cooking" - "I am cooking".
Finished: "I have cooked" - "I have cooked".
Final-long: "I have been cooking" - "I "felt" myself cooking".
All this sounds ridiculous and ridiculous at first glance, but it helps to understand the logic of the English language. It is enough to realize these rules once in order for the English tenses to seem simple, logical and very convenient.
