Unit 02: Tenses – Chapter 1: Grammar Practice – Starter TOEIC – Third Edition – Building TOEIC Test-taking Skills – Anne Taylor – Casey Malarcher

Target:
🔔 Differences between present tenses
🔔 Differences between past tenses
🔔 Usage of WILL
🔔 Usage of BE GOING TO
🔔 Present simple in adverbial clauses

Present: Simple, Perfect, and Progressive

A. 🕰️ Use present simple for routines, habits, or things that are always true.
Ex: She drinks coffee every morning. (a daily habit)
B. ⏳ Use present progressive (is/are -ing) for a temporary action or situation.
Ex: They are visiting their grandparents. (currently happening)
C. ✅ Use present perfect (have/has -ed) for situations where past actions have result/effects in the present.
Present perfect often pairs with just, yet, for, since, ever, never, first time, second time, this week.
Ex: He has already finished his homework. (The result is he has free time now.)

Past: Simple, Perfect, and Progressive

A. ⌛ Use past simple for actions completed at a specific time in the past.
Ex: He visited Japan last year. (a finished action in the past)
B. 🕐 Use past progressive (was/were -ing) for a temporary action or situation that took place in the past.
Ex: They were watching a movie when the phone rang. (a continuous action interrupted by another past event)
C. 📅 Use past perfect (had -ed) for something that occurred before a certain point in the past.
Ex: She had finished her report before the meeting started. (the action of finishing occurred before the meeting)

Future: Use of Will and Other Words with Future Meaning

A. 🌟 Use will for spontaneous decisions made at the moment.
Ex: Sure, I will help you with that. (an instant decision)
B. 📝 Use be going to for plans or intentions that have already been decided.
Ex: They are going to decorate the room for the celebration. (a plan already made)
C. ⏱️ Use present simple instead of future tense in adverbial clauses starting with if, the moment, when, etc.
Ex: We will leave as soon as he finishes his work. (present simple used to indicate the future in a time clause)