Step-by-step instruction: how to determine the time in English

Many of those who study English know that it contains two groups of times.

Three main:

• Present;
• Past;
• Future.

Presented times, depending on the situation, are combined with secondary times:

• Simple;
• Progressive;
• Perfect;
• Perfect Progressive.

The result of the addition of these two groups is the presence of 12 times in the English language.

The listed times are usually arranged in a table, which clearly shows what form the verb takes when it is in this or that time period.

Also in the table you can observe the first instructions on how to determine the time in English.

It is interesting!

To better remember complex material, it is necessary to study it playfully, for this, in addition to the scientific table of times, we will demonstrate to you a comic, which for some will be easier to learn.

Rules for determining times

Having considered how correctly the verbal forms are called, we answer the question of how to determine the time in English. For the answer, consider the step by step instruction.

• The first step is to translate the proposal we are working on to make it easier to understand what information is given to us.
• The second step is to define the time marker. At each time in the language we are considering, there is a marker - a word that can easily determine the time. These words indicate a certain point in time or relative. For example, in Present Simple such markers are such words as: every day, often, constantly. These markers, as can be seen from the example, indicate a regular time, but not only this sign indicates a given kind of time. Another marker is the usual name of the action: I like watermelon . In this case, it is inaccurate when you like it, and you just talk about your action, without specifying the time interval.

In this example, it can be seen that such markers provide ease in recognizing and correctly determining the time in a sentence. Proceeding from this simple example, we want to show that each time has its own markers - words that you can easily understand, what time is before you. The main thing is to remember the markers.

• The third step is to remember what the marker is about.

• The fourth step is to determine the time.

Having considered how to correctly determine the time in English, let's pay attention to the following point: how to determine the temporal form of the verb.

The rules for determining the tense of a verb

To solve this problem, as in the previous case, we will use the step-by-step instruction.

• The first step is to emphasize the verbs that we see in the sentence.
• The second step - remember: the correct verb or not, because, according to the directories in English, the verb has three properties, according to which it is easy to determine:

1. Time is one of the main: the past, the future or the present.
2. The time type is the time that is determined by the marker.
3. The pledge is passive (the action is performed over the speaker) or active (the speaker makes an action).

If the verb is correct, you can refer to the dictionary or lexicon, otherwise - to the table of irregular verbs or again to the verbs of the same kind learned by you.

• The third step is to find next to the main verb compound, which refers directly to the time.

For example, for the group Past - was, did ...; Verb ending in -ed.

For Present: do, does ...; Verb ending with -s.

Such examples most clearly show that for any verb it is easy to determine the time, and answer the constantly arising question for those who are just beginning to understand how to determine the verb time in English.

Let's summarize

So, summing up, we want to note that we considered the main and hard-to-perceive questions in the study of the English language, focusing on the first: how to determine the time in the English language, as it is the key to correct and rapid learning. In addition to answering the main question, we also described how easy it is to learn and understand each time, and also to recognize it in a sentence.

Finally, I want to give advice: take the maximum amount of time and attention to the topic "How to determine the time of the proposal in English." Here the main thing is practice and its regularity. Then you can easily answer the question of how to determine the time in English. Good luck.