Past Continuous and Past Simple

This page focuses on the past continuous and past simple tenses, providing detailed explanations of their uses and formations. It also introduces the use of "may" and "might" for expressing future possibilities.

The past continuous tense is explained with its various uses:

• Actions in progress in the past
• Two simultaneous actions in the past
• An action in progress interrupted by another action
• Setting a scene when starting a story
• Describing temporary situations in the past

Example: "While I was preparing dinner, he was washing the dishes."

The guide provides the formation of the past continuous in affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms:

Vocabulary: Signal words for past continuous include "when," "while," and "as."

The past simple tense is then introduced, with its uses and signal words:

• Past events, actions, and places
• Completed actions in the past

Vocabulary: Signal words for past simple include "yesterday," "last week/month/year," "two days/weeks/months ago," and specific dates in the past.

The document provides the formation of the past simple for regular verbs in affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms.

Lastly, the page introduces the use of "may" and "might" for expressing future possibilities:

Example: "I may rent a car in London. I might book a flight to Glasgow."

Highlight: "May" and "might" are modal verbs always followed by the base form of a verb, with "might" expressing a lower probability than "may."

Present Perfect with Adverbs and Future Expressions

This page delves deeper into the present perfect tense, focusing on its use with adverbs such as "just," "already," and "yet." It also provides additional information on using "may" and "might" for future expressions.

The guide explains the use of "may" and "might" for making predictions about the future, expressing uncertainty:

Example: "Let's leave early tomorrow. There might be a lot of traffic. He may win the competition."

The document then provides a detailed explanation of the present perfect tense with adverbs:

1. "Already" (già):
   • Used in affirmative sentences
   • Shows that something happened earlier than expected
   • Positioned between the auxiliary and the past participle

Example: "What time is Bill leaving? He has already left."

2. "Just" (appena):
   • Used in affirmative sentences
   • Means "a short time ago"
   • Positioned between the auxiliary and the past participle

Example: "Mick has just phoned. Can you call him back?"

3. "Yet" (già? / non ancora):
   • Used in interrogative sentences (già?)
   • Used in negative sentences (non ancora)
   • Positioned at the end of the main question or clause

Example: "Has it stopped raining yet?" (interrogative) Example: "I've written her an email but she hasn't answered me yet." (negative)

Highlight: The guide emphasizes the correct positioning of these adverbs in sentences, which is crucial for proper usage of the present perfect tense.

This comprehensive overview of tempi verbali inglese (English verb tenses) provides students with a solid foundation for understanding and using these grammatical structures effectively in their language learning journey.