Universidade Católica de Moçambique

Instituto de Educação à Distância

Tenses and Conjunctions in English

Arlete Ramadane João: 708230582

Curso: Licenciatura em ensino de

Biologia
Disciplina: Inglês
Ano de Frequência: 1º

Nampula, Setembro de 2023

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................5

1. Present Simple........................................................................................................................6

1.1. Spelling rules of the third person singular...........................................................................7

1.2. Past simple...........................................................................................................................8

1.3. Regular and irregular verbs..................................................................................................8

1.4. Present perfect......................................................................................................................9

1.5. Future Simple tense............................................................................................................10

1.6. Definite and indefinite Articles..........................................................................................11

1.7. Relative clauses..................................................................................................................12

1.8. Relative pronoun................................................................................................................13

Conclusion................................................................................................................................14

References.................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction

Generally, a conjunction is the part of speech used to join or link words, phrases, or clauses to
each other. Conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses that are of the same syntactic
importance together each in their own unique way. This becomes especially important in
speaking because you will be creating more complex sentences as your ideas become more
complex.

Furthermore, articles are determiners or noun markers that function to specify if the noun is
general or specific in its reference. And the articles a and an are indefinite articles. They are
used with a singular countable noun when the noun referred to is nonspecific or generic. And
a noun can be considered to be a word that indicates something, such as a person, place, thing,
or idea. In a sentence, nouns can play the role of subject, direct object, indirect object, subject
complement, object complement.

The wrong use of English tenses, articles and relative clauses is said to be prominent. When
we take into consideration the way speakers use the said in their sentences, it shows that they
do not understand the principles guiding the use of the English tenses.

The present paper aims at talking about the use of tenses in all aspects. It is important to talk
about these tenses and other grammatical aspects because as we know that acting is doing,
because everything we say or do is some kind of an action, some kind of a verb and we are
always connected to the other people through some kind of action.

General objective

 Describe English tenses (present, past and future tenses) and conjunctions.

Specific Objectives

1. Define English tenses (present, past and future tenses);

2. Present the use of conjunctions;
3. Talk about relative clauses and articles.

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 1. Present Simple

According to Azar (2002, p.2) we use the present simple to talk about actions we see as long
term or permanent. It is a very common and very important tense. The simple present says
that something was true in the past, is the true in the present and will be true in the future. It
expresses general statements of facts and timeless truths.

Here, we are talking about regular actions, events and facts.

 They drive to the office every day.
 She doesn't come here very often.
 The news usually starts at 6.00 every evening.
 We have two children.
 Water freezes at 0° C or 32° F.

Vince & Emmerson (2003, p.10), affirm that the present simple is used to describe permanent
facts, for example in science and geographical descriptions.

Examples:

 The light from the Sun takes 8 mins 20 sees to reach the Earth.
 The River Po flows into the Adriatic Sea. The present simple is also used for situations
that are generally true.

Habitual actions
The present simple is used to describe habits and routines. A frequency adverb is often used.
 I usually take the bus to work.
 Summary of events

The present simple can be used to make a summary of the events in a narrative, for example
in a film or book. It can also be used for a table of historical events.

 In Chapter 1, Susan meets David, and agrees to go to the school dance with him.
 In 1789 the Trench Revolution begins.

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 1.1. Spelling rules of the third person singular

The following are the are main rules for the third person singular in English language,
according to (Vince & Emmerson 2003, p.10):

a) Normally, we add S to the end of the verb in the 3rd person (He, She, It).
Verb 3rd
person

talk talks
stay stays
give gives
like likes

 He talks fast.
 She usually stays up late.
 My dog likes my son.
b) If the verb ends in SS, X, CH, SH or the letter O, we add + es in the third person. (He,
She, It)
Verb 3rd
person

miss misses  She misses her school days.

mix mixes  The chef mixes the ingredients.
wash washes
 The cleaner washes the dishes.
go goes
watch watches
c) If the verb ends in a Consonant + Y, we remove the Y and + ies in the third person
(He, She, it).

Verb 3rd
person

hurry hurries
study studies
cry cries
deny denies
lie lies

 Arlete studies every morning.

 The baby cries all the time.

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  The worker denies all responsibilities.

1.2. Past simple

We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the
past. We can use it to talk about a specific point in time. It can also be used to talk about a
period of time. (Azar 2002, p.5).

 I saw her in the street.

 They didn't agree to the deal.
 She lived in Tokyo for seven years.

1.3. Regular and irregular verbs

a) Irregular verbs

Vince & Emmerson (2003, p.13), state that there are approximately 180 irregular verbs.
Learners don't need to learn all of them because some of these are very rare but many others
are very useful and you do need to know them. What's the easiest way to learn them? Some
people think you should learn a list by heart. Others think you should not learn them at all –
you will just gradually acquire them over time.

One useful method is to note down new irregular verbs as you meet them. It is useful to write
these verbs (or any vocabulary you want to learn) in sentences and learn those rather than the
individual word.

Examples

Stick – stuck - stuck

 I stuck the photo into my album.

Another technique is to classify the irregular verbs into 4 categories.

All forms the same

 set set set
 cost cost cost
Similar sound groups

 Beat – beat - beaten

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  Eat – ate - eaten
 Blow – blew - blown
 Throw – threw - thrown
 Drink - drank - drunk
 Sing – sang - sung
 Speak – spoke - spoken
 Wake - woke - woken
The second and third forms are the same.
 Bend – bent - bent
 Sleep – slept - slept
 Spend – spent - spent
 Bring – brought - brought
 Buy – bought - bought
 Teach – taught - taught
 Have – had - had
 Pay – paid - paid
 Say – said - said
The "unclassifiable"
 Come – came - come
 Do - did - done
 Go – went - gone
 Show – showed – show

b) Regular verbs

Regular verbs are called such because they are predictable: both the simple past and the past
participle forms add –ed to the infinitive form of the verb, Vince & Emmerson (2003, p.13).

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 1.4. Present perfect

We use the present perfect when we want to look back from the present to the past. We use
this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions or states or habits that started in the
past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say 'how long' and we need 'since' or
'for'. We often use stative verbs, (Azar 2002, p.6).

Examples

 I've known Karen since 1994.

 She's lived in London for three years.
 I've worked here for six months.

Life experience. These are actions or events that happened sometime during a person's life.
We don't say when the experience happened and the person needs to be alive now. We often
use the words 'ever' and 'never' here.

 I have been to Tokyo.

 They have visited Paris three times.
 We have never seen that film.

We can also use the present perfect to talk about something that happened recently, even if
there
isn't a clear result in the present. This is common when we want to introduce news and we
often
use the words 'just / yet / already / recently'.

 The Queen has given a speech.

 I've just seen Lucy.
 The mayor has announced a new plan for the railways.

1.5. Future Simple tense

When we want to talk about future facts or things, we believe to be true about the future, we
use 'will'.

 The President will serve for four years.

 The boss won't be very happy. (Negative form won’t/will not).
 I'm sure you'll like her.

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Older textbooks often refer to 'will' as 'the future tense' and this has confused a lot of learners.
It is important to remember that when we talk about the future we cannot always use 'will' and
that when we use 'will' we are not always talking about the future, (Huddleston, 1998, p.22).

Here 'will' is clearly referring to the future.

 If I speak to her, I'll tell her about it.
 I'll probably visit Sue when I go to Oxford.
 Next birthday she'll be 32. Or so she says.

In these examples, however, 'will' is referring to events happening at the present.

 The car won't start.
 If that's the phone, I'll get it.
 Will you have another cup of coffee? (question form)
 Will you be at school by 12 o’clock?

1.6. Definite and indefinite Articles

Huddleston, (1998, p.25) defines article has the class of words that precedes the Substantive
to define, limit or modify its use. Articles are divided into Definite and Indefinite. There are
three articles in the English language: a, an, and the. They are placed before nouns and show
whether a given noun is general or specific.

Examples
a) I have a cell phone.
b) I bought an apple.
c) He offered me a chair.
d) My father gave her a watch.
e) She had a nice blouse.
When you want to speak generally about a singular noun, use a or an before it. In each of the
following examples, there is not one specific kind of bird, rock, or apple that the speaker is
thinking of, so the article a or an is placed before the italicized noun, (Huddleston, 1998,
p.25).

Examples
a) I would love to have a pet bird.
b) I feel like grabbing a rock and throwing it into the ocean.
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c) You look like you could use an apple.
d) He is a good singer.

a) Definite article (the)

We use the to identify specific or definite nouns: nouns that represent things, places, ideas, or
persons that can be identified specifically.

 We use the with both singular and plural definite nouns. e.g., the house the houses the
business the businesses.
 Use the to identify things, places, ideas, or persons that represent a specific or definite
group or category.

e.g., The students in Professor Smith’s class should study harder.

The automobile revolutionized travel and industry.
The man whom I met at the park, had an accident.

b) Indefinite articles

"A/an" is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. For example,
"I would like to go see a movie." Here, we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking
about any movie. There are many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific
one in mind.

"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group.
For example:

"My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas." This refers to any dog. We don't know
which dog because we haven't found the dog yet.

Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So...

 a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog;
 an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot;
an orphan.
 a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e.
begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle.

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 1.7. Relative clauses

Azar (2002, p.26), says that a relative clause modifies a noun or a pronoun and it is introduced
by a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, which, or that) or occasionally a relative adverb
(usually where, when or why). Relative clauses are subordinates or dependent clauses;
therefore, they cannot stand alone as complete sentences. The relative pronoun is used to
connect the relative clause to an independent clause by referring to the noun or pronoun being
modified.

e.g., The students who were most impressive graduated with honours.

Burton–Roberts, (2011, p.204) affirms that ‘Relative clauses are non-interrogative wh-
clauses. In contrast to interrogative clauses (which can be main or subordinate), relative
clauses are, by their nature, subordinate. This is because relative clauses function as
modifiers. They can modify a range of categories. Moreover, a relative clause is a subordinate
clause that modifies a noun phrase, most commonly, a noun.

 The trampolines which they had bought.

 The fool who lent you a fiver.

A relative clause is a dependent clause that modifies an antecedent noun or pronoun in an

independent clause.) It identifies, describes, or otherwise provides information about the
antecedent. The subject pronouns for a relative clause are who, which, and that.) In the
following examples, note how two independent sentences are connected by a relative pronoun
to make one single complete sentence:

 I thanked my dad, who brought me my house keys.

 They live in Seattle, which is on the Pacific Ocean.

1.8. Relative pronoun

The relative pronoun that introduces a clause that provides essential information about its
antecedent.

Examples

 The governor that was recently elected received a standing ovation.

 A proposal that we should support.
 The men that they rewarded for their bravery are out of work.
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  The watch that he found on the sidewalk is priceless.

Note that: Commas separate a clause introduced by who or which, but not a clause introduced
by that.

Conclusion
From what we have previously discussed on above, we can say that relative clauses are
introduced by pronouns or adverbs and they can be subordinate or dependent clauses, because
of this, they cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.

Regarding the use of articles, it can be concluded that basically, an article is an adjective. Like
adjectives, articles modify nouns. English has two articles: the and a/an. The is used to refer to
specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We
call the the definite article and a/an indefinite article.

Moreover, we generally use the present simple to talk about actions we see as long term or
permanent. It is a very common and very important tense. And also, we use the present simple
when we are talking about our thoughts and feelings at the time of speaking. Although these
feelings can be short-term, we use the present simple and not the present continuous.

As it has been discussed above on the relative clauses, generally speaking, a relative clause
modifies a noun or a pronoun and it is introduced by a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose,
which, or that) or occasionally a relative adverb (usually where, when or why). All the aspects
covered on this work, play an important role in the language learning as they are key points to
learn English language.

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References
Azar, Betty Schrampfer (2002). Understanding and using English Grammar. 3rd edition,
Longman, USA.

Burton-Roberts, Noel (2011). Analysing sentences, an introduction to English syntax. 3rd ed,
Pearson, United Kingdom.

Huddleston, Rodney. (1998). English Grammar: An Outline. Cambridge University Press.

Vince, Michael & Emmerson, Paul. (2003). English grammar and vocabulary. Macmillan
Education, UK.

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