ENGLISH

WEEK 3
 TENSES PROBLEM

TOPICS
SUBJECT-VERB
AGREEMENT
 Verb Tense and
Consistency
Yet another reason our English is a difficult language
to learn.
Consistent verb tense
• One BIG problem that many
writers have is confusing verb
tense for no reason.
• Marty McFly went back to the
future and will get the girl in the
end.
 Verb tense tells your reader the
time you are writing about

• Past: You are covering an event for a newspaper,

or writing a reflective personal narrative.
• Present: Your story is taking place as we speak.
• Future: You are writing an essay about a plan to
accept corporate sponsors at your school. You are
writing in future tense because the actions have
not happened yet.
 •Irregular verbs play a huge
role in messing up the
English language!

Irregular verbs •Irregular verbs “morph” in

strange ways.

•Here’s how they work:

 First, you have to understand a regular verb…

• A regular verb forms its past tense by adding

ed or d to the present form.
• EX: work = worked
• EX: breathe = breathed
• Irregular Verbs form their past tense in other
ways, including:
• vowel changes (begin, began)
• consonant changes (make, made)
• vowel and consonant changes (see, saw)
• no changes (burst, burst; put, put; cut,
cut).
 The inconvenient truth:
• The best way to improve your understanding of verb
tense is to READ!
• If you get used to seeing verbs used correctly,
you’re more likely to use them correctly yourself.
 Irregular Verbs
Be, Do, Have
Present Past Past Present
Tense Tense Participle Participle

(be), am, is was, were been being

are
do, does did done doing

have, has had had having

PP 10-2b
 Irregular Verbs - Be, Do, Have
Singular and Plural Verb Forms of Be for First, Second and
Third Person

Singular Plural

First Person I (am) (was) we (are) (were)

Second Person you (are) (were) you (are) (were)
Third Person he, she, it (is) they (are) (were)
(was)
Mary (is) (was) Mary and Tom
(are) (were)
PP 10-3a
Present Tense

Kara drives she drives

Joe manages he manages
Brian calls he calls
Rachel prints she prints

PP 10-6c
Present Tense
Add es to the verb if it ends in o, ch, s, sh, x, or z.

The boat goes It goes

Ms. LaPorte reaches She reaches
The teacher dismisses He or she dismisses
Webmaster wishes He or she wishes
The manager fixes He or she fixes
The machine buzzes It buzzes

PP 10-6d
Present Tense
Do not add s or es to a verb in present tense
when the subject is a plural noun or a
compound subject.

We know Teachers dismiss

They plan Webmasters wish
Boats go Managers fix
Mark and Lynn miss

PP 10-6e
 Past Tense
Expresses an action or condition that was
started and completed in the past
Requires d or ed to form the past tense of
regular verbs.
Use the dictionary for the past tenses of
irregular verbs.

PP 10-7a
 Past Tense
Do not use a helping verb with a main verb
to form the past tense.

Regular Verbs
We requested a site license for the software.
Sandra discussed the network problem with Eric.

Irregular Verbs
She forgot the password for the customer database file.
Gary wrote to the manufacturer about the printer problem.

PP 10-7b
 Future Tense
Indicates an action or a condition that will
occur in the future
Requires the helping verbs will or shall
before the present part of the verb

She will design our new Web page.

We will send the software this afternoon.

PP 10-8
 Perfect Tenses
The perfect tenses use the helping verbs has,
have, or had. The three perfect tenses are
Present perfect
Past perfect
Future perfect

PP 10-9
 Present Perfect Tense

Shows that an action or condition that started in

the past has just been completed or continues to
take place into the present
Requires the use of has or have with the past
participle of the verb to form the present perfect
tense

Our company has requested temporary

programmers several times.
We have found the new software easy to use.

PP 10-10
 Past Perfect Tense

Shows that one action or condition began and

was completed before another action in the past
started
Requires the use of the helping verb had with
the past participle to form the past perfect tense
He had solved the network problem before we arrived
for work.
By the time we evaluated the software, the manufacturer
had released a new version.

PP 10-11
 Future Perfect Tense
Indicates an action or condition that will begin
and end before a specific future time
Requires the helping verbs shall have or will
have before the past participle of a verb to
form the future perfect tense

I will have updated the software before next Friday.

By next summer, this software version will have
been updated.

PP 10-12
 Active Voice
Means that the subject of a sentence
performs the action
Used for most business writing

She demonstrated several new accounting software packages.

Graphics applications require considerable computer memory.
Large businesses frequently use customized software programs.

PP 10-21
 Passive Voice
Means that the subject receives the action
Draws attention to an act rather than to the
person or thing performing the act
Consists of a past participle of the verb and
one or more forms of the helping verb be
Several new accounting software packages were
demonstrated by Linda.
Considerable computer memory is required for graphics
applications.

PP 10-22
 • Read this sentence to yourself. Which
verb works with the subject?
Subject/Verb
• “Each of the woman’s 99 cats, from Jerry
agreement and Kramer down to the kittens, Bart and
Lisa, ……………named after a character in a
television show.”
 A singular subject needs a singular verb;
a plural subject needs a plural verb.
• Since “Each” is singular, then the verb “was” must
also be singular
Continuing
Its really easy if you can first ID the
on… simple subject

(a noun that needs to agree with the

verb).
• Write down the simple subject from the
following sentence:
• A bag of blue-corn tortilla chips usually
costs about two dollars.
• An easy way to find the simple subject is
to split the complete subject into parts.
• A bag usually costs about two dollars.
• A bag of blue-corn tortilla chips usually
costs about two dollars.
 1. Subjects and verbs must agree in number.

• Singular subject = singular verb

• Plural subject = plural verb
• Cow= singular, eats= singular
• Ducks= plural, quack= plural
• *Hint*= SVS- singular verbs have an S
• Singular yes?- the verb has an “S”!
• Singular no? The “S” has to go!
2. Don’t get confused by the words that come
between the subject and verb.

The detective who was called to the case is usually very good.
3. Prepositional phrases between the subject
and verb usually do not affect the agreement.

The biker in this race is very competitive.

The bikers in this race are very competitive.

4. If a sentence starts with “there” or “ here”, the
subject will always be placed after the verb.

There is a meeting today.

Here are the results from this

past month.
5. Subjects can come after the verb in questions.
• Does Betty always play with dolls?

• How are the Bosco sticks today?

6. If two subjects are joined by “and”, they typically require a
plural verb.

• The puppy and the lady are friends.

7. If two subjects are separated by “and” refer to the same
thing, the verb is singular.
• Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite pasta dish.
8. If both subjects are singular and connected by or, nor, neither/nor,
either/or and not only/but also, the verb is singular.

• Sally or Bubba has stolen the scarecrow.

• Not only the guitar player but also the drummer was
soaked with sweat.
9. If both subjects are plural and connected by the words or, nor,
neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural.
• Cookies or brownies are nice treats for your teacher.
10. If one subject is singular and one plural and are connected by the words or,
nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, use the subject that is nearest
the verb.

• Either my sisters or my mom has sent me a

present.

• Not only Bob but also the Smiths want some

hamburgers for supper.
11. Units of measurement usually use a singular
verb.
• Six gallons of paint was used on the house.

• Five dollars is too much for a cup of coffee.

 12. Collective nouns usually take a singular
verb.

The class was ready for the test.

13. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated
as singular.

The lord of the ring was one of my favorite

books.
• I want to see a star wars movie
14. Two infinitives separated by and take a
plural verb.
• To run and to read are my two favorite “Free-time” activities.
15. Gerunds alone take a singular verb.
Gerunds linked by and take a plural verb.

• Dancing is not something everyone can do as well as I

can!
• Singing is my hobby.
16. If the words each, every or no come before the subject, the
verb is singular.

• Each boy and girl has to take the test.

• Every frog and toad turns into a prince.

• No paper and pen is required.

17. Most indefinite pronouns take singular verbs.
one body thing
someone somebody something
anyone anybody anything
No one nobody nothing
everyone everybody everything

Little One * Everybody is happy.

Another Neither * No one has a dime.
Much Either * Nothing was going to help.
Each
18. Both, few, many, others, and several take a
plural verb.
• Several need to finish the race.

• A few have the right answer.

If you understand this:
 TENSES EXERCISES
1. Every morning she …………….. up early and gets ready for work.
a. Is waking
b. Wakes
c. Has woken
2. I ………………….. anything from her in a long time.
a. Did not hear
b. Have not heard
c. Am not hearing
3. The headmaster ……………… to talk to you.
a. Want
b. Wants
c. Is wanting
4. We ..................... Greece next month.
a. Visit
b. Will visit
c. Would visit

5. The moon …………….. around the earth.

a. Is revolving
b. Has revolved
c. Revolves

6. I …………………. English for twelve years.

a. Am teaching
b. Have been teaching
c. Will be teaching
 S-V AGREEMENT EXERCISES
1.The price of these jeans is/are reasonable

2. The books borrowed from the library is/are on my desk

3. The boy who won the two medals is/are a friend of mine.

4.Collecting match-boxes is/are one of his favourite pastimes.

5.The International Club, as well as the Choral Society and the

Rowing Club, need/needs to submit a new constitution
6.One of these most intelligent students whose example is/are being
followed is/are John
7.Abnormalities in the cells governing the inflammatory response of the
organism cause/causes eczema.
8.Of all the grammar points I have studied in my seven years of English, the
most recent unit confuse/confuses me the most for a variety of reasons.
9.Despite the bad weather we have had in the past days, there is/are no
doubt that the tournament will go on.
10. Far from being a poor city with little diversity, New Orleans certainly
rank/ranks as one of the most interesting spots in the United States.
 PRACTICE
KERJAKAN SOAL-SOAL PADA GOOGLE CLASSROOM
BATAS WAKTU PENGERJAAN
SELASA, 20 SEPTEMBER 2022, JAM 10.00 WIB