The English Tenses Practical Grammar Guide
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Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
Quickly discover the many uses of the English tenses. How do English speakers use two tenses to mean the same thing? Why do the rules not always apply? This bestselling grammar guide reveals all. Exploring the usage patterns of the 12 key tenses of the English language, this book covers all the rules and patterns for the past, present and future in simple, continuous and perfect forms. As well as seeing how to build the tenses, you'll learn how English speakers really use them. The English Tenses: Practical Grammar Guide is ideal as either an accompaniment to core texts or as a full self-study guide. It introduces the reader to flexible uses of the English tenses, with simple, easy-to-follow explanations, colourful examples and enlightening comparisons. To continue your journey towards mastering English grammar, get The English Tenses now.
Reviews with the most likes.
I am going through a spate of informal grammar self-education.
I am an attorney and I write for a living, but as a graduate of the California school system, I've always felt a bit insecure about my grammar ability. I am particularly concerned about it when I hear about the “past perfect” tense or the “future imperfect” tense.
What the heck is all that about.
This book was absolutely perfect in my project. The author provides an extremely organized survey of the three tenses - past, present and future - and the four subordinate tenses - simple, continuing, perfect, and perfect continuing. He explains what distinguishes the tenses and provides examples, including charts, of how these verbs are conjugated.
I've been amusing myself since reading the book by identifying tenses in the texts I have been reading. (“Have been” + present participle (reading) makes it a present perfect continuing tense, which normally shows duration, but in this case shows a past action affecting the present, and, most importantly, that this past action happened recently. Seriously, we just do the grammar instinctively, but to know why is most enlightening.)
Obviously, I recommend this highly.
